Australia’s Marcus Stoinis plays a shot during the T20 international cricket match between Australia and Pakistan in Sydney, Australia.
| Photo Credit: AP

Marcus Stoinis bludgeoned 61 not out off 27 balls as Australia swept Pakistan 3-0 in the Twenty20 series with a seven-wicket victory in the final game on Monday (November 18, 2024).

The hosts had a 29-run win in a rain-shortened seven-overs-a-side match in the first T20 in Brisbane, before fast bowler Spencer Johnson then grabbed a career-best 5-26 to propel Australia to a 13-run win.

Stoinis smacked five sixes – three in one over off Shaheen Shah Afridi — and five fours as Australia raced to 118-3 in 11.2 overs. Fast bowlers Shah Afridi (1-43) and Haris Rauf (0-34) conceded 77 runs off their combined six overs in a one-sided game.

Earlier, Pakistan lost nine wickets for 56 runs on the way to a meagre total of 117 in 18.1 overs despite Babar Azam (41) and Haseebullah Khan (24), one of two changes made from the second game, scoring at a brisk pace in the powerplay.

“It’s been a great week,” Australia captain Josh Inglis said. “We’ve had a lot of fun as a group. When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop.”

Haseebullah replaced regular white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan, and Salman Ali Agha took over as Pakistan’s fourth T20 skipper in 2024. Left-arm fast bowler Jahandad Khan was preferred to Naseem Shah.

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa (2-11) ignited Pakistan’s slide when he had Haseebullah caught at short fine leg. He then clean bowled Babar with a sharp googly.

Babar surpassed Virat Kohli’s Indian tally of 4,188 runs in T20s and moved up to second place with 4,192 in 126 games. Rohit Sharma leads the way with 4,231 in 159 matches.

Aaron Hardie (3-21) removed Sydney Usman Khan when he holed out at deep cover for three, while Salman played across the line against the fast bowler and was out leg before.

Shah Afridi smashed two fours and a six in his quickfire 16 and helped Pakistan cross the 100-run mark. Australia’s player of the series Johnson (2-24) wrapped up the innings by clean bowling No. 11 Sufiyan Muqeem.

Australia openers Jake Fraser-McGurk (18) and Matthew Short (2) fell inside the batting powerplay before Inglis (27) and Stoinis hurried the run chase.

Inglis couldn’t clear short fine leg as he tried to scoop Abbas Afridi in the 10th over before Stoinis hit three sixes and a four in Shah Afridi’s one over to complete the win.

Pakistan won the preceding ODI series 2-1 but its struggle in T20s continued. It was knocked out in the group stage of the World Cup in June.

“It’s obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20s,” Salman said. “I think in the middle overs, we didn’t capitalize on the start.”

Marcus Stoinis of Lucknow Super Giants. File.
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

Australia and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) all-rounder Marcus Stoinis registered the highest individual score ever during a run-chase in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on April 23.

The veteran accomplished this feat during his side’s game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Chepauk Stadium.

While the wickets were falling and the run rate was climbing at the other end, Stoinis held the other end steady, playing a knock of perfectly calculated aggression and caution to breach CSK’s Chepauk fortress for the first time this season. He made an unbeaten 124* in 63 balls, with 13 fours and six sixes. His strike rate was 196.83.

Stoinis overtook Punjab Kings’ batter Paul Valthaty’s record of 120* that he made against the same opposition back in 2011 during a run-chase of 189.

This knock by Stoinis is also the second-highest individual score by an LSG batter. The highest score by an LSG batter is held by South Africa’s Quinton de Kock, who smashed 140* in 70 balls with 10 fours and 10 sixes during a run chase of 209 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) back in 2022.

This knock of 124* is also the highest individual score against CSK in IPL history, breaking the record of Indian legend Virender Sehwag, who made 122 for Punjab Kings during the IPL 2014 Qualifier Two in Mumbai.

In eight matches this season, Stoinis has scored 254 runs at an average of 42.33 and a strike rate of over 159, with a century and fifty.

Coming to the match, LSG opted to bowl first. After a slow start, it was a century from skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (108 in 60 balls, with 12 fours and three sixes) and an explosive half-century from in-form Shivam Dube (66 in 27 balls, with three fours and seven sixes) that powered CSK to 210/4 in their 20 overs.

Matt Henry, Mohsin Khan and Yash Thakur got a wicket each for LSG.

In the run-chase, LSG struggled to catch the right tempo in the first half and was 88/3 in 11 overs. But it was Stoinis, who was sent up the order, kept his side in the hunt with his ferocious striking. Cameos from Nicholas Pooran (34 in 15 balls, with six fours and two sixes) and Deepak Hooda (17* in six balls, with two fours and a six) relieved some pressure from the Aussie star’s shoulders as he blasted 17 runs within three balls of the final over to seal a six-wicket win. Stoinis was unbeaten on 124 in 63 balls, with 13 fours and six sixes.

Stoinis took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

LSG is in the fourth spot with five wins and three losses, giving them 10 points. CSK has dropped to fifth spot, with four wins, four losses and a total of eight points.

FIle photo of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis. These two along with Ashton Agar were left out of the Cricket Australia’s central contract list for the year 2024-25.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Veteran opener David Warner, who has retired from ODI and Test cricket, along with all-rounders Ashton Agar and Marcus Stoinis, was on March 28 dropped from Cricket Australia’s list of centrally-contracted players for the 2024-25 season.

Besides, Victoria opener Marcus Harris and pacer Michael Neser have also missed out on contracts that were offered to 23 players, stated a report by ‘cricket.com.au’.

Australia have a hectic season ahead that will feature the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies in June and a home Test series against India towards the end of the year among other engagements.

Warner’s omission was expected as he intends to call it quits from the game after the T20 World Cup. He is currently in India, playing in the IPL for Delhi Capitals.

Stoinis is the most notable omission. However, the 34-year-old, who is currently playing with Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, remains in contention for the upcoming T20 World Cup despite missing Australia’s recent tour of New Zealand with a back injury.

Pacers Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis are among those who have been offered contracts for the first time.

Bartlett (25) and Ellis (29) are joined by Victoria and Adelaide Strikers batter Matt Short (28), and Western Australia all-rounder Aaron Hardie (25) as the four new faces on this year’s central contract list.

The four players have already made their international debut for Australia.

Short and Hardie made their debuts during last year’s T20 series in South Africa, while Ellis played in Australia’s ODI and T20I tour of South Africa, and T20 campaigns in India and New Zealand.

He, however, missed the home white-ball series against the West Indies due to a rib injury.

“Matt, Aaron and Xavier have been extremely impressive in the early stages of their international careers,” national selection chair George Bailey was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au “Their performances and the way they have embraced the international stage has been exciting to watch.

“The panel believes they have strong futures and are deserved of their contracts as they work towards striving to become regulars in the Australian setup.”

Cricket Australia contracted men’s players 2024-25

Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Jhye Richardson, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.

Australia’s Marcus Stoinis, during a practice session at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru
| Photo Credit: Murali Kumar K.

A fitness freak who is very particular about his food intake, Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is travelling across India with a personal chef to ensure that he is getting a low carb diet during the ODI World Cup.

The 34-year-old all-rounder is on a ketogenic diet (high-fat, low-carb) with baked oats infused with protein one of his favourites, according to a report in cricket.com.au.

Mumbai-born Velton Saldanha, a chef trained in French cuisine, travels with Stoinis while he is in India and cooks him meals out of the Australian team’s hotel kitchens, according to the report.

“Quite a few of the Indian boys do it, that’s where I got the idea,” Stoinis told cricket.com.au’s ‘Unplayable Podcast’.

“I’ve always been quite strict with my food and all that stuff in my preparation.”

No garlic naan

The Australian team has its own chef, who oversees food preparation as they move around the country, but Stoinis has gone a step further in his pursuit of peak performance.

“Garlic naan is out. Gluten-free banana bread and shepherd’s pie with roasted cauliflower mash are in. A roast butter chicken, the intersection of Saldanha’s French training and his Indian heritage, has also been a hit,” the report said.

“Stoinis is getting by on baked oats – at least for the small carbohydrate portion of his meticulously curated diet,” it said.

“By the end of the World Cup, Saldanha might be able to sell the ‘Stoinis Oats’ as a standalone dish.”

K.L. Rahul’s recommendation

Stoinis had met Saldanha, who who has worked in fine-dining restaurants in Chicago and New York, during this year’s Indian Premier League on a recommendation from his Lucknow Supergiants teammate and India star K.L. Rahul.

Saldanha founded Mumbai’s Chutney Collective during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stoinis has struggled to play consistently in this tournament. He missed the opening match with a hamstring and quad concern. His scores in the three matches he has played so far are 5, 20 not out and 21.

“I want to play for as long as I can. I want to take control of as many things as I can through my cricketing career,” said Stoinis.

“We travel a lot and we’re obviously away from our comfort zone. We’re in different time zones. we’re in different beds, we’re in different hotels – we’re not exactly by the beach in Perth, having a coffee and that sort of stuff.”

He does not consider investing on a personal chef as waste of money.

“So I’m more than happy to invest in myself and in my environment. I don’t see that stuff, which some people do, as a waste (of money).

“I’m happy to invest in my own chef or invest my own batting coach or invest my own sports psychologist – that’s just the way I see things.”