Oman struggled against a fiery Zimbabwe pace attack and were bowled out for a below-par 103 in 19.5 overs in their campaign opener of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, on Monday.
Zimbabwe’s pace attack delivered a dominant performance as they bowled Oman out for a modest 103 in 19.5 overs
Batting first, Oman got off to a disappointing start as captain Jatinder Singh was dismissed for a run-a-ball five on the first delivery of the second over, bowled by Blessing Muzarabani.
The pressure intensified in the following over when Hammad Mirza was dismissed for a five-ball duck by Richard Ngarava, leaving Oman struggling early at 8-2 in 2.2 overs.
Oman slipped further in the fourth over as Kaleem was dismissed cheaply for five off seven deliveries, including one boundary. In the same over, Karan Sonavale was sent back for a duck, compounding Oman’s troubles.
The collapse continued when Sikandar Raza clean-bowled Wasim Ali for three off eight deliveries reducing Oman to 27-5 in six overs.
Sufyan Mehmood and Vinayak Shukla then attempted to steady the innings, putting together a 42-run partnership to take the total past the 50-run mark.
However, Ngarava broke the stand by dismissing Shukla for 28 off 21 deliveries, featuring four boundaries, with the score at 69-6 in 14.1 overs.
In the same over, Oman lost their seventh wicket as Jiten Ramanandi was dismissed for one off three balls, giving Ngarava his third wicket of the innings.
Brad Evans struck in the 17th over to remove Mehmood, who top-scored with 25 off 39 deliveries, including two fours. Despite early struggles, Nadeem Khan and Shakeel Ahmed added some late runs.
Evans bowled the final over and dismissed Shakeel for four, while Shah Faisal struck a boundary off his first delivery to take Oman past the 100-run mark.
Nadeem Khan was the final wicket to fall, dismissed by Evans after scoring a crucial 20 off 18 deliveries.
For Zimbabwe, Blessing Muzarabani, Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava led the bowling attack with three wickets each, while Sikandar Raza chipped in with one.
