Australia ease past Oman

All-rounder Marcus Stoinis scored an unbeaten 67 and took three wickets as Australia recorded a comfortable 39-run win over Oman in their Twenty20 World Cup opener in Barbados on Wednesday.

Put into bat after losing the toss, the test and one-day world champions had a shaky start, losing Travis Head early on before Oman’s Mehran Khan struck twice in two balls to claim the wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell.

Stoinis’s arrival brought some stability and he combined for a 102-run partnership with opener David Warner (56), which took Australia past the 150-run mark.

The 34-year-old also had a significant impact with the ball, taking the wickets of Oman captain Aqib Ilyas and batter Zeeshan Maqsood.

“Yeah it was a nice start. Maybe a few cobwebs for us but we’re better for it, and nice that we got the win,” Stoinis, named the Player of the Match, said. “And nice that I got to spend some time in the middle and have a bit of a bowl.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Uganda scored their first-ever victory in a Twenty20 World Cup after beating Papua New Guinea by three wickets in a low-scoring match in Guyana.

The African side bowled out their opponents for 77, before Riazat Ali Shah’s calcu-lated knock of 33 helped them chase down the target with 10 balls remaining.

“Super proud of the work they put in. To get a win for their country at a World Cup, it is pretty special,” Uganda captain Brian Masaba said.

“It has been quite a journey. Three to four years of very, very hard work, by the players and the board back home. — Reuters.