In the final over against New Zealand in Dharamsala, Mitchell Starc was trusted to do the job he’d done countless times before.

With 19 runs to defend, a set and raring-to-go Jimmy Neesham came on strike for his second ball. As ever, Starc sent the ball down full, tailing in at Neesham’s leg stump. But, instead of sending the stumps flying, it flew past a diving Josh Inglis behind the stumps and down to the boundary for five wides. The next two balls were nailed middle-stump yorkers, the fourth was pulled back and in the slot. It was only thanks to a desperate dive from Marnus Labuschagne that it too didn’t find the rope.

That was followed by a thigh-high full toss that Neesham should have mowed into the stands. If he’d done so instead of clothing it towards deep cover, the scores would have been level and the game effectively over.

Before the 2023 World Cup, Starc had taken 59 wickets in the death overs in ODIs at an economy rate of 6.41. In the 2019 tournament, he was the competition’s most potent weapon at the back end and had, at that point in his career, taken a wicket every 14 balls in the last ten overs of an innings.

He was comfortably Australia’s best bowler throughout that tournament, with 13 wickets more than the next best pacer in Pat Cummins. He finished as leading wicket-taker, with 27 wickets at 18.59 and the best strike rate of anyone except Mohammed Shami (20.51). While David Warner and Aaron Finch tore attacks apart with the bat, Starc ensured they had enough with the ball to challenge for the title.

This time around, Australia’s World Cup is once again clicking into place, with Warner peppering the stands one last time and Adam Zampa stealing the spin show. But Starc’s integral contribution is so far nowhere to be seen.

The match against New Zealand was the first time he had failed to take a wicket in a 50-over World Cup game. So far in this edition, he’s taken seven wickets in six games at an average of 43.28. Both Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have more wickets, better averages and better strike rates. While Zampa is holding their turnaround together on the wicket-taking front, they’re missing their cut-throat left-armer, capable of running through the tail and obliterating top orders in the powerplay.

Before the tournament, Starc was the runaway favourite to become the first pacer to lead the wicket-taking standings in men’s 50-over World Cups for three consecutive editions. He had the best bowling average of any pacer in the tournament’s history at 14.83. A hat-trick against the Netherlands in a warm-up match, hooping yorkers ripping stumps out of the ground in all their glory, sent out the warning signs that he was again set to terrorise all those in his path. As did his opening over against India, where he claimed Ishan Kishan’s wicket and gave a brief moment of panic to the home favourites.

But since then, that overall World Cup average has climbed to 18.37 and only once has he bowled his full quota of overs. Against New Zealand, he was Australia’s most expensive bowler, sending down three wides and conceding 18 runs off his first two overs, after which he was taken off.

It’s hard to put your finger on the reason why he’s no longer the bowler who ripped through everyone in two tournament’s past. But, at almost 34, he’s no longer the quickest bowler in the world, just part of the pack of high-80s guys touching 90. The balls don’t seem to have swung as much as they did for his blistering spells against the West Indies and New Zealand in 2019. Conditions for batting have been good, and his lengths haven’t been as pinpoint as previously. A combination of all of those has gone into his wind-down, without one being the definitive factor.

There’s no escaping that Starc is an all-timer in ODIs. He’s up there with the greatest modern quicks in the format and and challenges the greatest ever. His performance in this tournament jars as a sudden contrast to his consistent brilliance. But for Australia, for whom it’s all clicking into place at the right time, he’s currently the missing piece in their potentially trophy-winning puzzle.

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