HOBART // Australia’s Mitchell Starc looked forward to the knockout stages of the World Cup with confidence after taking four wickets in the co-hosts’ comfortable win over Scotland in their final Pool A match in Hobart on Saturday.
Michael Clarke’s men were already through to the quarter-finals but there was no easing up from left-arm fast bowler Starc at Bellerive Oval.
The 25-year-old took four for 14 in just 4.4 overs as Scotland were shot out for 130 after Clarke won the toss.
That left Starc topping the tournament bowling charts with 16 wickets in five matches at a stunningly low average of 8.50 apiece.
“I’ve been working quite hard with Craig McDermott (Australia’s bowling coach) since the one-day series in Zimbabwe. I look forward to continue with (my form) through the back-end (of the World Cup),” said Starc.
“Yeah, the ball is coming out nicely, I can’t complain at all. Well, it’s coming out consistently, but more importantly we’re winning games and that’s all that matters,” the New South Wales paceman added.
Starc’s brilliant six for 28 almost rescued an improbable win for Australia over fellow co-hosts New Zealand at Auckland’s Eden Park in a match they eventually lost by just one wicket.
But since then it’s been a largely smooth ride into the quarter-finals for Clarke’s men, bidding to win Australia’s fifth World Cup title and first on home soil.
“As long as we’re winning games, confidence is going to be high, and especially going into the knockout stages, taking a bit of momentum,” said Starc.
“I think we’re all bowling quite well, we’re training well, so yeah, personally it’s just nice to see the ball coming out consistently. We’re working on different plans, whether it be in training or in the game, but it’s nice to see them coming off.”
Australia recalled fast bowler Pat Cummins for Saturday’s match, in place of spinner Xavier Doherty. Although Cummins took three wickets, his seven overs cost 42 runs.
But Clarke said the match situation when Cummins was bowling had to be taken into account. “He’s obviously had a little bit of a niggle there and he’s come back well,” said Clarke.
“He bowled quick, bowled really good balls, got three wickets, and he went for a couple of runs, but I think the writing was on the wall for them; they (Scotland) were seven down and chancing their arm.
“I don’t think he bowled badly at all. He bowled some really good balls that got hit for runs. He’s only going to get better. He’s only 21. He’s had a couple days off from bowling. He’ll be better off for the run.”
Clarke, who missed a midweek training session to ‘manage’ his longstanding hamstring injury, then made a run-a-ball 47 after promoting himself up the order to open.
“I still felt a little bit rusty there with the bat,” said Clarke. “Mentally all the guys are switched on, and because they’re training so well that makes life a lot easier, it’s just today things worked out nicely.”
Australia will play as yet to be determined opponent in a quarter-final at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.
Asked how much he enjoyed playing in Adelaide, Sydney native Clarke jokingly replied: “Not as much as I enjoy Sydney.
“It’s always nice to play in Australia, it’s a ground that we’ve all played some cricket at and we all know quite well.
“We’ll prepare well, as we have done for the whole World Cup, and be ready to go no matter what we face.”
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Celtic Prince, David Liska (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer).
7.05pm: Conditions Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Commanding, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
7.40pm: Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Grand Argentier, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 2,200m
Winner: Arch Gold, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed Dh265,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Ibn Malik, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
10pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Sri Lanka World Cup squad
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal.
