An injury to a star all-rounder and a third ball duck to David Warner wasn’t the best news for Australia in the IPL a month out from the T20 World Cup.
The World Cup campaign for Marcus Stoinis has suffered an early setback after the all-rounder injured his hamstring while bowling in the first match for the Delhi Capitals in the re-started Indian Premier League in Dubai.
Stoinis, who is part of the Australian squad for next month’s tournament, pulled up in pain during the first ball of his second over and limped off the field.
He took no further part in the match as the Capitals went on win the game over Sunrisers Hyderabad, with opener David Warner out for a third ball duck.
Fellow Aussie Steve Smith stepped in as a substitute fielder for Stoinis, having been overlooked for the starting team.
Australia‘s first match of the T20 World Cup is a month away and Stoinis looms as crucial part of the lower order with the bat, having developed his game to be a “finisher”.
But while Stoinis faces an injury issue, fellow all-rounder Mitch Marsh is heading towards top-gear ahead of the tournament after blasting a century for WA in the opening domestic one-day game on Wednesday.
Marsh, who made the number three position in the Australian T20 side his own during recent tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh, said he’d skip this weeks Sheffield Shield game to keep his focus only on white ball cricket.
He’ll have at least one more game for WA before travelling to the World Cup.
“I’ve just tried to mirror my preparation from the last tour, and that was solely a Twenty20 focus,” Marsh said after today’s one-day win in Adelaide.
“This is white-ball cricket and fairly similar, and obviously I want to be playing as much cricket for Western Australia as I can but I‘m representing Australia in a World Cup and it’s a huge tournament.
“So I want to be in my best form going into that.
“To be brutally honest, I’ve just practiced hitting sixes and that’s all I really did before I went away (to the Caribbean) and it seemed to work for me.
“I’ll keep doing that, and I guess when I eventually play some red-ball cricket that will have to change but I’m just enjoying training hard and preparing for games so nothing will change too much.”
Marsh knows he may not bat at number three at the World Cup with a raft of Australia’s top-line batsmen, including Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell, returning after missing the overseas tours.
“I’m hopeful to be up there (in the top-order), but we’ve got so many good players,” he said today.
“I mean Steve Smith has held that role for a fair while now and he‘s a fair player that guy.
“Whatever role I get, whether it‘s batting at number three or floating through that middle-order like we do with all those guys in there, I’m going to be really clear on my role and do it to the best of my ability and hopefully help Australia win games of cricket.”