ICC T20 World Cup: Oman breeze past Papua New Guinea in tournament opener with a ten-wicket win

All-rounder Zeeshan Maqsood’s s four-wicket haul and opening pair Jatinder Singh and Aqib Ilyas’ unbeaten knocks of 73 and 50 helped Oman breeze past Papua New Guinea in the Group B encounter of the ICC Men`s T20 World Cup. Chasing a score of 130 at Al Amerat Cricket Ground’s Ministry Turf 1, Oman won the match by 10 wickets on Sunday, October 17, 2021.

PNG finished their innings at 129/9 after being 0/2 in the second over of the innings with both openers Tony Ura and Lega Siaka going for ducks. Assad Vala starred with 56 runs as Zeeshan Maqsood`s four-wicket haul kept the total chasable for Oman.

Oman get their #T20WorldCup 2021 campaign off to a flyer 

They come out  against Papua New Guinea with 10 wickets in hand.#T20WorldCup | #OMNvPNG | https://t.co/dYPcIueHIP pic.twitter.com/z2qliBaXHQ

— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) October 17, 2021

Charles Amini and skipper Assad Vala retrieved the innings for PNG as the duo put on 81 runs for the third wicket. This partnership helped PNG come back into the contest, however, proper confusion in the middle helped Oman as the side was able to dismiss Amini (37) via a run-out in the 12th over, reducing PNG to 81/3.

Soon after, Vala (56) also departed as he was sent back to the pavilion by Kaleemullah in the 14th over, and the lower-order was required to take PNG to a respectable score. However, PNG lost its way in the final overs, and the side had to settle for a score of just over the 125-run mark.

Chasing 130, Oman got off to a good start as opening batters Jatinder Singh and Aqib Ilyas put on 46 runs inside the first six overs. Both batters continued with their momentum and at the halfway mark, Oman`s score read 88/0, with the side needing just 42 more runs for the win.

Both batters brought up their 100-run opening stand in the 12th over of the innings. In the end, PNG was not able to take any wickets and Oman cruised to a ten-wicket win with 38 balls to spare.

Later in the day, Scotland will lock horns against Bangladesh in the same group.