Starc's Magic Moment: The Talking Point of the Australia-New Zealand Rivalry

(Mitchell Starc celebrating after picking the wicket of New Zealand batter)

It was the year 2015 when the ODI World Cup was scheduled in Australia and New Zealand between the top cricketing teams. With so many contests scheduled, the real deal for the host nations was the match between the two of them as New Zealand against Australia always gets the hype as that of India vs Pakistan. The league game on 28th February 2015 is the perfect example of how these two teams have always given one of the best games to the fans out there. In the end, the match showcased the best of cricketing talent and the excitement of fierce competition. It reminded everyone of the magic of sports to bring people together and create unforgettable moments.

All about the 20th game of ODI World Cup 2015

Now imagine it's 28th February 2015 and you come back home and it being a World Cup match day, you see that a tense match just ended up. And now you are just looking for the highlights to know exactly what happened. Now let's get back to the match and revisit the moments from Eden Park. Australia got the toss in their favour and hence elected to bat first to make a big score in the first innings and get the match in their favour now. But the innings weren’t as expected from the Australian batting order as they lost the wickets regularly. The way Trent Boult bowled the opening spell was just adorable as his left-arm deliveries ensured that Australia didn’t stand any chance against them.

It was the partnership between Shane Watson and David Warner of 50 runs that ensured Australia reached 80-2 in 13 overs. But what followed after that was a complete collapse from the Australian team. They started losing wickets regularly as Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, and others failed to make it big in the middle overs. At the end of the innings, Brad Haddin made sure that Australia somehow reached to 151 runs with the loss of 10 wickets, and their innings wrapped up in just 32.2 overs there.

New Zealand vs Australia, 20th Match, Pool A at Auckland, Feb 28, 2015, ICC Cricket World Cup
Australia 151/10 (32.2 overs)	New Zealand 152/9 (23.1 overs)
Brad Haddin 43(41)*	Brendon McCullum 50(24)
David Warner 34(42)	Kane Williamson 45(42)*
Trent Boult 5-27 (10 overs)	Mitchell Starc 6-28 (9 overs)
Daniel Vettori 2-41 (10 overs)	Pat Cummins 2-38 (6.1 overs)
New Zealand won by 1 wicket

(New Zealand vs Australia, 20th match Scorecard)

Now coming to the New Zealand batting, they just needed 152 runs to clinch the points in the league game and hence it was Brendon McCullum who started the innings with a bang. He took on the Australian bowlers and bashed them around the park to score a quick 50 runs from just 24 balls to take the score to 78 runs from the loss of 2 wickets in just 7.4 overs. With this innings, it looked like an easy match for the New Zealand team but what followed after was Starc’s special who ripped off the New Zealand batting order and made the match interesting.

(Trent Boult during the match against Australia in the 2015 ODI World Cup)

Bowling at more than a speed of 145 kmph, Mitchell Starc started the destruction picking up the wicket of Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott in the same over and hence brought back the Australian team into the game. But with another partnership going on, New Zealand went to 139-5 in the 20 overs and needed just 13 runs more to clinch the victory and this is where Mitchell Starc came back for another spell to get things in their favour. He picked up the wicket of Luke Ronchi to get the New Zealand team to 139-6 and was still 13 runs behind.

Along with Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins also showed his class and picked up Daniel Vettori’s wicket and left the New Zealand team at 145-7 and they needed just 7 runs to claim the victory with 3 wickets in hand. Now it was Mitchell Starc’s turn to get the things right and he was spot on with his bowling on that day. Kane Williamson took the single on the first ball of his over and now only 6 runs were required to win for the Black Caps. And now, Mitchell Starc removed Tim Southee and Adam Milne in successive balls to get the New Zealand team at 146-9 and they were still 6 runs behind.

With Mitchell Starc on a hat-trick and Trent Boult coming out to bat, the fans were in for something big as Australia needed just 1 wicket while Boult had to face the 2 balls of this deadly spell. Now, the next 2 balls were defended well by him and hence New Zealand was still alive in the game with 6 runs needed on the last wicket that they had. Pat Cummins was given the ball to get the last wicket for the team and it was Kane Williamson on the strike who managed a six on the first ball of the over and hence provided the win to the New Zealand team.

Australia taking the revenge against New Zealand in the Finals of the World Cup

(Australia won the 2015 ODI World Cup after defeating New Zealand in the Finals)

After a dramatic 1 wicket win in the league stage, New Zealand met Australia again in the Finals of the ODI World Cup 2015 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29th March 2015. New Zealand managed to bat first after winning the toss and they met the same fate as the Australian batting order from the league match. Brendon McCullum was bowled on the fifth ball of the first over by Mitchell Starc and hence the crowd erupted as the scoreline read 0-1.

With that, the New Zealand batting lineup never recovered and hence got all out for just 183 runs from the 45 overs that they played. Coming to the Australian batting, they fumbled at the start and lost Aaron Finch early. After that, David Warner, Steve Smith and Michael Clarke handled the pressure well and got them to the finishing line. Australia won the Finals by 7 wickets and lifted their 5th ODI World Cup here.