0/100 in eight overs. These were Mitchell Starc's figures in the first two matches of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). With a price tag of INR 24.75 crore, Starc certainly must have felt the heat especially of not picking up wickets. But with his team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) winning both those matches didn't raise many eyebrows. Come the third game against Delhi Capitals and with 272 runs to defend, there was not much pressure on the bowlers and Starc got off the mark in terms of wickets finally.
He dismissed his Australia teammates Mitchell Marsh and David Warner to end with figures of 2/25 in three overs that certainly looked better than 0/53 and 0/47 in the earlier matches. Opening up about his performance, Starc admitted that as a bowler one needs luck in the shortest form of the game. "In a game of T20, we all need a little bit of luck, a few edges go by, a dropped catch or two, that's T20 cricket. You move on pretty quickly, because the games come thick and fast. Yeah, probably not the start I wanted, but we've been winning games, so that's what it's about. We're three-nil. And tonight, with bat and ball, we were pretty good, I think," Starc said while speaking to host broadcaster after the game.
Moreover, Starc is happy that his team KKR is winning at the moment and are on top of the points table with six points to their name. "It can be brutal at times, particularly on the bowlers [in T20 cricket]. I think we've seen on some of the grounds, some of the scores… so yeah, you take a little bit of luck here and there. Yeah, we're three-nil at the start of the season, and tonight we were pretty clinical with bat and ball. Personal stuff aside, the team's start has been fantastic," he added.
As for the match between DC and KKR, the latter side won the match by a massive margin of 106 runs. It was the blitz from Sunil Narine while opening the innings that made sure KKR were off to a flier and then Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell and Rinku Singh followed suit as they posted a mammoth 272 runs in their 20 overs. Delhi Capitals crumbed under pressure getting bundled out for 166 runs in the 18th over.
