Starc vows to keep batsmen toey

MITCHELL Starc does not care that batsmen know he is going to target their toes as belief grows the World Cup king can deliver Australia back-toback trophies.

Starc will lead the attack against Virat Kohli’s India in London tomorrow night after dragging Australia to a 2-0 start with a death bowling performance against the West Indies for the ages.

The left-arm quick jagged 4-2 in an 11-ball burst that ended the recent nightmares at Trent Bridge as the 2015 World Cup player of the tournament snagged the first five-wicket haul of the 2019 edition.

Starc's 5-46 delivered the world-class Aussies their 10th consecutive ODI win after dropping 22 out of their previous 26.

“Having that [World Cup] experience of four years ago probably helps,” Starc said.

“It’s something I enjoy doing, bowling at the death. You’re not going to win them all, and there’s going to be times where you go the journey or where you don’t quite get your team over the line.

“But I think that’s what I enjoy about the challenge of that. The yorker for me is one I’ve probably gone to more often than not in the past.

“So as long as I keep executing it, hopefully it’s going to be better for me than them.”

Starc’s final spell netted 3-1 as he removed set batsmen Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite in three balls to swing the match.

A slower-ball yorker deceived Brathwaite while West Indies captain Holder then pulled a short ball straight to Adam Zampa. Holder said they were powerless to stop Starc’s yorkers.

“You know what you get with Starc. He comes back and he goes quite full. Credit must be given to him,” Holder said.

Starc became the fastest player in cricket history to claim 150 ODI wickets and picked up his sixth five-wicket haul from just 77 matches.