Mitchell Starc castles Aiden Markram for a duck in the first over in SA vs AUS 2025 WTC Final [Watch

Australia left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc set the tempo for his side by dismissing South Africa opener Aiden Markram for a six-ball duck in the final session of Day 1 of the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Lord's on Wednesday, June 11. The left-arm pacer had a massive role to play with the new ball after a late collapse reduced the Men in Yellow to just 212 in the first innings.

The Proteas had all of the momentum after claiming the last five wickets for just 22 runs. Earlier in the innings, the South African new ball bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen got assistance from the pitch as well as the overhead conditions to trouble the Australian top order.

Although there was no cloud cover after Tea, Starc used his prowess to make the new ball talk. He found his trademark swing and also got the ball to move off the pitch. The left-arm seamer troubled Markram from the word go, initially bowling the ones that goes along with the angle, while mixing things up with inswingers in between.

The right-handed batter just about managed to survive an inswinger midway through the over after it caught the inside edge. In the final ball of the over, he had to deal with yet another inswinger. This time around, the inside edge after a tentative poke crashed onto the stumps.

Have a look at the dismissal right here:

This marks the seventh time that Markram has been dismissed for a duck in Test cricket, and the first time since 2021. Starc had taken the former skipper's wicket only once previously, during the infamous Sandpaper Gate Test in Newlands, Cape Town, during Australia's 2018 tour.

Mitchell Starc almost claimed his second wicket but Alex Carey could not hold onto the ball

The veteran pacer almost had a second wicket in his third over, but wicket-keeper Alex Carey dropped a sitter to hand Wiaan Mulder a second life.

At the time of writing, Starc has bowled four overs, conceding only five runs with a wicket to his name as well. Pat Cummins has introduced himself into the attack, with the score reading 14-1.