Australia’s 21-year-old pacer Mahli Beardman made a dream start to his international career, tearing through England’s batting line-up to claim six wickets on his ODI debut in Perth on Friday. With figures of 6/24, Beardman became the first Australian male fast bowler to take a six-wicket haul on ODI debut, breaking a record that had stood for 38 years.Beardman also became only the second Australian male bowler to take five or more wickets in his first ODI as England were bowled out for just 131 in the series opener.The young pacer struck early, removing England captain Harry Brook before sending Joe Root back to the pavilion. His double blow left England struggling at 55/4 after 14 overs on the Perth Stadium pitch.Beardman continued to trouble the visitors, adding the wickets of Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson and Jofra Archer to complete his six-wicket haul. The former Australia Under-19 World Cup player thus surpassed the record held by Tony Dodemaide, who had taken five wickets on his ODI debut against Sri Lanka on January 2, 1988, at the WACA in Perth.Dodemaide had returned figures of 5/21 in 7.2 overs in that match, a record that remained untouched for 38 years.Beardman’s figures of 6/24 are now the best by an Australian male bowler on ODI debut and the fourth-best overall in men’s cricket. Only Charlie Cassell of Scotland, Kagiso Rabada of South Africa and Fidel Edwards of the West Indies have recorded better figures on their ODI debuts.Speaking to Australia great Mike Hussey during the innings break after claiming his sixth wicket, Beardman admitted that he had been nervous before the match.“I’m not sure what’s just happened,” Beardman said.“It all happened very quickly but it’s just a great honour to represent my country and to take a few wickets is the cherry on top.“I was pretty nervous early. First ball just trying to hit the cut stuff. Once that got out the way everything started to feel natural.”
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