Thursday Feb 19, 2026
Thursday Feb 19, 2026
Tuesday, 10 February 2026 03:44 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Zimbabwe’s paceman enabled them to kick off their T20 World Cup campaign in style with a clinical and dominant eight-wicket win over Oman at the SSC Grounds yesterday.
It was no doubt a comprehensive win for Zimbabwe, after they opted to bowl first and troubled the Oman batsmen with pace and bounce. The three pacers, Player of the Match Blessing Muzarabani (3/16), Richard Ngarava (3/17), and Brad Evans (3/18), took three wickets apiece to bundle out Oman for 103.
Oman’s total is the lowest ever posted against Zimbabwe at a T20 World Cup. On a bright and sunny afternoon, Zimbabwe pace bowlers made full use of the conditions, finding extra bounce and just enough seam movement to rip through Oman’s batting. Oman was in trouble almost immediately. Captain Jatinder Singh was knocked over in the second over, undone by a beauty from Muzarabani that clattered into the stumps. From there on, it unravelled quickly. Wickets kept tumbling as batters tried to force their stroke play against the pace and bounce, and Oman slumped to 24-4 by the end of the powerplay.
By the seventh over, half the side was already on its way back to the dressing room. There was a brief flicker of resistance in the middle overs. Brian Bennett conceded four boundaries in an over, which injected some life into the innings, and Vinayak Shukla and Sufyan Mehmood put together a 42-run stand off 43 balls that offered a hint of recovery. That hope didn’t last long. Ngarava struck straight after the second drinks break to remove Shukla for 28, and Mehmood followed a few overs later, dismissed by Evans for 25 in the 17th. The lower order at least pushed the score into triple figures. Nadeem Khan chipped in with a handy 20 runs off 18 balls, giving Oman something to bowl at. Zimbabwe’s seamers were ruthless throughout.
In their reply, Tadiwanashe Marumani got off to a quick start hitting five fours in 10 deliveries. His innings was cut short by Sufyan Mehmood, courtesy a superb diving catch at backward point. Myers fell in the same over for a two-ball duck. That brought Brendan Taylor to the crease. The experienced Zimbabwean along with Brian Bennett batted sensibly and punished anything loose to forge a 68-run stand, off 56 balls. Taylor walked off, retired hurt at 31 scored off 30 balls as he had some issue with his right leg. Bennett remained unbeaten on 48 off 36 balls (7 fours) and Captain Sikandar Raza hit the winning runs as his team hunted down the total with 39 balls to spare.
In addition to his batting, Bennett took an absolute spectacular catch at deep midwicket to end the Oman innings covering a massive 19 metres of ground to lunge into a full stretch and pluck the ball out of the air – the catch of the tournament maybe.
Scores:
Oman 103 (19.5) (Sufyan Mehmood 25, Vinayak Shukla 28, Nadeem Khan 20, Richard Ngarvara 3/17, Blessing Muzarabani 3/16, Brad Evans 3/18)
Zimbabwe 106-2 (13.3) (Brian Bennett 48*, Tadiwanashe Marumani 21, Brendan Taylor rtd ht 31, Sufyan Mehmood 2/12)
