The duel between Australia’s premier fast bowler Mitchell Starc and South African skipper Quinton de Kock turned out to be one of the most anticipated events during the current Australian tour of South Africa.
This time around, it was Starc who got the better off the South African skipper on almost all occasions they faced off against each other.
Coming into the Bloemfontein ODI, South Africa managed to lead the series by 1-0, with their massive win at Paarl.
Chasing 272, Starc greeted de Kock with another thunderbolt, fuller in length, in his very first over. De Kock, with his bat coming down at an angle from the third man, could not defend the incoming ball and missed it comprehensively. As a result, the southpaw lost his middle stump yet again to Starc.
Watch the video below:
POLEAXED! 💥
De Kock cleaned up second ball by Starc as South Africa's pursuit of 272 to beat Australia suffers early blow 🇿🇦🇦🇺 #SAvAUS
📺 Watch on SS Cricket: https://t.co/Syf7UHt3oE
📝 Scorecard: https://t.co/LkCnyBwDjf pic.twitter.com/j4YtrnCJqo— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) March 4, 2020
Earlier, Starc delivered a similar in-swinging delivery to De Kock in the Johannesburg T20I, and the Cape Town T20I. The left-hander lost his middle stump on both occasions, early on in his innings.
It seems that the Protean has no clue about dealing with the swinging thunderbolts from Starc off-late. Also, it can be safely assumed that Starc’s pace and lengths surely did a number on the talented opening batsman of South Africa.
However, his recurring dismissals to Starc were shortly overshadowed by South Africa’s first series win in over 12-months, in all formats. South Africa, with their 6-wicket win in the second ODI, clinched the 3-match series by 2-0. The last ODI will be played at Potchefstroom on Saturday.
