WATCH: Mitchell Starc's peach of a delivery shatters Abdullah Shafique's stumps in first over of second innings in Sydney

Mitchell Starc and first over wicket is something that always goes in tandem. The Australian pacer is known for producing unplayable deliveries by injecting beauty into it. His magical left-arm swing delivery will give the team an early breakthrough and prevent the opposition from getting off to a good start. The ongoing Test in Sydney also witnessed a similar dream ball, with Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique falling victim.

Advertisment

Shafique was not allowed to open his account at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the third and final Test of Pakistan's 2023-24 tour of Australia. He scored a duck in both innings and, coincidentally, was dismissed in the very first over by the same bowler - Starc. If it was a 2-ball duck in the first innings, the right-hander survived for 5 balls in the second attempt. 

In the first innings, the 24-year-old made a poor shot selection, going after a delivery too wide outside the off-stump and edging it to second slip. But in the second innings, he got unbelievable stuff from Starc, which most experienced batters would have found difficult to deal with.

The Aussie quick had set the batter up with a couple of balls that were slanted across on and outside the off-stump. But the final delivery of the first over was a jaffa. Shafique was clueless about playing a 143.5kph inswinger as he left a big bat-pad gap in the process of blocking it. The ball sneaked through the gap and shattered the stumps. 

Advertisment

Watch the video below: 

WHAT A BALL, STARC. 🔥

- Australia on fire at SCG....!!!!!pic.twitter.com/Fxpr0vxare

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 5, 2024

Advertisment

Hazlewood strikes second over to give Australia an early lead

After posting a decent first innings score of 313-10, Pakistan bowlers restricted the opposition to 299-10. Aamer Jamal, who played a fighting knock (82 off 97 balls), was the wrecker-in-chief with the ball as well. The fast-bowling all-rounder grabbed six wickets. With a small first-innings lead, Pakistan came out to bat on Day 3 to increase the lead further. However, Star and Josh Hazlewood did not give them a good start. 

Just three balls after Starc stunned the Pakistan opener, their skipper too was sent back to the pavilion without making an impact on the scoreboard. Shan Masood got a thick edge off Hazlewood and was carried by wicketkeeper Alex Carey.