Zimbabwe dominate Oman on T20 World Cup return
AFP/APP
Colombo: Zimbabwe marked their return to the T20 World Cup in emphatic fashion on Monday, cruising to an eight-wicket victory over Oman at the Sinhalese Sports Club.
Playing their first T20 World Cup match since 2022, Zimbabwe skittled Oman for 103 before chasing down the target with 39 balls to spare.
Brian Bennett remained unbeaten on 48, while veteran Brendan Taylor—appearing in his first T20 World Cup since the inaugural edition in 2007—made 31 before retiring hurt.
Zimbabwe’s pace duo Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani inflicted early damage, reducing Oman to 27-5, with none of the top-order batters reaching double figures.
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“We have to take it game by game and we are very happy with the win,” said player-of-the-match Muzarabani. “I’m just coming back from a back injury, so I shortened my run-up. There was good bounce on the pitch and we used the conditions well.”
A face-saving 42-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Sufyan Mehmood and Vinayak Shukla added some respectability to Oman’s total. Ngarava finished with 3-17, Muzarabani claimed 3-16, while Brad Evans took 3-18 with a disciplined first-change spell.
Shukla top-scored for Oman with 28, while Mehmood made 25.
In reply, Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani raced to 30 off 19 balls before two wickets brought Taylor to the crease. The veteran showed discomfort while running between the wickets and retired hurt with victory just four runs away, leaving captain Sikandar Raza to seal the win with a boundary.
