The Ashes rendezvous has been some sort of nightmare for the English batsman. The likes of Alastair Cook and Joe Root have had no answers to the pace battery of the Oz battalion. But a certain James Vince was on the receiving end of a ball from Australia’s Mitchell Starc which the world media has been referring it to as the ‘ball of the century’. The fiercest delivery was bowled by Aussie spearhead on day four of the third Ashes Test 2017-18.

Starc made good use of the WACA track to angle in the delivery into Vince and then to swerve it to hit the off stump. It is always dramatic sight when a ball deviates square for a fast bowler but Starc was something special at 92 mph pace. The hapless James Vince looking at the pitch with disbelief summed up t gland’s Ashes which has been an abject surrender. Meanwhile, the fast bowler is hailed around the cricketing world for his extraordinary performance.

Vince further claimed in a post-match interview he would get out to the same delivery twenty times or more. This statement from Englishman came out of respect to the sheer magic of the delivery. He was quoted saying, “"If I faced that another 20 or 30 times I think it would get me out every time. Give him credit there, sweep it under the carpet and move on."

Apart from the opponents’ camp, the Internet took over from WACA crowd in admiring Starc. Cricket commentators and legends put in their praises for the magic of Starc in WACA. Legendary Pakistan fast-bowler, Wasim Akram tweeted, “That’s called a JAFFA! What a delivery @mstarc56 you reminded me of my bowling days and I enjoyed it to the hilt! You made left armers proud!” Meanwhile, Australian spin bowling legend, Shane Warne and former England Test captain, Michael Vaughn labelling it as ‘Ball of the 21st Century’.

The replays of James Vince getting castled by Mitchell is one of the breaking the internet moments. Well it may be a contentious debate if it was the ball of the century or not but what Mitchell Starc has certainly guaranteed is his name in Cricket folklore with his delivery talked about for years to come.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 22, 2017 11:03 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).