Stoinis shines as Australia cruise past Oman in T20 opener

Bridgetown: Marcus Stoinis shone with bat and ball as Australia launched their bid for a grand slam of major cricket titles with a 39 run victory over...

Bridgetown: Marcus Stoinis shone with bat and ball as Australia launched their bid for a grand slam of major cricket titles with a 39-run victory over Oman at the T20 World Cup in Barbados on Wednesday.

Stoinis smashed a game-changing 67 not out off just 36 balls to power Australia to 164-5 and then took three wickets for 19 runs as Oman were restricted to 125-9 in reply at Kensington Oval.

"It was a nice start," player of the match Stoinis said afterwards. "Maybe a few cobwebs for us but we're better for it, and nice that we got the win.

"And nice that I got to spend some time in the middle and have a bit of a bowl."

Stoinis hammered six sixes and two fours during a swashbuckling batting performance that led Australia's recovery after they had slumped to 50-3 earlier in the innings.