Captain Mitchell Marsh scored a fierce 64 from 33 balls as Australia defeated Oman by 9 wickets in Kandy on Friday to end their miserable T20 World Cup campaign.
After bowling Oman out for 104, Australia rushed to 108/1 with more than 10 overs remaining, with Marsh hitting 4 sixes and 7 fours overall and reaching his 50 inside the six-over power play.
Josh Inglis was 12 not out and fellow opener Travis Head hit 32, but the victory over a 20th-ranked Oman team will not offer much comfort following a dismal campaign in Sri Lanka.
After losses to co-hosts Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, a diminished Australia missed the second phase for just the second time in the event’s history.
Australia landed without their injured fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins after losing 0-3 in Pakistan. Marsh then suffered testicular hemorrhage after being struck during practice, and they lost him for the first two games.
After Zimbabwe’s match against Ireland was called off on Tuesday, Australia’s bitter media did not hold back in their judgment of their plight that came due to selection “stuff-ups”.
Promoting Tim David to number four as a “power hitter” despite the fact that he hadn’t played since December due to a hamstring injury and staying with the dreadfully ineffective Cameron Green were the most significant of these.
Previously a match-winner with the bat, Glenn Maxwell battled for runs, and the Australians missed Cummins and Hazlewood’s expertise terribly. Despite being Australia’s top run scorer in the previous two group games, Matt Renshaw was oddly left out of Monday’s crucial encounter against Sri Lanka.
Australia’s Xavier Bartlett removed Aamir Kaleem with the first ball of the Oman innings after Marsh won the toss and decided to bowl.
Wasim Ali top scored with 32 as Oman were bundled out for 104 in 16.2 overs, with Adam Zampa taking 4/21 and Bartlett taking 2/27.
“It’s been a really tough few days. There are some pretty quiet voices around the group right now. We’re feeling flat about the World Cup ending so early for us. I’m pretty disappointed overall. I’m certainly not ready to be flying home tomorrow,” AFP quoted Zampa, who was named player of the match, as saying.
