Starc strikes as Oz thrash Derbyshire

Derby, August 31 

Mitchell Starc pressed his case for an Ashes berth with a four-wicket haul as Australia completed their preparations for next week’s fourth Test in Manchester with a comfortable innings and 54-run win over Derbyshire.

Starc, yet to feature in the Ashes, ended the match 15 minutes before lunch on the third day when he took two wickets in two balls. He had Hamidullah Qadri caught in the slips by Matthew Wade before clean-bowling Dustin Melton.

With Derbyshire paceman Tony Palladino unable to bat because of an ankle injury, the match ended with Derbyshire 112 all out. Left-arm fast bowler Starc finished with figures of 4/39 in 10.4 overs.

Australia came into this three-day game after a stunning one-wicket loss in the third Test in Leeds, where England all-rounder Ben Stokes’s superb 135* saw the hosts level the five-match series at 1-1.

Derbyshire resumed on Saturday on 53/3, 113 runs behind Australia’s first innings 338. Starc could be recalled for the fourth Test, with the pitch at Old Trafford in Manchester expected to be the quickest of the series. The series is tied 1-1 with the fourth game starting on September 4 before the final Test begins on September 12 at the Oval in London. — AFP