There is a certain indescribable thrill that makes fans erupt in delight when a batsman launches the cricket ball beyond the boundary, with brute power or just with sheer timing, with a classical stroke or an innovative one. Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Brendon McCullum and many others have provided many such moments in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
The only other moment that produces such a spontaneous response from the crowd is the sight of the wicket exploding when a fast bowler beats a batsman's defence. And when Australian pacer Mitchell Starc produced many such gems on
Saturday to haul his team back on the rails, he was only replicating New Zealander Trent Boult's efforts with greater accuracy.
To be sure, the bowlers had a fantastic time at Eden Park in New Zealand and it made for great viewing, even from this distance. Yes, a certain Mitchell Johnson was missing the fun. Called to lead Australias defence of a poor total, the left-arm pacer could not find his rhythm after conceding 11 runs off the first ball to Martin Guptill including a free-hit six.
Johnson was caned like rarely before, first by New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and, when he returned for a spell with the older ball, by Corey Anderson. It did not matter that he was able to string together a series of five dot balls to Martin Guptill in his first over and a maiden over to Anderson in what was his final over.
It was a wrong day for things to be so horribly wrong for Johnson. He missed out on reaping a harvest and, worse, cost his team so many runs. He was hit for 17 runs in his fourth over and 16 in his fifth while Boult and Starc turned in immaculate performances. It was almost as if the other left-arm pacers were bowling on a different track than Johnson.
There was so much joy to be had in the manner in which Boult and Starc stunned batsmen, bowling as many as seven batsmen between them. They showed character in returning for their second spells and wreaking havoc in the opposition ranks. And much as McCullum's blitz led him to a half-century, it was Boult and Starc who caught the imagination of the fans.
Boult came into play only after an expensive Tim Southee had bought the wickets of opener Aaron Finch and David Warner, while left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori's length deceived Shane Watson to commit hara-kiri. Of course, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh dragged deliveries from Boult to their stumps before he castled Starc with a straight-as-a-rocket thunderbolt.
It was when Starc started castling batsmen that the crowd got to watch the amazing sight of a fast bowler's craft. Making up for Johnson's unproductive bowling, Starc bowled Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Adam Milne and Southee besides stunning Luke Ronchi with a quick, rising delivery. It was quite an exhibition of pace bowled with an immaculate line of attack.
Of course, no batsman, not even a tailender, would like to have the stumps uprooted, almost as if a firecracker were set off at the root of the wicket. But one has to admit that while a soaring cricket ball gives spectators time to react collectively, the fans' reaction time is tested when a fast bowler breaches a batsman's citadel with pace, movement and accuracy.
The World Cup has seen tracks in Australia where fast bowlers like Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, Jason Holder and Jerome Taylor have come a cropper but it has been a different story in New Zealand. Or was it just Boult and Starc who were pumped up against some poor batting efforts and made the crowd scream b-o-w-l-e-d in unison and in awe?
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