of australia Marcus Stoinis The “backs are still against the wall” said the all-rounder led the holders to victory over Sri Lanka after facing England on Friday in the Twenty20 World Cup. The hosts and defending champions made a comeback as New Zealand returned from their opening day’s innings to beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in Perth on Tuesday. Stoinis smashed the Sri Lankan attack with a knock of 59 off 18 balls as the hosts chased down the target of 158 runs with 21 balls to spare. Next to Australia is arch-rivals England, who won their first match against Afghanistan in Melbourne.
Stoinis knows his side has little room for further error in their crown defense. “I think the back is still against the wall,” Stoinis said. “It’s going to be a really important game for us.
“I don’t know what the equations are going to be later on during the tournament. It’s rained a bit around Australia as well, we’ll try to take that game forward.”
England, who had recently beaten Australia in the three-match T20I series, were the hosts as well as the favorites ahead of the tournament. They would like nothing more than to lead Australia to the exit.
“They are a very, very good team,” Stoinis said of the England-led side joss butler, “Very strong batting line-up, skilled bowlers, good mix of left arm, right arm spin, leg spin, so he covered all the bases.”
He added: “Obviously we didn’t start this World Cup campaign the way we wanted this World Cup campaign to start, so it’s good to be on board. It’s going to be a big game at the MCG on Friday. He is going.”
Stoinis hit four fours and six sixes in 18 balls to overtake the Sri Lankan bowlers, which also included the spinners. Mahesh Dikshana And Vanindu Hasranga, The Perth-born Stoinis credits playing in the Indian Premier League for his development as a power-hitter.
“Definitely IPL has changed my cricket and helped me grow and it is not only playing on wickets but having coaches from all over the world, players from different countries,” said the 33-year-old.
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“I’ve played for quite a few teams in the IPL over the years, so you come across a lot of techniques and mindsets about how to play spin, so it has definitely helped me improve.”
Stoinis represented the Lucknow Super Giants franchise this year.
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