Allrounder Marcus Stoinis has produced one of the best performances of his international career to power Australia to a 39-run victory over Oman in their Twenty20 World Cup opener. Stoinis did it with bat and ball, helping Australia out of a tricky position following a sluggish start to their innings in Bridgetown. The 34-year-old became just the third player in T20 World Cup history – after Dwayne Bravo (West Indies) and Shane Watson (Australia) – to score a 50 and take at least three wickets.
T20 World Cup 2024: Australia beat Oman by 39 runs – as it happened Read more After being sent in to bat by Oman captain Aqib Ilyas, Australia struggled early before reaching 164-5 in an unconvincing 20 overs at the crease. Stoinis fired with an unbeaten 67 from 36 balls, smashing half a dozen sixes, including four during a vital 15th over. Veteran opener David Warner and Stoinis put on 102 for the fourth wicket after finally adjusting to the spin-friendly pitch, having at one point gone 30 deliveries between boundaries.
Warner – who took his overall T20 total for Australia to 3,155 – anchored the innings during his 51-ball stay, in the process overtaking his former opening partner Aaron Finch (3,120) as Australia’s most prolific batter in the format. Oman never looked like chasing down the total, slumping to 34-4 in the eighth over as Stoinis claimed 3-19 to go with his brutal performance with the bat. Ayaan Khan (36) and Mehran Khan (27) showed some resistance for Oman, w.
