2023 ODI World Cup winners Australia made a sloppy start in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Though the Aussies won the game against Oman, the key player’s performances came under the radar.
Glenn Maxwell who was expected to make a comeback in the World Cup event, once again failed and returned with a golden duck. Following a successful outing in the IPL 2024, Travis Head was expected to make an exceptional inning but failed abruptly and managed to score just 12 runs in 10 balls.
Captain Mitchell Marsh also failed with bat and scored just 14 off 21 deliveries. With Warner-Stoinis century stand, Australia managed to make their way back into the game.
Stoinis’ allrounding performance against Oman paved the way for Australia’s maiden victory of the edition. While speaking in the post-match presentation, Stoinis revealed his thought process he had during the game.
“Nice start, we got the win and boys spent some time in the middle and everyone got to bowl. I was trying to soak up the conditions and keep it simple. Couple kept low and couple were spinning for the spinners. It seemed like swing wasn’t available, and I was trying to get some bounce with cross-seam deliveries”, Stoinis said.
Speaking of the match, Oman decided to bowl first after winning the toss. As expected David Warner and Travis Head opened the inning for Australia. Travis Head who was in an exceptional form in the recently concluded IPL 2024 was expected to make an extraordinary performance in Australia’s opening game of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
But shockingly, Head got dismissed for 12 runs and returned to the pavilion while Australia scored 19 runs in 2.4 overs. Australia captain Mitchell Marsh was also dismissed without making much impact on the scoreboard.
Mehran Khan dismissed Marsh for 14 runs in the second delivery of the ninth over and also dismissed out-of-form Maxwell for a Golden duck in the very next ball. With a couple of quick wickets, Australia struggled to make a partnership but David Warner and hard-hitter Marcus Stoins made a century stand and brought back the team into the game.
David Warner who gave a steady inning for Australia lost his wicket in the final ball of the 19th over for 56 runs while Stoinis managed to score just 8 runs off the final over. With a century stand in the middle order, Australia scored 164 runs for 5 wickets loss at the end of 20 overs.
On the other hand, the defending ODI World Cup champions once again did an impressive job with the ball. Starc in the 3rd ball of the second inning dismissed Pratik Athavale and made an early breakthrough.
Without much contribution from the batters, Oman failed to chase down the target in the allotted 20 overs and fell short by 39 runs with a wicket remaining.
After an outstanding performance with bat, Marcus Stoinis also made an impact with the ball by bagging 3 wickets for 19 runs in 3 overs.
Australia will play their next match of the tournament against England on June 8 in Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
