Starc knows devil is in de Villiers details
BEN HORNE MITCHELL Starc believes Australia have got South Africa all worked out, if only they can find a way to crack the de Villiers code.
Australia are spending the extended break between Test matches urgently trying to thrash out a game plan to unlock South Africa’s masterpiece batsman, who has been almost infallible so far this series.
It took almost two Test matches for AB de Villiers to make an error against Australia’s bowling and by then the Port Elizabeth contest was over and the equation was squared at 1-1.
Despite the fact openers Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar, as well as Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock have showed some resistance, Starc is adamant the rest of the South African batting line-up holds no fears for Australia’s well-rounded attack.
Starc believes Australia can seize control of the series in the third Test starting in Cape Town on Thursday, if only they can pull of one of cricket’s great heists and steal the wicket of the once-in-a-generation de Villiers.
“We feel we’re pretty comfortable against the rest of their batting line-up,” said Starc.
“I think we have shown in the first Test how quickly we can go through them.
“(De Villiers) was a mainstay in the first innings of that first Test as well and again in the second Test, so they rely heavily on him.
“There’s been a few little cameos around him, but he’s been the linchpin for them and we’ve spoken about some good plans to him going forward in the last two Test matches, and we’ve also said we’ve done some really good things against the rest of their batting line-up as well.”
Doing homework on de Villiers is like no other assignment in world cricket.
A natural stroke player who can smash the best balls to the boundary with effortless efficiency is an intimidating force, particularly in this rare form.
De Villiers has an unbeaten 71 and a 126 not out from the first two Tests to prove he is the final frontier for Australia.
Starc has been a teammate of de Villiers in the IPL and prefers the view from the nonstriker’s end, rather than charging in to bowl.
At one point during the second Test, captain Steve Smith even ordered Starc to bowl wide outside leg stump to stop de Villiers scoring – a tactic that didn’t make the fast bowler all that happy.
Starc is hungry for de Villiers’ wicket, but knows the key is consistency and patience rather than any kind of magic ball.
“We got him out (Nathan Lyon in the second innings), so that’s a good start. He’s only human,” said Starc.
“He’s a fantastic batter, there’s no doubt about that, and he showed again in the first innings why he’s one of the best in the world.
“We’ve had some lengthy discussions about some plans to him, things we might have to change.
“He seems to be able to play a couple of different shots to the same length ball, so your margin for error is a lot less to someone like him. But you’ve got to think outside the box a lot more with him. A good ball’s still a good ball to any batter in world cricket.
“It’s just bowling to them more consistently, changing the field a little bit and maybe cutting off a couple of scoring areas.
“He’s been allowed to play good cricket shots but I think we didn’t bowl that really good ball consistently enough to him to build a bit of extra pressure on him and make him play the false shot.
“I’m pretty confident in our bowling attack. So there’s no doubt we can get him out four more times in the series.”