CWC 2019: AUS vs WI – Starc, Coulter-Nile storm into record books
Australia overcame drastic situations at Trent Bridge yesterday to pick up their second consecutive victory of the 2019 World Cup. Bowling a barrage of short balls, West Indian pacers reduced Australia to 79/5 but Nathan Coulter-Nile and Steven Smith rescued the batting side to an intimidating total of 288. In the chase, West Indies kept losing wickets frequently. Shai Hope and Jason Holder battled hard to keep moving towards the imposing target. Mitchell Starc roared back into the attack with a five-for and earned a 15-run victory for Australia. The 10th match of the World Cup saw some important ODI records going down.
Coulter-Nile shocks West Indies with the bat
West Indian pacers had reduced Australia to 79/5 in the 17th over. With only Steven Smith standing tall, an early finish was on the cards. But the Australian tail had different plans. Pace bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile came out swinging hard and the bowlers had no answers against him. The right-arm fast bowler comfortably crossed his personal-best of 34 and kept charging at the West Indian bowlers.
Coulter-Nile was finally dismissed for the score of 92 from 60 balls with 8 fours and 4 sixes. This is now the record for the highest score by a number eight batsman in the World Cup. The previous record belonged to Zimbabwean Heath Streak (72 not out vs NZ in 2003). The ODI record still remains with England’s Chris Woakes who scored 95 not out versus Sri Lanka in 2016.
Mitchell Starc enters the 150-club in record time
Starc picked up his 150th ODI wicket by dismissing West Indian captain Jason Holder. He became the quickest bowler to achieve this landmark by getting there in 77th ODI. The previous best was 78 ODIs taken by Pakistan’s off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq. With another wicket, Starc also picked up his second five-for in the World Cups. He became the sixth bowler to achieve this feat. No bowler has taken more than two five-wicket hauls in the global event.
Recovering from shocks
Yesterday’s match was another instance where the Australian showed their never-say-die attitude. In the 1996 World Cup semifinal, the same opponents had crashed Aussies down to 15/4. But the yellow outfit came back to steal the match with five runs in the bag. In 1975 semifinal, Australia was struggling at 32/4 at Leeds, but they recovered in time to chase down 94 runs.
