Friday 25 / October / 2024
Bridgetown, Barbados: Australia's campaign - and bid for titles across all three formats – began on a successful note but not before they came under early pressure from unfancied Oman at the Kensington Oval on Thursday morning (Oman time),
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh admitted that it was a “close game” and “good to get the win.”
“It was a pretty close one in the end, but good to get a win first up. Everyone’s going to have to play a little bit different this tournament I think,” he said.
Marsh added: “It's not going to be the 200 types in this tournament. We are kind of going to the old T20 style here in this tournament. It was a tight one, but great for the game of cricket.”
Looking ahead after picking the first two points and going top of Group B, Marsh said,” We go on to England now and hopefully that’ll be a good game with a good crowd.”
On Mitchell Starc limping off, Marsh said: “Just a cramp, we just took him off as a precaution, but he says he’s fine.”
The skipper praised Marcus Stoinis for his all-round performance. “It was pretty special from him, he took his time and then got going through the end of the innings,” he added.
Oman should be proud of themselves: Stoinis
Player of the match Stoinis praised Oman’s performance. He said: “Oman played really well. They showed goods skills with bat and ball, fielded well. The spinners bowled really well. They should be proud of themselves on how they played today.”
On the win, Stoinis said: “It is a nice start. We got the win and boys spent some time in the middle and everyone got to bowl. I was trying to soak up the conditions and keep it simple. Couple kept low and couple were spinning for the spinners. It seemed like swing wasn't available, and I was trying to get some bounce with cross-seam deliveries.”
He added: “There were maybe a few cobwebs for us but we’re better for it.”
On the match-changing over when he got a reprieve and then blasted for 26 runs, he said: “Davey (Warner) and I spoke about targeting the first couple of balls of that next over and then you know, you get the first few away and you think to try and turn it into a big over.”
