NEWS
Follow UsAfter comfortably winning their first game against Soman, Australia is ready to face arch-rivals England in the second game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Their Test skipper, Pat Cummins, wasn’t in the game. However, Australia didn’t need his help much, as after a small quibble while batting, they defeated Oman comfortably by 39 runs. Marcus Stoinis was the star of the contest with both bat and ball, scoring 67(37) and picking three wickets for just 19 runs in his three overs.
Ahead of their clash against England, skipper Mitch Marsh faced the media and removed doubts about why Cummins missed the last game.
“Patty will be back in,” Marsh said.
“He'd played a lot of cricket, had a long travel and we wanted to make sure he was right for this game. So, yeah, as simple as that.”
Marsh also informed us that “ [Mitch] Starc is all good” and that he had “just a bit of cramp from the other night.”
Australia also played its first game at Bridgetown and is familiar with the venue and the conditions it will face in Barbados. The pitch was on the slower side, and the Australian middle order was in a tough spot trying to deal with Aqib Ilyas’s off-break.
“I think we certainly know the conditions that we're going to be faced with throughout the tournament now, so one of the key things we've spoken about is just trusting ourselves and, first game of the World Cup, maybe a bit of nerve, but yeah, nice to get the win and yeah, looking forward to tomorrow,” Marsh assured the media.
Speaking on the challenges facing the Australian side, the question of selection remains the big one, as Australia will have to decide between Nathan Ellis and Pat Cummins. Marsh, meanwhile, was positive about the availability of multiple options for the Kangaroos.
“Yeah, I think with the 15 we've got, we've got a lot of options with our team that we can pick, and it will just be conditions-based and we're certainly not set on anything, just we want to pick the right team for winning a certain match and then go from there,” the Australian skipper said.
“Nell [Ellis] brings us a lot of variety with the way he bowls. He's a great death option. But I think, as we spoke about before, we've got a squad of 15 here and a lot of bowling options that we can go to. So, whether it's three quicks, two spin, got to mull over that over the next few hours and come up with a team.”
On the challenges that await him and his side from the opposition, he earmarked Mark Wood and Jofra Archer and their express pace that can create issues for the Aussie batters.
“Well, they [Wood and Archer] bowl 150 kmph an hour, so that's always a threat. They are two quality bowlers, and yeah, I'm looking forward to that challenge.”
He also mentioned how Barbados has been an excellent destination for the Australian team.
“Barbados is a beautiful part of the world. Cuzz's Fish Shop I think it's called, near our hotel — best fish cutter on the island. I've had about 20 of those. And it's a special place, there’s a lot of history in this place when it comes to cricket. So, we all love coming here.”
Australia and Scotland, Namibia, England, and Oman are part of Group B.
