Men’s T20 World Cup, Group B, Colombo
Oman 103 all out (19.5 overs): Shukla 28 (21); Muzarabani 3-16
Zimbabwe 106-2 (13.3 overs): Bennett 48* (36); Mahmoud 2-12
Zimbabwe win by eight wickets
Scorecard. sheet
advertise
Zimbabwe started their T20 World Cup campaign with a comfortable 8-wicket win over Oman on the back of Brian Bennett’s unbeaten 48.
Oman struggled with the pace and bounce of Zimbabwe’s attack and were bowled out for 103 in the match at Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.
Muzarabani beat the country’s top-ranked side 3-16 and beat Oman 27-5, who are in danger of being eliminated from the tournament with a lower total than their lowest World Cup total of 47 against England in North Bay in 2024.
But the 44-run stand between Sufyan Mehmood and Vinayak Shukla at least added some dignity to the scorecard of Oman, ranked 20th in the world.
advertise
Shukla top-scored with 28 off 21 balls while Mohammad made 25 off 39 balls. They were two of only three Omani players to score in double figures.
The other was Nadeem Khan, who played just six innings in this match, scoring 20 off 18 balls, before being dismissed by Bennett’s brilliant diving catch at deep.
Richard Ngarava and Brad Evans finished the game with 3-17 and 3-18 respectively for Chevron.
Zimbabwe, who failed to qualify for the last World Cup, had a relatively easy time running the show, finishing with 13.3 overs overall.
Mohammed bowled Tadiwanash Marumani and Dion Miles in the same over, in the second review after a brilliant catch from wicketkeeper Shukla, to make Zimbabwe 30-2 nervous.
advertise
But Oman failed to make any further progress, with opener Bennett hitting seven fours in a flowing 36 balls.
Zimbabwe’s only sore spot came when Brendan Taylor had to withdraw in the 31st over due to a hamstring injury, leaving captain Sikandar Raza to hit the winner.