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Follow UsAustralia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade dug their side out of trouble with an unbeaten 40-run stand against South Africa to get off the mark in the T20 World Cup 2021. Stoinis, who scored an unbeaten 16-ball 24, reckons that the trend of having low scores in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which was also held in the UAE, will continue in the T20 World Cup.
Chasing 119 in Abu Dhabi, Australia managed to get home in the last over with five wickets in hand. "It was quite hard to get under the ball because it was skidding on quite a bit. It was more skidding on and it wasn't too quick. So it's hard to get under and up, under the ball," Stoinis said at the post-match press conference.
"But I guess partnerships is the key, and then get used to the conditions while you're out there. It's one thing having a plan but you also have to work things out on the fly while you're out there."
"We saw through the IPL the scores were not as high as they have been in the past and that might be a trend we'll see in the World Cup."
Stoinis also reckons part-timer Glenn Maxwell will continue to chip in with the ball throughout the competition. Maxwell picked up the wicket of Temba Bavuma early and gave away just 24 runs from his four overs.
"Maxi's is a brilliant T20 bowler. He's obviously played so much and one of the benefits of batting like he does is he understands the game and he understands what batters are trying to do, so I think he's definitely someone we should be using through this World Cup and in general in white-ball cricket," Stoinis said.
"It did match up to a few of their left-handers and the wicket suited it. But yeah, there's no reason why he won't be bowling," Stoinis managed just 89 runs from seven IPL 2021 innings added.
Australia played three frontline fast bowlers in this game, which meant there was no place for spin all-rounder Ashton Agar in the XI. Speaking on that, Stoinis said, "It was always going to be hard for someone that missed out. All of those players that were in the mix there, all of us, there's an argument for everyone to be on the team.
"I think also the power play bowling is really important and it showed today. Josh Hazlewood bowled brilliantly. He went for pretty much no runs and seven or three overs I think."
"Pat Cummins bowled brilliantly and Starcy (Mitchell Starc) finishes off with a deafening swing with a new ball. There's no easy answers and we'll probably just see what happens as the tournament goes," Stoinis who had 400 runs and 10 T20I wickets for Australia explained.
Australia move to Dubai for their next match against Sri Lanka, which will e played on Thursday (October 28)
