Marcus Stoinis once again after his innings vs Oman proved why he is an utility player for Australia with the bat. Scotland could almost touch a history-making moment. Australia’s asking rate was approaching 13 going into the final seven overs of their chase in what, until then, had been an underwhelming performance. But Marcus Stoinis, with help from Travis Head and later Tim David, shattered their dreams and in turn left England breathing a sigh of relief in Antigua, the result securing their Super Eight berth in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Marcus Stoinis, who mixed deftness and power in another impressive performance in what is becoming an outstanding tournament for him, put it back in Australia’s favour with a 25-ball half-century while Head turned on the afterburners after compiling a somewhat sedate 45-ball fifty with three sixes off consecutive legitimate deliveries.
Pitch and Toss
“A nice grass covering,” adds Matthew Hayden. “Not going to turn a great deal. But it will have a little bit of extra bounce and extra pace. Winning the toss is a big advantage.”
“The weather in absolutely fantastic,” Pommie Mbangwa says in his pitch report. “There is a pretty strong wind blowing across. The two square boundaries are 66 and 69 meters. Down the ground is 78 meters.”
Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to bowl with two changes in the team replacing Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood with Mitchell Starc and Ashton Agar. Scotland team skipper Richie Berrington batting first made no changes in their Playing XI.
Munsey, McMullen make flying start in the Powerplay
Ashton Agar, playing his first game of the World Cup, struck in the first over when he had Michael Jones playing on to a delivery that came in with the arm. Scotland overcame that early setback emphatically as Brandon McMullen and George Munsey led a thrilling counter. The first boundary of the innings was hit only in the third over as McMullen leant into a lofted drive over cover for six. He struck another six off the fourth over bowled by Mitchell Starc, lifting Scotland’s scoring rate above six for the first time.
Both openers were beneficiaries of half chances going their way as Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head couldn’t hold on to two tough grabs. The batters made most of the reprieves, plundering 29 from the final two PowerPlay overs with the left-handed Munsey hitting Glenn Maxwell for a pair of sixes and a four, which included a switch-hit into the stands behind cover.
McMullen scores the second-fastest half-century of this World Cup
McMullen continued to maintain Scotland’s brisk tempo even against the spread-out field. The game was essentially about using the wind as a tactical tool along with the lopsided dimensions. McMullen was particularly excellent while hitting the spinners straight in the ‘v’, getting his timing right even when forced to hit against the wind from one end.
The in-form Adam Zampa was launched for a six over long-off and then cut away past backward point for four. In the next over, McMullen got on one knee to slog sweep Agar for a six and then hit against the wind to clear the ropes beyond extra cover. He got to his half-century off 26 balls – the second-fastest of the tournament.
Munsey tried to keep pace by sweeping Maxwell for a six before the offspinner tossed the next ball wide of off stump, forcing Munsey (35 off 23) to drag his sweep straight to deep midwicket. The end of the 89-run stand was followed by Zampa slipping in a quiet four-run over. McMullen’s stunning 34-ball knock for 60 then ended soon after he struck his sixth maximum as he could only manage an edge with an attempted swipe and was caught at short third-man.
Having been put in, it took Scotland a couple of overs to size up conditions and midway through the third they were still to reach double figures. That changed when McMullen lofted Nathan Ellis stylishly over long off. Even better was to follow as he used his feet against Mitchell Starc and flayed him into the stands over cover.
When Adam Zampa was introduced he showed excellent footwork to send him for six, then drive through the off side against a shorter delivery, with another brace of sixes coming off Ashton Agar in the eighth over as he brought up a 26-ball fifty.
At the other end, George Munsey had labored somewhat to 4 off 10 balls but then followed the lead of McMullen by taking on Glenn Maxwell’s over inside the powerplay with 14 off the last three balls. He swept Maxwell for another six before dragging a wider delivery into the hands of deep midwicket next ball. From 92 for 1 after 8.5 overs, Scotland will look back with some regret that the remaining 11.1 overs only brought 88 runs. A large amount of the credit for that has to go to a pair of skillful death overs from Ellis who continued to impress.
Berrington adds heft to total but Australia keep a lid on the hitting to restrict Scotland to 180
Australia, who had an iffy day on the field with as many as six half-chances put down, produced five excellent overs at the death even though the first ball of the 16th – from Agar – was hit for six by Richie Berrington. Fast bowlers, Ellis and Starc, executed their wide lines to good effect as Scotland found no boundaries in overs 17, 19 and 20. Berrington though scored a useful 42 to push the total to 180.
Australia had an uncharacteristically poor day in the field. None of the chances were simple, but in all they missed six catches – the most in a Men’s T20 World Cup match according to ESPNCricinfo data.
At one stage, they put down three in consecutive balls: Zampa palming Matthew Cross’ pull over the fine leg rope, Mitchell Marsh spilling a low one at cover and then Matthew Wade being unable to take a glove down the leg side when Cross swept at Maxwell. Earlier, there had been two put down in Starc’s second over when Marsh couldn’t hold a chance above his head at mid-on and Head grassed a tough one at cover from McMullen.
Australia ended up using 12 overs of spin with Agar, Maxwell and Zampa all bowling their full complement. They will be back in St Lucia to face India in their final Super Eight fixture. For a while it appeared Scotland would be joining them but that proved agonizingly out of reach.
Warner, Marsh fall in sluggish start to chase in the Powerplay
Australia suffered an early setback in chase after Michael Leask bowled a two-run opening over. In the second, David Warner was very early into his drive against Brad Wheal’s cross-seam delivery and Berrington settled under the skier.
After two overs, Australia were 3 for 1 and even though they managed four boundaries in the next two overs, they were still going at under a run-a-ball. Michael Jones put down a tough catch against Head when the batter was on 17 but Sufiyan Sharif struck in the final over of the PowerPlay to dismiss Marsh, who hit a short ball straight to deep mid-wicket.
Marcus Stoinis, Head up the ante in the middle overs
The post-PowerPlay period began with a fierce square cut from Head that sailed with the wind for six but Scotland stayed ahead when Mark Watt spun one viciously past Glenn Maxwell’s defence to clean up the big hitter. It brought Marcus Stoinis to the middle, who injected much-needed momentum into the innings by hitting two fours off the first three balls faced. This included a reverse-sweep, a shot he would repeatedly execute with devastating effect.
Scotland kept things tight and pushed Australia to a position where they needed to get 89 from the final seven overs. The tide turned in the 14th over and did so rather dramatically as Marcus Stoinis went 6, 6 and 4 against Michael Leask with a powerful hit down the ground sandwiched by two reverse sweeps. Marcus Stoinis found two more boundaries in the next over to race away to 47 off 24 and bring the equation down to 60 from the final five overs.
Australia could not get up or ahead of the asking rate through the first half of the innings. When Glenn Maxwell, who had struck one six over long-on, was defeated by a wonderful delivery from Mark Watt, which pitched on off stump and straightened, Scotland were buoyant and there was a sense that Australia could pay for being off the pace.
However, Marcus Stoinis got away from his first ball with the help of a misfield, square cutting one of Watt’s 24-yard deliveries. So often known for sheer brute force, he then deftly reverse-swept Michael Leask from the first delivery of the next over and looked on his game. Still, the requirement had become a demanding 87 off 39 balls when Marcus Stoinis took down Leask with a reverse-hit six over point then another down the ground.
When Head slammed three sixes off Sufyan Sharif the tide had firmly turned; at one stage a series of 12 legitimate deliveries brought 46 runs. Sharif did strike back to have Head taken at long-off, but Australia had given themselves breathing room.
Scotland can’t withstand Australia’s power as they go down by 5 wickets
Head played a strangely subdued hand in the partnership, getting to his half-century off 45 balls. But three sixes in the 16th over bowled by Sharif effectively signaled the irreversible change of the two teams’ fortunes. Head fell for a 49-ball 68 attempting a fourth six in the over. Marcus Stoinis then struck three more fours before finally missing a reverse-sweep to be bowled for a 29-ball 59. It was a late consolation for Scotland, whose dream had wilted by then.
Marcus Stoinis, who mixed deftness and power in another impressive performance in what is becoming an outstanding tournament for him, put it back in Australia’s favour with a 25-ball half-century while Head turned on the afterburners after compiling a somewhat sedate 45-ball fifty with three sixes off consecutive legitimate deliveries.
Although both departed, Australia entered the last over needing just five but there was one final twist. With three needed off four balls, David was dropped at deep midwicket by Chris Sole and with that went Scotland’s last hope. The next ball was sent into the stands.
Scotland could almost touch a history-making moment. Australia’s asking rate was approaching 13 going into the final seven overs of their chase in what, until then, had been an underwhelming performance. But Marcus Stoinis, with help from Travis Head and later Tim David, shattered their dreams and in turn left England breathing a sigh of relief in Antigua, the result securing their Super Eight berth in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Richie Berrington the loosing skipper said : I thought we were in a good position. We were in a great position for the first 10 overs We had a really good start but it was a good wicket and we should have executed a bit better with the bat. They have a few good strikers in their team and they managed to pull it back at the back end.
There is a bit of breeze on this ground, so we were trying to make them hit away from the crease. A few overs we didn’t nail, and they capitalized. We were expecting a bit more with the bat after the position we got ourselves in, but all the guys can hold their head up high. A fantastic knock from Travis Head and then Stoinis. We are disappointed but this is a great learning for us.
Mitchell Marsh the winning skipper said : We knew that we had qualified. We spoke about sticking to our plans. Scotland are a good team, they have improved a lot and we certainly wanted to respect them. We just wanted to stay consistent and if we fail, we fail our way. Whenever our team is challenged, it brings the best out of us.
Today we were challenged and it was a good experience and a good game of cricket. We start fresh now. T20 is a hard format and you need to stay focused at all times. (On chat about England) It was all more externally than internally, we won today. That’s all that matters.
Marcus Stoinis for his half century won Player of the Match said : The plan was usual, get yourself in, play nice shots, try to hit the ball hard and then assess the situation. There was a strong breeze and that was the area to hit, the pitch was really good and I thought the Scots batted well.
We (himself and Head) were just talking about batting along, take on one bowler and I think he changed the game with those three sixes. I’ve been playing consistently, getting chances over the last 3-4 months and in the IPL, that’s helped me keep up with the form and get the runs.
Marcus Stoinis went on the attack from the get go, and the momentum shifted in the 14th over when Leask was taken down for 18 runs. Travis Head proved to be the killer of dreams once again, as he hit Sufiyan Sharif for a hat-trick of sixes to make Australia the favourites. Head couldn’t stay till the end, and neither could Marcus Stoinis who both fell after fifties.
However, the damage was already done and Tim David then providing the finishing with his trademark late cameo. Scotland gave it everything, they fought for every ball and every run, but a couple of dropped chances perhaps cost them the game in hindsight. Scotland head up back but they head back home with their heads held high.
They battled like bravehearts today, and Australia might have taken away the 2 points from them today, but they certainly can’t take away the battling spirit shown by Scotland against the odds. For a nation that faces about 300 days of rain in a year, Scotland have managed to build a cricket team that gave an almighty scare to both England and Australia – two powerhouses of the sport.
Australia will have a four-day gap before they play their first Super-8 game on June 20 in Antigua. They’ll meet one of Bangladesh or Netherlands in that clash. Scotland have crashed out of the tournament on Net Run Rate.