For the second time in two days, Mitchell Starc dismissed England opener Zak Crawley for a duck in the Ashes 2025-26 1st Test in Perth.
While in the first innings Crawley played a poor shot, driving on the up to a back-of-length delivery outside the off-stump; in the second innings, the England opener’s eyes popped as Starc stretched every sinew of his body to take an unbelievable catch.
Australia added nine more runs to their overnight total of 123/9 in 6.2 overs and were bowled out for 132, finishing their first innings 40 runs behind England’s first innings total.
Australia needed a good start, and their spearhead pacer stepped up once again for his side as he got rid of the right-handed English opener for a duck in the first over of the innings.
Crawley became the fourth England opener to bag a pair in the Ashes, following on from Trevor Bailey (Melbourne, 1959), Dennis Amiss (Adelaide, 1975), and Michael Atherton (Melbourne, 1998).
AUS vs ENG: [Video] Mitchell Starc Takes Unbelievable One-Hand Return Catch Of Zak Crawley
On the fifth ball of the first over of England’s second innings, Starc attacked Crawley’s pad with an inswinging delivery pitching on length. The batsman looked to drive it down the ground but mistimed his shot, leading to a chipped shot to the left of Starc.
Displaying his athleticism, Starc stretched out his left hand and managed to grab the ball. Even as he went down on the ground, Starc made sure to have his fingers underneath the ball and not lose the grip of the ball as he hit the ground. The third umpire had multiple looks at the video footage of the catch before deeming it a legal catch.
What makes this one-handed catch even more remarkable is that Starc was indeed moving in the opposite direction to the ball in his follow-through.
Starc’s fitness is often praised, as he rarely misses Test matches and major ICC events due to injuries. This superb catch was further testament to his elite fitness.
Watch the video here:
Meanwhile, after Crawley’s early dismissal, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope have added a mini-partnership of 27 runs off 36 balls as England’s lead swells past 60 runs.
Ashes 2025-26 1st Test Playing XIs:
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Jake Weatherald, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
England: Ben Duckett, Ben Stokes (c), Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood
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