Mitchell Starc equalled fellow Australian Glenn McGrath in taking the most number of wickets in a single edition of the World Cup. Three-time World Cup winner McGrath took 26 wickets in the 2007 edition of the tournament, while Starc now had the same no of scalps to his name but from fewer matches. Stac joined the elite list during the Australia vs South Africa, CWC 2019, game at Old Trafford in Manchester on June 6 (Saturday). Mitchell Starc Becomes Fastest Bowler to Pick 150 ODI Wickets, Gets New Nickname From Nathan Lyon.

McGrath played 11 matches in 2007 edition of the World Cup and took his 26th wicket in the final against Sri Lanka, while Starc has reached the figure in just nine matches. Starc also has two five-wicket and two four-wicket hauls in CWC 2019, while McGrath’s best figures in 2007 was 3/14 which he achieved in Australia’s second group stage game against Scotland. Ahead of CWC 2019 Semi-Finals, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins Send Out Warning to Virat Kohli & Co.

Starc though has already bowled 2.1 overs more than what McGrath did in the entire 2007 tournament. The 49-year-old had bowled 80.5 overs for his 26 wickets and also had a better economy (4.41) than his younger counterpart. McGrath finished the tournament with best figures of 3/14, while Starc has the best figures of 5/26 which he achieved in Australia’s previous game against Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand. He currently leads the highest wicket-taker list in CWC 2019 six wickets ahead of the second-placed Mustafizur Rahman (20) from Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Starc will play at least one more match in CWC 2019 and has a great opportunity of overtaking McGrath to become the bowler to have taken most wickets in a single edition of the World Cup. The 29-year-old, who started this game on 24 wickets, dismissed Jean-Paul Duminy and Dwaine Pretorius to join McGrath in the illustrious list.

The next bowler after McGrath and Starc in the list is former Sri Lankan cricketer Chaminda Vaas, who took 23 wickets in 10 matches in 2003. Vass is tied with fellow Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia's Shaun Tait both of whom also took 23 wickets from 10 and 11 matches respectively in the 2007 edition.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 06, 2019 11:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).