Australia’s World Cup defence remains alive.
A blistering attack from Marcus Stoinis (59* off 19) saw Australia cruise to a seven-wicket victory with 3.3 overs remains, as the all-rounder smashed the nation’s fastest half-century in T20 history to see them chase down 158 for victory. His 18-ball 50 was the second fastest in T20 World Cup history.
Here are our talking points from the thrilling finish.
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FINCH STILL A MASSIVE WORRY
Even Finch had clearly had enough of his innings.
The moment came in the midst of Marcus Stoinis’ unbelievable 17-ball half-century, when he made batting look ridiculously easy.
Finch, however, was making batting look ridiculously hard.
Dished up a juicy half-volley from Maheesh Theekshanka, Finch’s mistimed hack down to long-on for one run that followed said it all.
As did the angry cry of ‘oh my god’ from Finch that came through loud and clear on stump mic.
Nasty throat bouncer floors Maxwell | 00:53
By the end of the night, the Perth crowd was audibly groaning every time Finch ended up on strike instead of hometown hero Stoinis.
“You can’t have a player scoring 27 from 39 deliveries,” former Sri Lankan star Russel Arnold said in commentary.
“Through this tournament it’s going to hurt.”
Finch somehow made it to the end of the innings unbeaten on 31 from 42 balls — but it’s unlikely he takes any confidence from the knock.
Of those 42 balls, only one found the boundary off his blade.
In his defence, the ball was seaming around early on and the extra bounce from the Perth deck proved to be a handful for both sides.
But Finch looked like a walking wicket for most of the night, while his inability to time the ball is a major concern moving forward.
“Obviously my innings was unusual. It was poor,” Finch said after the match. “I just couldn’t hit the ball.”
He added: “They bowled a hard length and it was tough. It’s such a big ground, it’s hard to stand and deliver and especially with a bit of bounce and the ball seaming slightly, you feel it’s not quite as easy to hit the middle of the bat.
“That’s no excuse for how I played, but it was nice to get the two points.”
NERVES ON SHOW FOR AUSTRALIA
With every six Marcus Stoinis hit you could see the relief.
Australia – the defending champions – were nervous.
When Australia won in the UAE there was an internal belief.
Their form had been horrible, the team wanted their coach Justin Langer out and very few thought this would be the year that Australia – the kings of ODI cricket – would end their T20 World Cup hoodoo.
In the end, Australia managed to stay in the fight and they delivered a brilliant team performance right throughout the campaign.
Twelve months later and the stage is different.
The T20 World Cup is being played in their backyard and there is an expectation that they will win the tournament.
They’re the oldest squad in the World Cup and the tournament looms at the final tournament for captain Aaron Finch.
This is the end of the era for him.
The context by which the tournament is being played out in part explains why Australia looked agitated in the field.
Sighs were made, hands on head, moans and frustrations as opportunities slipped by.
Needing to beat Sri Lanka emphatically to ease their run-rate pressure following Saturday’s shellacking, the pressure was obvious on the faces of Australia’s T20 stars.
Finch slammed the turf five times with his right hand after he failed to save a final ball boundary in the ring field – it showed a captain who knew the importance of saving every run.
“Aaron Finch, he looked a little bit agitated out in the field,” former Australian captain Adam Gilchrist said.
“He had frustrations in trying to get the attention of his fielders. He ended up misfielding the last ball of the innings that went through his dive to the boundary for four and he punched the turf in anger.”
STOINIS’ BIG MATCH ABILITY
Shortly after Stoinis’ epic innings, the 33-year-old admitted he was “nervous all day”.
You would not have known.
Some players go into their shells when under pressure. Others go on the attack.
Stoinis was sent down short of the length deliveries early and he managed to get them away. There was a late cut to the fence and a ball worked down the leg side too.
But when the ball was pitched up, he went after it.
By freeing his arms, he expressed himself.
His incredible half-century, which included six sixes and four boundaries, was the sort of knock that could allow his team the chance to breathe.
This was a side under huge pressure and Stoinis’ match-winning innings is the sort of one that says to his team, ‘hey, we’re Australia and we’re here to play.’
Stoinis has timed the ball ever since he returned to the national team in Perth against England earlier this month.
His return to form is a huge boost for Australia because he helped save his nation on a few occcasions during the last World Cup, including against South Africa and Pakistan.
To have a fit and firing Stoinis is a major boost.
Pat smashed for 20 after AWFUL review | 00:56
CUMMINS ‘NOT IDEA’ T20 FIT AS NEW OPTION EMERGES
The performances of Pat Cummins are set to come under the microscope after another disappointing night with the ball from the Test and ODI captain.
Cummins was once again comfortably Australia’s most expensive quick, while his bowling in the death overs is a point of concern.
Against Sri Lanka, Cummins conceded 20 runs in a final over that included two wides and three boundaries.
Cummins’ economy rate bowling in the death overs in 2022 is now 13.01.
While the fast bowler has 12 dot balls on the night, he leaked six boundaries compared to three from Josh Hazlewood and one from Mitchell Starc.
Hazlewood and Starc were relatively tidy on the night, taking 1-26 and 1-23 respectively, while Cummins went for 1-36.
Against New Zealand, Cummins conceded 0-46 and was Australia’s most expensive bowler.
There will inevitably be more questions about Cummins’ suitability to the 20-over game with a lack of variations arguably hurting his overall threat.
Prior to the match, Kerry O’Keeffe said on Back Page Live that he believed Cummins’ place in Australia’s T20 XI is vulnerable with 20-over specialist Nathan Ellis waiting for a shot.
“They are the best red ball pace attack in the world – Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc – but Hazlewood has made himself a T20 bowler but Pat Cummins’ length allows batsmen to get under him,” O’Keeffe said. “And that’s why people like the Nathan Ellis, who should have been in this squad and bowl yorkers, slower stuff, much more variety inside the four overs than Pat.
“(He’s) still an outstanding bowler by the way, but they read him perfectly.”
That point was then hammered home hours later with Cummins once again failing to make a meaningful impact.
