India, June 13 -- Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has a habit of wreaking havoc with the ball in hand. However, this time around, he provided rear-guard action with the bat to bail Australia out of a precarious situation in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa at the Lord's Cricket Ground. The left-handed batter remained unbeaten on 58 off 136 balls as he helped Australia set South Africa a target of 282 runs.

Starc came out to bat at 73/7 with Australia staring down the barrel and running the risk of letting South Africa back in the game after gaining a first-innings lead of 74 runs. However, on Day 2, the left-hander, along with Alex Carey, put on 61 runs for the eighth wicket, rescuing the defending WTC champion...