It was a historic game for both Oman and Papua New Guinea as they opened up the extravaganza called T20 World Cup 2021. Oman’s Jatinder Singh, Aqib Ilyas and Zeeshan Maqsood made sure that it remained one for them as they thrashed the pacific nation by 10 wickets with 38 balls to spare. This huge victory will not only boost their confidence but also come in handy if it comes down to net run rate later in the tournament.
The target of 130 set up by PNG never seemed to be a problem for the Omani opening pair of Singh and Ilyas, who were batting together for the very first time as openers. The fact that there were three dropped catches, one catch falling short of the wicketkeeper, one caught off the no-ball and some very average fielding by the PNG team, but that does not take away the fact that Singh and Ilyas batted brilliantly.
The 131 runs unbeaten stand between the two openers is also the second-highest partnership for any wicket for Oman, missing the highest score by just one run. While Jatinder made an unbeaten 73 off 42 balls, even as he started slowly in the powerplay, Ilyas on the other end was unbeaten on 50 off 43. The fifties by both these batters were the first and second respectively by any Omani batter in a T20 World Cup.
Earlier in the day, after winning the toss, Oman invited PNG to bat first and used the opportunity to pick two quick wickets courtesy of Bilal Khan and Kaleemullah. However, instead of falling, the Barramundis skipper Assad Vala and all-rounder Charles Amini picked up the fight and had a great 81 run stand for the third wicket.
But as soon as Amini was run out and Vala perished after completing his fifty, the first for a PNG batter in a World Cup, the team fell like a pack of cards. Zeeshan Maqsood, the Omani skipper was the wrecker in chief, picking three wickets in one over to destroy the lower order of the island nation’s batting lineup.
Although PNG did not get bowled out and finished 129-9, Maqsood finished with figures of 4-20 in his four overs, the best ever for an Oman bowler in T20 World Cup.
After this win, Oman would now face Bangladesh, who would be playing their first-ever game in the T20 World Cup 2021 later tonight. PNG, who have been thrashed in their debut World Cup game will face Scotland. Both the games will take place on October 19 at the same venue- Al Amerat at Muscat.