AUS vs OMN: Marcus Stoinis stars as Australia secure convincing win against Oman

Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Starc were the stars of the show as Australia registered a convincing 39-run win over.

Oman to start their T20 World Cup campaign off in perfect fashion on June 6, Thursday. Stoinis scored 67 runs and picked up 3 crucial wickets to be the star performer of the match and carry his form from IPL 2024 into the ICC event. Chasing 165 to win, Oman’s came to an end at 125 for 9 as they suffered their second defeat of the campaign.

After being put into bat, the Aussies didn’t have a great start with the bat as they lost Travis Head early. The wicket was doing its fair share of tricks as Mitchell Marsh and Warner struggled to get going. Mehran Khan would then come into the attack and picked up two wickets to completely rock the Australian innings. First, he dismissed Marsh and followed it up by sending Glenn Maxwell back to the pavilion after Aqib Ilyas took a stunning catch.

Stoinis and Warner steadied the ship before the all-rounder flipped the switch in the 15th over as he took apart Mehran for 26 runs, which also included 4 sixes. Stoinis and Warner continued to counter-attack as the Oman bowling started to fall apart under pressure. Stoinis scored 67 off 36 balls and got support from Warner who got 56 off 51 as Australia posted 164 in the end.

The Oman chase got off to the worst possible start as they lost Pratik Athavale for a duck as Starc bowled an incredible yorker. Nathan Ellis came in and applied the squeeze which led to the wicket of Kashyap Prajapati. Ilyas provided some entertainment with a few lusty blows, but his wicket sort of ended the chase for Oman.

Stoinis would add to his tally after dismissing Ilyas with the wicket of Zeeshan Maqsood as Starc also came in to grab another one. Adam Zampa reached the landmark of 300 T20 wickets when he yorked Shoaib Khan. Australia were made to sweat on the fitness of Starc, who had to go off the field after picking up a niggle.

Ayaan Khan and Mehran provided some late entertainment with cameos but Australia would ensure they got all the points in the end.

All-round Stoinis key for Australia
Stoinis was a match-winner for LSG in the recently-concluded IPL when he scored a fine hundred in a chase against CSK at Chepauk. He has always been a tricky customer with the ball and his all-round skills would be key for Australia, if they’re to go the distance in the tournament.

On a sluggish wicket, where others struggled for timing, Stoinis rode on his luck and started to take the attack to the Oman bowlers. This was the right approach as Australia seemed to be lost in Barbados at that time.

He would then come in and picked two big wickets to cap off a fine night. With Glenn Maxwell struggling for form and Mitchell Marsh yet to be ready to have a bowl, Stoinis seems to be the leading all-rounder in the side at the moment.

Oman walks the talk with the ball
During the pre-match presser, Ilyas raised quite a few eyebrows with comments. Heading into the game against the mighty Aussies, the skipper sounded confident and even claimed that his bowling attack can choke the batting line-up of the former champions.

That is exactly what happened during the game as Oman strangled Australia early on and they were in all sorts of trouble. This defiance with the ball was seen in the Namibia game where they refused to give up and defend a target of 110.

Oman will need to improve on certain aspects of their game as they kind of got flustered when Stoinis launched the counter-attack. However, the signs are promising for Oman as they continue to grow in international cricket.