"It feels like a long time since we’ve seen this Stoinis" - Fans react to the all-rounder's fifty in AUS vs OMA 2024 T20 World Cup match
Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis rescued his team's innings with a brilliant counter-attacking knock in the 2024 T20 World Cup clash against Oman. The match is underway at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
The Aussies were put into bat first on a tricky pitch and fell into some early trouble. Stoinis walked out to bat when Australia were tottering at 50-3 in the ninth over, and having just lost Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell off consecutive deliveries.
Much like all batters in the contest, Stoinis got off to a scratchy start as his first boundary came on the 16th ball he faced. But with Australia desperately needing a push, he made most of the momentum from that boundary to hit four sixes in the 15th over bowled by Mehran Khan.
Stoinis continued the push into the death overs and remained unbeaten on 67 runs off 36 deliveries at a strike rate of 186.11, which is no less than a goldmine on such a track. He smashed two fours and six sixes as Australia crossed the 160-run mark and posted a commanding 164-run total considering the conditions.
Fans lauded Stoinis for his innings-rescuing knock under difficult circumstances. Have a look at some of the reactions on X here:
"It feels like a long time since we’ve seen this Stoinis, welcome back king," one tweet read.
"Such a classic Stoinis innings, scratchy as all get out early and then boom," one user tweeted.
"That's what having your home base at a venue like Ekana does to you," another fan remarked.
"I’m happy how I finished, it was very tough" - Marcus Stoinis
Stoinis was involved in a 102-run stand with David Warner for the fourth wicket which took the game away from Oman. The all-rounder was recently snubbed by Cricket Australia from the central contract list for the 2024-25 calendar year.
Stoinis came into the T20 World Cup following a relatively decent campaign with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL).
"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," Stoinis said during the innings break.
Oman have started their run chase with a boundary off Mitchell Starc and will have to come up with a special effort to chase the total down.