Marcus Stoinis reacts after scoring record-breaking half-century for Australia: I was really nervous

T20 World Cup: Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis put on a show in Perth, hitting the fastest half-century by an Australian. The batter scored 59* on only 18 balls.

Archive photo of Marcus Stoinis vs Sri Lanka. (Courtesy of: Reuters)

By India Today Web Desk: Marcus Stoinis brought the Australian T20 World Cup campaign back on track with a thunderous half-century against Sri Lanka on Tuesday 25 October. Stoinis broke the record for the fastest fifty goals scored by an Australian, surpassing David Warner’s 18-ball innings. Stoinis set his record in just 17 balls against Sri Lanka in the Super-12 stage of the T20 World Cup. The Perth-born Australian gave Australia a much-needed breather in their T20 World Cup campaign, as the defending champions fell to an 89-point defeat to New Zealand in their opener.

Stoinis, who came into the tournament and didn’t score many points, said he was quite nervous during the 158-run chase because many of his family and friends stayed here.

“Once I got in, the plan was to go ahead. To be honest, I was really nervous today because I was home in Perth, lots of family and friends here. So I was very nervous going in, but really glad we finally set up a clinic there,” said the all-rounder.

Stoinis’ blitz came at a time when Australia was really struggling. Captain Finch hadn’t timed a single ball and Glenn Maxwell had left after playing a 12-ball cameo. Stoinis said the wicket was very good and he had felt refreshed after coming in from a short break just before the T20 World Cup. The all-rounder was selected as the man of the match for his 59* out of 18 balls.

“Mentally I was nice and fresh, I had some free time with this side tribe, it’s been teasing me for a while, but so far it’s going well. We played here against England recently and it was a beautiful wicket. This looked like it could be a bit more did especially with the new ball but it’s a beautiful ground and probably the best ground in Australia if not the world with the technology and lighting here and my home crowd it’s a beautiful wicket “We have finished this match and are looking forward to it to play against England in the MCG (on Friday). They are clearly a very good team, so we will do our homework again, rest, get on the run tomorrow and move on from there,” concluded in the post-match presentation.