Marcus Stoinis smashes 26 runs in single over against Mehran Khan

Australia's Marcus Stoinis remarkably handled the and ball as his team took down Oman by 39 runs, kicking off their quest for major the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados on Wednesday.

Stoinis, 34, played a crucial role for Australia’s victory, scoring an unbeaten 67 off 36 balls and taking three wickets for 19 runs.

His aggressive batting, including six sixes and two fours, helped his team recover from a shaky start at 50-3.

David Warner, 37, also stabilised the innings with a half-century.

Stoinis went on to form a formidable 102-run partnership, shifting the momentum in Australia’s favour and led them to a total of 164-5.

In response, Oman were restricted to 125-9.

Four of Stoinis' six sixes came in the 15th over of the innings, bowled by Mehran Khan, and more than doubled their total over the last six overs of the innings.

"Davey (Warner) and I talked about (tactics) before that over," Stoinis said. "And then you know how it is when you get the first couple balls away for boundaries, you just think you might as well try to turn it into a big over."

Australia became the first nation to hold all three global cricket titles, including Test, One-Day and T20.

Oman captain Aqib Ilyas didn’t seem to be discouraged by the defeat as he said: "Playing against a top side today was a great experience, especially following on from the Super Over last game.

“They played really well, but credit goes to our bowlers. Our bowlers can do really well on turning tracks."