Best of Mitchell Starc in the IPL: from decimating Royals to dismantling SRH

By Omkar Mankame, Mar 31 (ESPN CRICINFO): Delhi Capitals' Mitchell Starc finished with his career-best T20 figures of 5 for 35 in the IPL 2025 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Having been part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the past, he's played 43 matches in the tournament and has a total of 59 wickets. Here are his five best bowling performances.

3 for 22 for RCB vs Rajasthan Royals, Ahmedabad, 2015

In his second IPL season, Starc spearheaded RCB's pace attack. He began with a disciplined run-a-ball spell against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and followed it up with a commanding performance against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Ahmedabad. After conceding just 16 runs in his first two overs, Starc turned the game with a double strike in the same over, dismissing Steven Smith and Stuart Binny. He capped it off with another wicket, restricting RR to 130 for 9 after they had been 119 for 5. RCB cruised to a nine-wicket win.

3 for 24 for RCB vs CSK, Chennai, 2015

Starc gave RCB the perfect start with a wicket-maiden, leaving Dwayne Smith clueless before uprooting his off stump on the final ball of the opening over. Though he went for runs in his second over, he bounced back at the death, striking twice in the final over. He carried that momentum into the next game, dismantling Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in Bengaluru with 4 for 15.

4 for 33 for KKR vs Mumbai Indians (MI), Mumbai, 2024

Returning to the IPL after nine years, Starc carried the weight of being the most expensive player in auction history. His start, however, was far from ideal - just seven wickets at an economy of 11.78 in his first eight games, with three outings conceding over 50 runs. But against MI, he rediscovered his rhythm. He set the tone by removing Ishan Kishan early and then ran through the lower order with three wickets in the final over, registering his best IPL figures at the time.

3 for 34 and 2 for 14 for KKR vs SRH, 2024

Starc had endured a mixed season, but in the playoffs, he delivered. In Qualifier 1 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he set the tone by castling the dangerous Travis Head for a duck with his second ball and later dismissed Nitish Kumar Reddy. In the final, he once again struck early, breaching Abhishek Sharma's defence before sending back Rahul Tripathi. With match-winning spells in both encounters, Starc was named Player of the Match in both games.

5 for 25 for DC vs SRH, Visakhapatnam, 2025

Starc found a new home in IPL 2025, but his knack for dismantling Sunrisers Hyderabad remained unchanged. He struck twice in the same over, removing Ishan Kishan and Reddy to put SRH on the back foot. DC banked on him to take out Head once again, and Starc delivered, dismissing his fellow Australian to leave SRH reeling at 37 for 4. He returned at the death to wrap up his maiden five-wicket haul in T20s.