Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc will be on the verge of creating a massive World Cup record when the defending champions face off against arch-rivals England in the World Cup 2019 semifinal in Edgbaston. The left-armer, equalled Glenn McGrath’s record of most wickets in a single edition of World Cup tournament in the previous game against South Africa. On Thursday, the bowler can take one more wicket to break to register his 27th wicket in the World Cup this year to break McGrath’s 12-year-old record.

McGrath recorded his feat in 2007 World Cup when he picked 26 wickets to take Australia to title win.

Starc’s best has come in the final 10 overs of the innings, where he has picked 11 of his 26 wickets, 2nd highest after Bangladesh’ Mustafizur Rahman, who has 15 wickets in the death overs. His average and economy in the final 10 overs is also the best among bowlers who have bowled at least 12 overs in this phase.

Australia have won the trophy five times, while England have never won the title. It has been 26 years since the Three Lions have reached a World Cup semifinal. Being the hosts, the Eoin Morgan-led side would hope to topple Australia to book a spot in the final.

READ | England v Australia: Three key World Cup battles

“We’re a different sort of animal compared to our last teams. We’ve played well for the past four years, we’re ranked number one and we feel in a good place. We feel on our day we can beat anyone in the world,” England fast bowler Liam Plunkett said before the match which has set the tone perfectly for this much-anticipated clash.

First Published: Jul 10, 2019 14:30 IST