• Austrlia in pain after being humiliated by New Zealand by 89 runs in their Super 12 stage match on Saturday

Marcus Stoinis, an all-rounder for Australia, claimed the Twenty20 world champions were in pain after being humiliated by New Zealand by 89 runs in their Super 12 stage match on Saturday. However, he supported the home team to capitalise on the pressure and advance to the semi-finals.

Australia’s net run rate, which will be used to separate teams tied on points in the standings, was severely damaged by the outcome at Sydney Cricket Ground, meaning they virtually surely needed four Group 2 victories to advance.

“There was a bit of hurt in the change room after that one,” Stoinis elaborated reporters. “It’s the first game of the World Cup and if we look after the rest then everything should be fine.

“It does leave us in a position where other people might be in control. But if we go through and we’ve only lost one game and we don’t make it, I think we can probably, to a certain extent, be OK with that.

“But for now, the next focus is Sri Lanka.”

The game on Tuesday against the Asian country, according to Stoinis, was an opportunity for his team to make things right.

“This is what we love to do,” Stoinis said. “We know that we’ve performed under pressure. We know that when our backs are against the wall we can pull out the performances we want.

“We trust ourselves and we trust each other. Sometimes the environment helps create a bit of that. And it’s tongue in cheek but we still feed on it and joke about it and stir each other up about it. Hopefully, we’re alright.”