Zimbabwe made a thunderous return to the global stage, leveraging their height and heat to dismantle Oman by eight wickets at the Sinhalese Sports Club. In a historic first for the Chevrons, their pace trio; all of whom stand well over six feet, claimed nine out of ten wickets, restricting Oman to a meagre 103.
Zimbabwe’s pace battery exploited the bouncy SSC track from the first delivery, leaving Oman’s top order reeling at 24/4 by the end of the Powerplay.
Blessing Muzarabani (3/16): The Player of the Match set the tone early, clean bowling Oman captain Jatinder Singh and removing the middle order with steep bounce.
Richard Ngarava (3/17): The left-armer was lethal with the new ball and returned to clean up the tail, reaching 111 T20I wickets in the process.
Brad Evans (3/18): Chipped in with three scalps, including a wicket set up by a sensational diving catch from Brian Bennett at deep mid-wicket.
I've seen that picture far too many times. As soon as I saw him limping, I wanted him out. We won't take chances with his fitness.Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe Captain on Brendan Taylor
Chasing 104, Zimbabwe faced a brief scare when Sufyan Mehmood took two wickets in an over, but a composed 68-run stand between Brian Bennett and Brendan Taylor extinguished any hopes of an upset.
Brian Bennett: Remained unbeaten on 48 off 36 balls*, top-scoring and directing the chase with maturity.
Brendan Taylor: Scored a vital 31 before pulling his hamstring while completing a second run in the 13th over. He is currently being monitored by the medical team ahead of Friday’s clash.
Captain Sikandar Raza smashed a cracking cover drive for four to seal the win with 39 balls to spare.
| Category | Oman | Zimbabwe |
|---|---|---|
| Final Score | 103 All Out (19.5) | 106/2 (13.3) |
| Top Batter | Vinayak Shukla (28) | Brian Bennett (48)* |
| Top Bowler | Sufyan Mehmood (2/12) | Blessing Muzarabani (3/16) |
| Pace Wickets | 2 | 9 |
| Group B Rank | 5th | 1st (NRR +1.450) |