Oman won the toss and opt to bowl
This is certainly a well above-par total by Australia. On a sluggish surface, Stoinis managed to play a terrific knock that could well prove to be the deciding factor between sides. His 36-ball 67 included 2 fours and 6 sixes played a pivotal role in Australia smashing 101 off the last 8 overs. While Warner held one end, Stoinis took on the bowlers and injected the much-needed momentum through the middle overs. Australis lost three inside 9 overs, including a golden-duck from Maxwell, but the 100-plus partnership between Warner and Stoinis helped them post a challenging total on the board.
Marcus Stoinis: I’m happy how I finished, it was very tough. (On Warner’s knock) Shows his experience at the top of the order every game, he is class apart. He spent time in the middle and didn’t panic, he did what is right for the team. We were going to accelerate regardless and if you get one or two boundaries at the start, you target that over. Nothing outright but that’s part of a game-plan.
Australia innings
Overs 1-8: 50/1 (RR: 6.25)
Overs 9-12: 13/2 (RR: 3.25)
Overs 13-20: 101/2 (RR: 12.625)
A convincing win in the end for Australia. Oman had them under serious pressure when Mehran was on a hat-trick in the 9th over. Stoinis wasn’t going great and Warner dropped anchor to hold one end tight. Stoinis was caught on the boundary but Ayaan Khan wasn’t smart enough to stop himself from touching the ropes and that was the moment Stoinis needed to trigger a counterattack. 26 was taken off the same over and Australia pounced the moment they sensed Oman were pushed on the back foot. Just being patient helped them and that’s experience for you. Starc set the tone early with the ball, Ellis followed and Stoinis was in the game with the ball too taking the next two wickets. Ayaan and Mehran contributed decently with bat but they started too late and had too much to do. Starc had an injury scare and went off with a confirmation later that it was just cramp.
Marcus Stoinis | Player of the Match: 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.
Aqib Ilyas | Oman captain: We tried to defend a low target in the first game played a Super Over after a long time and today played a team like Australia. On turning tracks our bowlers can do well. Credit to our bowlers. One catch (off Stoinis) we messed up and you saw that over being taken for many runs and Stoinis. Media doesn’t show the positive things that we saw (smiles, when asked about his comment on Australia in the pre-match PC). They are top players and we respect them. Our bowlers did well. We had a grip on the game till the 14th over. Unfortunately. I wanted to take a catch. One of our ex captains Zeeshan dropped a catch and it was highlighted a lot for one year. I wanted to take a catch (off Maxwell) like that against Australia. We messed up our plans. He was hitting straight down the ground easily. We then decided to change the plan and make him hit to the longer side boundary. We have to work on our batting. We have done in the past. If we can bat well in the powerplay it will be important for us and as a batter I have to do well there. Hopefully we will turn up better next time.
Mitch Marsh | Australia captain: Close game. Good to get the win. It’s not going to be the 200 types in this tournament. We are kind of going to the old T20 style here in this tournament. (On Stoinis) Took his time and showed his experience. Starcy was just a cramp so didn’t want to take a chance. When Starcy says I am okay to go off you let him go off. We are looking forward to playing England. Different conditions here. Oman v Australia was a tight one, great for the game of cricket. There is sun here and we will enjoy that. It’s going to be a great game.
So, Australia have got their first points but they had to work hard for the win. Credit to Oman for pushing them and if only the fielding was a tad better you never know how this game could have panned out. The Aussie dressing room was quite tense for the first 14 overs of the game. That’s it then for today.