Bridgetown (Barbados): Marcus Stoinis smacked a quick-fire unbeaten half-century and claimed three wickets as Australia began their T20 World Cup campaign with a comprehensive 39-run victory against Oman at the Kensington Oval on Thursday.
Stoinis helped Australia recover from a top-order slide with a brutal unbeaten 67-run knock off 36 balls to help them post 164/5 in the company of David Warner (56). He then produced figures of 3-0-19-3 as the 2021 champions grabbed two points.
Oman tried to take the fight to the opposition but their lack of experience showed as they could manage only 125/9 in 20 overs.
Oman were pegged back when Nathan Ellis (2/28) and Mitchell Starc (2/20) struck once each inside the first three overs.
Starc produced a vicious inswinger on the third ball of Oman’s innings which hit Pratik Athavale (0) on the pads, but Australia were forced to take a DRS review after their appeal was declined on the field.
Oman then reviewed unsuccessfully when Ellis pinned Kashyap Prajapati (7) in front of the wickets for the second wicket.
Stoinis struck on the final ball of the powerplay to deliver a body blow, removing Oman skipper Aqib Ilyas (18) who looked to counter-attack. Ilyas was caught by Matthew Wade, who was sharp behind the wickets throughout.
Stoinis also claimed Zeeshan Maqsood (1) when he got the batter caught behind in the eighth over to ensure Australia’s dominance in the game.
Late in their innings, Ayaan Khan hit an impressive 30-ball 36 with two fours and as many sixes while putting on 37 runs for the seventh wicket to delay the inevitable.
After being asked to bat first, Australia put on 164/5 in 20 overs. Stoinis’ knock arrested a top-order slide for the Australians after opener Travis Head (12) and skipper Mitchell Marsh (14) were unable to convert their starts.
Veteran all-rounder Glenn Maxwell’s misery continued with the bat as he was dismissed for a golden duck off Mehran, with Ilyas taking a stunning one-handed grab flying parallel to the ground.
Stoinis and Warner put on 102 runs for the fourth wicket from 64 balls after Australia were reduced to 50/3 at one stage and were in need of a revival.
Warner played a cautious knock in which he struck six fours and a six to make 56 and went past former Australia captain Aaron Finch in terms of getting most runs (3,120) for the country in the shortest format.
The left-handed Warner completed the feat in his 104th match for Australia.
Stoinis, on the other hand, was more belligerent of the two as his 67 not out came off only 36 balls, studded with two fours and six sixes.
For Oman, Mehran Khan claimed 2/38 while Bilal Khan and Kaleemullah took one wicket each. Ilyas delivered an impressive, measly spell of 4-0-18-0 and Shakeel Ahmed was not far behind with his effort of 4-0-28-0.
