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Starc impresses in ODI triumph

Australia spearhead back to his best as home team completes series clean sweep against New Zealand

Mitchell Starc's impressive one-day spell has Australian cricket captain Steve Smith relishing what the paceman might unleash in the coming Test series against Pakistan.

The left-armer led the Australian attack with 3-34 from 10 overs in Friday night's one-day belting of New Zealand at the MCG.

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Most tellingly, Starc produced his trademark yorkers to great effect.

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"He's gotten better with every game he's played," Smith said of Starc's Australian season.

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"He's getting back to his best - he bowled some beautiful yorkers (at the MCG), that he's very well known for.

"When he's doing that, we know he's going pretty well."

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Pat Cummins also impressed in the 3-0 series sweep against NZ as he builds to a Test recall.

It left coach Darren Lehmann happily speculating about a potential four-man Australian pace battery, similar to the terrifying West Indies combinations of the 1980s.

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Once James Pattinson also returns from injury, Lehmann admitted earlier this week he would love to see an attack featuring the Victorian quick alongside Cummins, Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

But Smith was more circumspect, noting fellow paceman Jackson Bird and spinner Nathan Lyon already were in the Test team.

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SA swing bowler Chadd Sayers, who missed out on selection for the Test win over South Africa in Adelaide, is also in the squad for the series opener against Pakistan, which starts on Thursday at the Gabba.

"That's a good question – we'll have to wait until they're all up and running, whether we go down that path," Smith said when asked about the Four Horsemen scenario.

"We have some guys around who are doing a good job at the moment as well – obviously Chadd Sayers and Jackson Bird in the squad and Nathan Lyon."

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