Mitchell Starc looks to be regaining the sort of impressive Indian Premier League form that helped Kolkata to the 2024 title as he's begun to work the same magic for table-topping Delhi Capitals.
On a day when Glenn Maxwell delved into his bag of tricks but couldn't pull off one of his familiar conjuring acts for Punjab Kings in a defeat to Jofra Archer-inspired Rajasthan Royals, Starc sprinkled his own pace bowling stardust in the Capitals' 25-run victory over Chennai Super Kings.
In the first part of the Indian league's Saturday double header, Starc helped strangle Chennai's chase in front of their subdued home fans after KL Rahul had scored 77 off 51 balls to inspire the Capitals to 6-183.
Not only did Starc remove skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad for five off four balls, tempting him to hook down the throat of Jake Fraser-McGurk at deep backward square, but two balls later, he should also have sent Vijay Shankar packing, plumb lbw with a toe-thumping yorker.
Alas, the Australian quick clearly thought Shankar must have got some bat on it as Delhi, mystifyingly, chose not to review the not out call.
But spearheaded by his hostile start, Delhi reduced Chennai to 3-41 in 5.3 overs, and Shankar never really got going after his reprieve, ending on 69no off 54 balls, way short of the required rate.
Starc, who'd taken 5-35 in his last outing against Pat Cummins' Hyderabad, has now plundered nine wickets in Delhi's first three matches, helping them become the only unbeaten team in the competition.
Last year, he'd begun slowly and expensively for KKR until finding his best form for them in the knock-out stages. This time, he's been firing from the start. "You can't be unhappy with that, can you?" he smiled.
But there was disappointment for Fraser-McGurk, who departed for a fifth-ball duck, trying unsuccessfully to slog his way out of a tight first over from Khaleel Ahmed.
Ricky Ponting, who oversaw Fraser-McGurk's dazzling debut for Delhi in 2024, has now moved to Punjab Kings but his successful start at his new franchise ended in front of their home fans in Mullanpur as Rajasthan prevailed comfortably by 50 runs.
The Royals put up a formidable 4-205, with Yashasvi Jaiswal hitting 67 off 45 balls and Riyan Parag adding a brisk 43no off 25, with Marcus Stoinis suffering the brunt of their attack, carted for 48 off his four wicketless overs.
After a blistering opening assault from Archer, who struck twice in the first over, Stoinis struggled with the bat too, making just one before he was caught and bowled by Sandeep Sharma off seven delliveries.
Cue Maxwell, who needed to deliver one of his specials. All looked promising as he moved with increasing menace to 30 off 21 balls, while Nehal Wadhera (62 off 41) was going well at the other end.
But he tried for one 'Maxi-mum' too many, attempting to drag a ball from Maheesh Theekshana wide outside his off-stump and deposit it over long-on's head, only to be caught in the deep by Jaiswal. Game over.
Archer, who earlier in the tournament had delivered the worst figures ever in an IPL innings, 0-76, this time ended with a brilliant 3-25 off his four overs as Punjab could only limp to 9-155.
