Won't Lie, There Was A Feeling Of Here We Go Again: Marcus Stoinis

Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis said that it was nice to get his team over the line in a tense run-chase against South Africa on Saturday. He admitted that there was a bit of a feeling of 'here we go again' while putting on an unbeaten stand of 40 runs with Matthew Wade in chasing 119.

"It was good. I won't lie, there was a bit of a feeling of here we go again. There's a run chase on here. It was nice to get that one over the line. I mean, it's obvious that you want to win, but yeah, in these short tournaments, I think no matter how you win, it's always a better feeling. You wake up the next morning, it's always better winning than losing.," said Stoinis in the post-match press conference.

Asked about his biggest challenge while chasing, Stoinis said, "The main thing for me there was actually just trying to stay as calm as I can, and for a Greek Australian, that's pretty hard. I mean, you saw a bit of emotion come out toward the end but the main thing is we were communicating, trying to sort out who was going to bowl, make a plan, and then stay calm from there."

Talking about the conditions and pitch in Abu Dhabi, Stoinis mentioned that whatever they expected came out true to some degree. "It's what we expected to an extent. I mean, it was quite hard to get under the ball because it was skidding on quite a bit. It was more skidding on and it wasn't too quick. So it's hard to get under and up, under the ball."

"But I guess partnerships is the key, and then get used to the conditions while you're out there. It's one thing having a plan but you also have to work things out on the fly while you're out there. We saw through the IPL the scores were not as high as they have been in the past and that might be a trend we'll see in the World Cup."

Stoinis was in praise of Australia's bowling attack making crucial strikes in the power-play, which was vital in keeping South Africa to 118/9.

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2021

"I think the power-play bowling is really important and it showed today. Josh Hazlewood bowled brilliantly. He went for pretty much no runs and seven of three overs I think. Pat Cummins bowled brilliantly and Starcy finishes off with a deafening swing with a new ball. There's no easy answers and we'll probably just see what happens as the tournament goes."