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Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis continued his fine run in T20s with yet another match-winning contribution for his country during the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in a game against Scotland on Sunday.
In the match against Namibia, Stoinis scored 59 runs in just 29 balls, with nine fours and two sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of 203.44. In the ongoing tournament, Stoinis is having a brilliant run as an all-rounder. In four games and three innings, he has scored 156 runs at an average of 78.00 and a strike rate of 190.24, with two half-centuries. His best score is 67*. He is the second-highest run-getter in the tournament so far, next to Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaz (167 runs in three matches). In four games, Stoinis has also taken six wickets at an average of 8.66 and an economy rate of 5.77, with the best figures of 3/19. He is the joint fifth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. Stoinis has been absolutely clutch for Australia in the T20 World Cup while chasing. He has managed scores of 24*, 16*, 40*, 7, 59* and 59 while chasing for Aussies in the tournament. He has scored 205 runs in these six innings at an average of 102.50 and a strike rate of 178.26, with two half-centuries. His T20 WC record as a batter is also really great, having scored 362 runs in 15 matches, 11 innings at an average of 60.33 and a strike rate of 166.05, with three half-centuries. His best score is 67*. In 29 T20 matches this year across the international and franchise cricket, Stoinis has scored 716 runs at an average of 32.54 and a strike rate of 145.23, with a century and four half-centuries. His best score is 124*, which came in the Indian Premier League (IPL) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at their home arena of Chepauk Stadium, through which he helped his side chase down 211 runs single-handedly. He has also taken 25 wickets at an average of 16.56 and an economy rate of 7.96, with the best figures of 3/18. This establishes him as one of the best all-rounders in T20 cricket out now. Coming to the match, Australia put Scotland to bowl first. After losing Michael Jones early, George Munsey (35 in 23 balls, with two fours and three sixes) and Brandon McMullen (60 in 34 balls, with two fours and six sixes) put a quickfire 89-run partnership to put Scotland back in the game. A fine knock from skipper Richie Berrington (42* in 30 balls, with a four and two sixes) took Scotland to 180/5 in 20 overs. Glenn Maxwell (2/44) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia. Ashton Agar, Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa got a wicket each. In the run-chase of 181 runs, Australia lost some early wickets and were 60/3 at one point. Then, an 80-run partnership between Travis Head (68 in 49 balls, with five fours and four sixes) and Marcus Stoinis (59 in 29 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) took Australia to the brink of a win and Tim David (24* in 14 balls, with two fours and a six) applied some fine finishing to get the win with two balls left. Mark Watt (2/34) was the pick of the bowlers for Scotland. Stoinis took home the 'Player of the Match' award. With this win, Australia tops Group B with four wins in four games and eight points. Scotland failed to qualify for the Super Eights, finishing third with two wins, a loss and a no result, giving them five points. Defending champions England have walked into the Super Eights with this big assistance from their arch-rivals, as they also have the same win-loss record and points as Scotland, just the higher net-run-rate. (ANI)
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