Vintage Starc turns back the clock in Delhi

It was in the middle of the 18th over that Axar Patel, the Delhi Capitals captain, made up his mind that Mitchell Starc is going to be his man to defend whatever they are left with in the final over.

Starc, after starting off with a slower ball and a short ball, switched to over and wicket and resorted to his trusted inswinging toe-crusher - quite literally - to hit Nitish Rana's boot and trap the well-set batter plumb LBW in the very first attempt. The saliva on the ball ensured it tailed back into the left-hander, there was late reverse, and Rana was caught dead in front despite shuffling across. As the Rajasthan Royals' half-centurion made his way back to the dugout, with the visitors still needing a very manageable 28 more in 14 remaining deliveries, Axar walked up to his premier pacer and said, "let's not over-complicate this". DC were walking a thin line following two successive expensive overs to begin the slog-overs phase, but the yorker had worked a treat and there was a hint of reverse swing, and they had just the man to hammer home that advantage.

"At that time, I was seeing only one option and that was Mitchell Starc," DC captain Axar said post match. "To execute 12/12 yorkers - I think he missed one there - but, that's why he's a legend. No praise is high enough. In a pressure situation, despite changing the fielding positions, he was always clear in his thought process and execution, and that tells us how strong his mindset is," he added.

What Starc produced was a masterclass in death bowling featuring the most pin-point yorkers that had the opponents, the experts and the teammates applauding in total awe. Interestingly, what Axar had advised Starc was as good as an open secret. Every batter in the RR dugout knew what was coming their way; even Shimron Hetmyer walking in knew what to expect right away. And he was fortunate to find an inside-edge that somehow beat the leg-stump as well as the fielder to the fence when Starc produced a similar inswinging yorker next ball.

After Mohit Sharma leaked 14 runs in the penultimate over, the odds were heavily stacked against Starc who had only eight runs to play with in the 20th. A wet, old ball, heavy dew and only nine to win - this was RR's game to lose. And lose they did, for Starc nailed a string of yorkers to flip the script and send the game into Super Over from the jaws of a certain defeat.

Off the first couple that landed sharp in the blockhole and tailed in, the RR batters could only manage to squeeze out for a single each. Hetmyer was able to push out the third one to sweeper cover for two, and Starc immediately erred in his length next. Hetmyer skipped down but only to slog it away to extra cover for just two. As he repented not being able to manage a better connection on that one, Axar ran down to Starc, and the duo rang in some fielding changes to bring in third and fine-leg and ask Tristan Stubbs to drop back to long-on. Another fine yorker followed on middle, and Stubbs was in action swiftly enough to keep it down to one when RR required three in two. Another meeting ensued between Axar and Starc, and the pacer changed his field once more for the final delivery. Even a streaky boundary would have cost DC the two points, so Starc packed the off-side ring and had three out in the deep on the leg-side to the right-hander Jurel. The wicketkeeper-batter got another in the blockhole, and could only tuck it to deep-midwicket for one to level the scores, before running himself out in a futile attempt to steal a non-existent second.

"Getting the reverse swing is one thing, but executing it perfectly is very important. You're getting the reverse swing, alright, but at that time, under-pressure, he executed so well," Axar said of the PoTM. "I only ever reminded him to be clear on his plans, you know, trust yourself. And the response was always the same from him - 'don't worry, skip, I'll do it'."

It wasn't the brightest of starts from the Australian left-armer though with Yashasvi Jaiswal in particular taking him to the cleaners in the PowerPlay, in a repeat of a disturbing pattern for DC to emerge this IPL. However, while Starc may have been the most expensive bowler for DC in PowerPlays - what with batters across the board redefining T20 hitting upfront - he remains one of their most reliable wicket-takers at death. Half of Starc's 10 wickets in IPL 2025 have come in the slog-overs, more often than not with the old ball.

Starc in IPL 2025 (phase-wise)

"It's just sort of backing my execution," Starc said at the post-match presentation. "You are running with a clear plan and execute as best as you can. And if it does not come off, then at least you have executed. And sometimes it does come off. So, a bit of luck goes a long way.

"I have played long enough that everyone pretty much knows what I am going to do. If I can execute more often than not, it is going to be okay. You can play that over 10 more times and then do 10 different things and then it might be 10 different results. So, as I said, a bit of luck goes a long way. Fortunately, I executed well enough to get us to a Super Over."

For Starc, it may have been just a usual day at the office but the execution of 5/6 yorkers will make that final over a campaign-defining highlight for DC in IPL 2025, and have the pundits revering it for a long time to come. As pivotal as it was, it had the backing of an equally critical 18th over that left an indelible impact on RR's chances. Rana, the dismissed set batter, doffed too his hat to the pacer and his skills.

"The wicket was a little tricky and obviously not easy for a new batter. The wicket was slow, the ball was stopping, the ball was turning," Rana said after RR's Super Over loss. "Plus, the difference that we saw from the application of saliva - the reverse swing that we saw from Starc, the credit goes to him, obviously. The saliva use has made a lot of difference. In the last so many years we've never used saliva, so even in the nets we haven't practised for it. There was barely any reverse swing left in cricket, be it red-ball cricket or white-ball. Now suddenly in the last 2 overs if someone is able to execute 11 yorkers in 12 balls at the pace of 145 kmph that too with a reverse swing, then, I guess, the credit has to be given to Starc alone."