While hammering fours and sixes in the ICC T20 World Cup Super 12 match against Sri Lanka here on Tuesday, charismatic Australian batter Marcus Stoinis also broke quite a few records in the process. The hosts, riding on his half-century, thrashed the Islanders by seven wickets to get their campaign in the main event back on track.
Stoinis' incredible unbeaten 59 from just 18 balls made him the quickest half-centurion for Australia in T20I cricket. The all-rounder scored an unbroken total of 18 balls, six maximums, and 17 deliveries to complete his half-century, one more than teammate Glenn Maxwell's previous Australian record for the quickest 50.
Stoinis added as he accepted the "Player of the Match" trophy, "Ronnie (coach Andrew McDonald) said if I feel comfortable then take a go at the spinners. According to the ICC, only Moeen Ali of England, Shai Hope of the West Indies, Colin Munro of New Zealand, and Yuvraj Singh of India have recorded faster T20I fifties.
In addition, Stoinis's power-hitting performance puts him joint-second all-time for fastest fifty-run scores at a Men's T20 World Cup. The Australian shares the record with Stephan Myburgh of the Netherlands, who completed his 17-ball feat against Ireland in 2014. Yuvraj of India still retains the record for the fastest T20 World Cup fifty and fastest T20 fifty, reaching his mark against England in 2007 after just 12 deliveries.
In Wanindu Hasaranga's fifteenth over, Stoinis hit three straight boundaries, scoring 18 of the subsequent 19 runs. With Stoinis' third six of the over, he reached his 50th in style. He then added 19 of the 20 runs, all of which came off the 16th and off-spin from Maheesh Theekshana.
According to Stoinis, "Once I got in, the idea was to keep going." "Being around so many family members while playing at home made me a little uneasy. We completed this game, and we eagerly anticipate playing the English at the MCG."
The middle-order should not be a problem for the hosts as they pursue a spot in the tournament's last four thanks to Stoinis' outstanding performance, Maxwell's smashing 23 off only 12 balls, and the fact that neither Tim David nor Matthew Wade were ever utilised in the chase. The top order, which still faces difficulties, is an exception to this rule.
Aaron Finch, the captain, experienced frustration once more as he managed to score an unbroken 31 while consuming 42 deliveries in Australia's pursuit of 158 to defeat Sri Lanka. In his innings, he only managed one boundary and had some hesitation on numerous occasions.
Finch admitted, "My innings were strange, they were bad, and I just couldn't hit the ball." "We were aware that the crucial opening four or five overs with the ball belonged to Kumara, who was nipping it around. It was going to be crucial to set up the back half of the innings if we could go through that none or one down because it was seaming a long way there.
It would have been fantastic if I could have continued to run and sped up that pursuit. A little strain was put on the middle order by the Australian captain's strike rate of 73.80, especially after David Warner (11 from 10) and Mitchell Marsh (18 from 17) had also struggled.