Aussies scrape home thanks to Stoinis heroics

Marcus Stoinis saved Australia's blushes with a match-winning finishing innings, almost single-handedly taking 18 off the final two overs to get his side out of jail in a low-scoring thriller against South Africa to begin their T20 World Cup campaign in Abu Dhabi.

The Proteas looked on track to win in the second innings despite having stumbling to 9-118 in the face of a suffocating bowling effort from the Aussies, led by player-of-the-match Josh Hazlewood (2-19 from from four overs).

Temba Bavuma's aggressive captaincy kept his side in the hunt as Australia also struggled for runs on a tricky surface, but Stoinis (24no off 16) and Matthew Wade (15no off 10) showed ice-cool composure in the final stages.

After the pair took 10 off Anrich Nortje's penultimate over before Stoinis took strike for the last over and hit two boundaries to get Australia home with two balls to spare.

Had the Proteas won, it would have been the lowest score ever defended at a T20 World Cup.

Australia made the bold call of dropping Ashton Agar, their most effective T20I bowler (in terms of both wickets taken and economy rate) over the last two years, but their attack responded in style by keeping the Proteas to a low total.

Glenn Maxwell (1-24) stepped in as the second spinner with aplomb, while Adam Zampa (2-21) and Pat Cummins (1-17) were also frugal.

Apart from the impressive Aiden Markram (40 off 36 in a lone-hand effort), the South Africans hardly fired a shot with the bat from the moment Maxwell clean bowled Bavuma in the second over of the match.

Kagiso Rabada, who creamed Mitchell Starc for one of only two sixes hit for the entire game, finished as his side's next highest scorer with 19 off 23 balls.

The run chase was far from a cakewalk, however.

Steve Smith (35 off 34) looked to have broken the shackles in a 42-run partnership with Maxwell after pulling Nortje for a rare boundary.

But after Markram took flight for a stunning catch and Maxwell was bowled by Tabraiz Shamsi reverse sweeping in the following over, Australia were on the back foot again.

But Wade backed up Stoinis superbly in the tight win, hitting two important boundaries off Rabada's final over.

Aaron Finch was earlier out for a duck while opening partner David Warner (14 off 15) failed to turn around his rough form patch as the Proteas unleashed Rabada and Nortje, both operating above 140kph in a fearsome new-ball display.

Warner was undone by a Rabada slower ball but a series of boundaries off the gun paceman during his fiery opening spell will have heartened Australia and reaffirmed their belief that a big score is not far away for one of the game's best T20 batters on his day.

His early exit nonetheless left his side in the lurch and when Mitch Marsh (11 off 17) chunked Keshav Maharaj out to deep mid-wicket, the Aussies still required 81 with the required rate approaching seven.

Image Id: FB948E8AAB8E4B78909A162BCBA4D1D3 Image Caption: Maxwell was bowled by Tabraiz Shamsi // Getty

Smith and Maxwell struggled for fluency on an Abu Dhabi pitch not perfectly suited to batting and only hit four boundaries between them before being dismissed within three balls of each other.

Their exits left Australia with two brand new batters in Stoinis and Wade, but the duo's ability to knock off 36 from the final four overs in challenging conditions will have no doubt pleased coach Justin Langer.

Australia could hardly have asked for a better start after skipper Finch won the toss and elected to bowl first on a warm afternoon.

Maxwell, sporting a fresh top-knot hair-do, had an important role to play with the ball in the unexpected absence of Agar and not only did he grab the early breakthrough of Bavuma, but he also delivered his full complement of overs (including two in the Powerplay) for the first time in a T20I in three years.

Hazlewood carried his career-best T20 form from his title-winning IPL campaign by removing dangermen Rassie van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock and remarkably conceding just a solitary run from his own two Powerplay overs.

The dismissal of their most important batter, de Kock, highlighted South Africa's woes; the left-hander stepped across to work Hazlewood behind square-leg, only for the ball to balloon off his body and in the air (where it seemingly floated for an eternity) before eventually landing on his stumps.

Having slumped to 3-23, things went from bad to worse for the South African middle-order as Heinrich Klassen (13), David Miller (16) and Dwaine Pretorious (1) all failed to fire a shot, with Zampa dismissed the latter pair in the same over.

The Proteas innings descended into a fiasco when Keshav Maharaj (duck) slipped attempting to run an overthrow and fell on his backside, leaving Maxwell and Wade to combine for a run-out.

Image Id: 584E9B5CD98C47EFA60ECC024D3525EA Image Caption: Maharaj was run out having slipped over // Getty

Markram's rearguard, which included some delightful drives on the up, was ended when he holed out off Mitchell Starc, who fought back well from conceding 11 runs from the opening over of the game.

Maxwell's strong showing with ball in hand meant there was no need for Finch to throw the ball to Stoinis or Marsh.

2021 Men's T20 World Cup

Australia's squad

Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams

Australia's matches

Oct 23:Australia beat South Africa by five wickets

Oct 28v Sri Lanka in Dubai (6pm local time, 1am Oct 29 AEDT)

Oct 30v England in Dubai (6pm local time, 1am Oct 31 AEDT)

Nov 4v Bangladesh in Dubai (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

Nov 6v West Indies in Abu Dhabi (2pm local time, 9pm AEDT)

All matches live and exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2021 ICC T20 WORLD CUP SCHEDULE

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SQUADS FOR ALL 16 TEAMS

Super 12 stage

Group 1: England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Group 2: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Namibia