Marcus Stoinis hit the joint second fastest half-century in T20 World Cup history as Australia kick-started their tournament with victory over Sri Lanka.
Playing in his home town of Perth, Stoinis took just 17 balls to get to the milestone. Only Yurvraj Singh, who reached 50 in just 12 balls against England in 2007, has gone faster in the competition’s history.
It meant Australia raced to their victory target of 158 with 21 balls left over, and just three wickets down.
“I was quite nervous [playing in front of friends and family at home] and the intention was to put an impact on the game,” said Stoinis, who hit six sixes in his whirlwind effort of 59 from 18 balls.
“I wanted to provide a bit of energy for the boys and get a spark going. It felt like we bowled pretty well in the powerplay. A few balls went in the air into gaps but we were pretty happy with the way we bowled. There are a few things we can tidy up.
“Obviously we didn’t start the way we wanted this World Cup campaign to start. Being in your home country, that is not how we want to play.
“It is only one game, but it is nice to be on the board. It is going to be a big game on Friday at the MCG.”
The margin of the win was important for the host nation given their opening day thrashing at the hands of New Zealand.
It improved their net run-rate significantly. Ahead of the game, that measure was an unsightly -4.450. After it, it had been slashed to -1.155.
They face England next in Melbourne, and Stoinis said they will be hoping to repeat how they played against Sri Lanka.
“Our backs are still against the wall,” Stoinis said. “It is going to be a really important game for us.”
Aaron Finch, Australia’s captain, said his side are looking forward to their latest meeting with a side against whom they played a three-match series immediately prior to the tournament.
“It's always a great event [playing against England],” Finch said. “Any format of the game, anywhere in the world, it's pretty special so we're looking forward to it."
Sri Lanka’s task was made all the more difficult as they lost yet another player to injury.
Having had three players withdrawn from the tournament during the preliminary round in Geelong, they saw Binura Fernando limp off just five balls into his new-ball spell.
Chris Silverwood, the Sri Lanka coach, says they are having to juggle their resources at present, but was full of praise for the opposition’s match-winner.
“The way he came in and played was exceptional,” Silverwood said.
“He showed how much power he has and it made life very difficult for us. We knew that Australia had to come hard at us because of the net run-rate [issues].
“He played superbly well. We had plans, but as with anything, players are allowed to play well. He took the fight to us.”
