Ind vs Aus: Mitchell Starc makes history, becomes fastest bowler to take 50 ODI World Cup wickets

Australian paceman Mitchell Starc made history by breaking legendary Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga's record as the fastest bowler to claim 50 wickets in ODI World Cups. Stare reached this milestone in the match against India dismissing opener Ishan Kishan for a golden duck, accomplishing the feat in just his 19th ODI World Cup appearance. In contrast, it had taken Malinga 26 innings to achieve the same feat.

With this significant dismissal, Stare also joined an elite group of bowlers as the fifth player to reach the 50-wicket mark in ODI World Cups. Ahead of him are only Wasim Akram (55), Malinga (56), Muttiah Muralitharan (68), and Glenn McGrath (71) in terms of ODI World Cup wickets.

Ishan Kishan's unfortunate dismissal came in the first over of the innings when he chased a full-length delivery from Stare, resulting in a thick edge that flew to the slip cordon, where Cameron Green made an easy catch. This marked a disappointing World Cup debut for Kishan, who had been brought into the side as a replacement for the ailing Shubman Gill, suffering from dengue.

Following Kishan's dismissal, India's captain Rohit Sharma also fell without contributing any runs to the scoreboard, departing for a duck. With both openers dismissed without scoring, it was only the second instance in which both Indian openers have been dismissed for ducks in a World Cup match, the first occurrence dating back to the 1983 Cricket World Cup against Zimbabwe.

In the first innings. India started the game strongly when Jasprit Bumrah dismissed the dangerous Mitchell Marsh in the third over. However, veteran Australian batters David Warner and Steve Smith rallied with a 69-run partnership to bring Australia back into the game. Warner's contribution also made him the fastest batter to reach 1,000 runs in ODI World Cups.

Nevertheless, Kuldeep Yadav provided India with a crucial breakthrough, dismissing Warner after he had scored 41 runs off 52 balls, Ravindra Jadeja further dented Australia's progress by cleaning up Steve Smith in the 28th over. Jadeja continued his impressive spell by dismissing Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey in the same over.

Although Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green aimed to build a cautious partnership in the middle overs, Kuldeep struck once more to remove Maxwell with Ravichandran Ashwin adding to the woes by sending Cameron Green back to the pavilion. This left Australia reeling at 140 for 7 after 36 2 overs. Despite their precarious position, Australia managed to inch their total close to the 200-run mark, with Mitchell Stare playing a pivotal role, contributing 28 runs off 35 balls, ultimately setting a target of 200 for India.