Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis scripted history on Tuesday with a blistering half-century against Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup match at Perth Stadium. He hit Maheesh Theekshana for a six to complete his half-century in 17 balls which helped him become the fastest Australian to hit a fifty in T20Is. He broke the record of David Warner and Glenn Maxwell who reached the mark in 18 balls in the past.
Sri Lanka fought hard on Tuesday but Stoinis just changed the game on his own with his display of brute force, he remained on 59 off 18 balls as Australia romped home in 16.3 overs. His memorable knock included half a dozen sixes and four boundaries.
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Fastest T20I 50s by Australians
17 – Marcus Stoinis vs Sri Lanka in 2022
18 – David Warner vs West Indies in 2010
18 – Glenn Maxwell vs Pakistan in 2014
18 – Glenn Maxwell vs Sri Lanka in 2016
19 – David Warner vs South Africa in 2009
Stoinis shared an unbeaten 69-run stand for the fourth wicket to help Australia register a crucial which helped them improve their net run rate from -4.45 to -1.555.
His 17-ball half-century was also the joint-second fastest in T20 World Cup history. Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh leads the tally for his ferocious 12-ball half-century against England in 2007 T20 World Cup match, it was the same game where the southpaw slammed 6 sixes in an over against Stuart Broad. While Netherlands Stephan Myburgh slammed a 17-ball half-century against Ireland in 2014.
Fastest 50s in T20 World Cups
12- Yuvraj Singh vs England in 2007
17 – Marcus Stoinis vs Sri Lanka in 2022
17 – Stephan Myburgh vs Ireland in 2014
18 – Glenn Maxwell vs Pakistan in 2014
18 – Shoaib Malik vs Scotland in 2021
18 – KL Rahul vs Scotland in 2021
Meanwhile, After losing their opening match to neighbours New Zealand by a big margin, Australia had to win against Sri Lanka to keep alive their hopes of making it to the knockout rounds. Tuesday’s comprehensive win gave the hosts a huge boost in their NRR.
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After the win, Stoinis revealed that he was nervous before the start of the match as he was playing at his home city Perth.
“Ronnie (Andrew McDonald) actually said to have a look at the quicks as it was doing a bit and I feel comfortable, then to have a go at the spinners. Once I got in, the plan was to keep going. To be honest, I was really nervous today being at home in Perth, lot of family and friends here. So, I was really nervous going into it, but really happy that we ended on putting up a clinic there,” Stoinis said after the match.
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