Zimbabwe took the field at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo ready to make a lasting impression against Oman. So far, the Chevrons have done exactly that as they have picked early wickets and put Oman under serious pressure in Colombo. Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bowl first and the fast bowlers have justified the call with Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava firing in all cylinders for Zimbabwe.
Oman had no clue what hit them and now have to bat and play out of their skins to make a match out of this. Zimbabwe will look to finish the job and keep taking wickets to put more pressure on the batting team. Oman’s batting has left a lot to be desired.
Blessing Muzarabani removed captain Jatinder Singh with a beauty
Oman had to bat first and had Amir Kaleem opening the batting with captain Jatinder Singh with Richard Ngarava having the ball for Zimbabwe. Oman scored 7 off the first over. Blessing Muzarabani came from the other end and he struck for Zimbabwe as he removed Jatinder Singh for 5 off 5 balls with a boundary to his name.
Blessing bowled a fuller side of good length speared in from over the wicket. The batter Jatinder got forward to try and drive at it as the ball nipped inwards to beat the inside edge of the bat and the ball clattered into the top of the middle stump. Hammad Mirza came out to bat next.
Muzarabani kept things tight and did not give anything away. Soon, Richard Ngarava got into the act and removed Hammad Mirza.
Richard Ngarava removed Hammad Mirza to drive home the advantageÂ
Oman were 8/1 when Ngarava starting his second over struck for the Chevrons. He got rid of Mirza for a duck. Richard bowled back of a length delivery slanted across the right-hander. Mirza hopped up and tried to pull it from there towards the front of square leg. The extra bounce that tall Ngarava generated worked against the batter who ended up getting the outside edge through to Brendan Taylor who made no mistake in taking the catch.
Karan Sonavale came out to bat next. He managed to get 4 leg byes from the bowler as the ball went away to the fence beating the keeper. Muzarabani continued and he drove home the advantage yet again.
Blessing Muzarabani strikes twice as Zimbabwe are all over Oman nowÂ
Blessing Muzarabani continued as Kaleem managed to hit a boundary through the backward point region for a boundary. Oman were now 16/2 in 3.3 overs when Muzarabani struck again removing Kaleem for 5 off 7 balls with one boundary to his name.
Blessing bowled a back of a length delivery angled across to outside the off-stump. Kaleem reached for it and slashed at it away from the body. He only connected with the toe end of his bat as the ball flew down to Dion Myers at deep third man. Wasim Ali came out to bat and got off the mark as well.
Muzarabani got another wicket as he had two in the over. The score was now 17 when the 4th wicket fell. Blessing got rid of Karan Sonavale for a duck off 6 balls. Blessing banged it short and the ball rose awkwardly as it tailed towards the left armpit of the right-hander and finished down the leg side if the batter left it. But he went for the pull shot and ended up gloving it to the keeper who made no mistake.
Sufyan Mehmood came out to bat next. Brad Evans came onto bowl next. Evans bowled a great first over. Muzarabani continued to bowl the last over of powerplay as Mehmood pulled him away in front of square for a boundary. At the end of the powerplay, Oman were struggling at 24/4 with Ali and Mehmood at the crease.
Sikandar Raza removed Wasim Ali to compound Oman’s problems post powerplay
Captain Sikandar Raza came into the attack post the powerplay and he removed Wasim Ali for 3 off 8 balls to reduce Oman to 27/5 in 7 overs. Sikandar bowled a flighted ball that dropped on a length at the off-stump. Ali played for the turn and there wasn’t any. The ball rather skidded straight through post pitching and thereby sneaked through the gap between the bat and the pad to cannon into the wickets behind.
Vinayak Shukla came out to bat next the keeper batter. Brian Bennett came onto bowl next. He bowled a quiet over as well. Brad Evans came back into the attack and bowled a tight over. Wellington Masakadza came into the attack next. Shukla squirted him away by going inside out over covers for a boundary. Oman were 39/5 in 10 overs with Shukla unbeaten on 9 off 8 balls with Mehmood unbeaten on 10 off 21 balls.
Oman puts in some resistance post over number 10
Sikandar Raza returned for the second half of the innings and bowled a miserly over. Brian Bennett returned to the bowling crease. Mehmood took him on initially by reverse sweeping the bowler over backward point for a boundary. Shukla joined in the fun as he swept the ball to deep square leg for a boundary. The 50 came up for Oman in 11.4 overs. Shukla again glided it to the short third man fence for a boundary. Shukla completed a hat-trick of boundaries by pulling it to deep backward square leg for a boundary.
Raza continued and bowled a decent over. Wellington Masakadza came back into the attack and should have gotten rid of Mehmood LBW but the umpire said NOT OUT and Zimbabwe decided not to review it. Later the replays confirmed that the ball tracking showed three reds and Oman got a reprieve. Masakadza bowled a decent over as Oman were now 69/5 in 14 overs.
Richard Ngarava came back into the attack and removed Shukla for 28 off 21 balls with 4 fours to his name. Ngarava bowled a back of a length delivery outside the off-stump angling across the batter. Shukla pressed back and threw his hands at it and looked to run it down to deep third man but failed to get on top of the bounce and got a faint outside edge to Taylor who dived to take the catch.
Jiten Ramanandi came out to bat next and got off the mark. Few singles were scored before Ramanandi fell for 1 off 3 balls as Ngarava had two wickets in the over. Richard bowled a back of a length delivery around the leg stump and follows the batter. Jiten backed away and tried to take on the bowler. However, he got cramped as the ball got big on him and lost control and ended up lobbing it to midwicket where Myers moved to his left a little bit and snaffled it easily. Nadeem Khan came out to bat with Oman at 71/7 in 15 overs.
Zimbabwe continues to tighten the noose in death overs
Sikandar Raza continued to bowl and thought he had gotten rid of Mehmood LBW. But the batter reviewed and we saw the ball hit the gloves and DRS saved the batter with the on-field umpire reversing his decision. So, Oman survived a scare. Brad Evans came back into the attack as he removed Mehmood for 25 off 39 balls with 2 fours to his name. The back of a length outside the off-stump where Mehmood got across and tried to drag it away as he looked to pull it away but got cramped. He ended up mistiming it off the upper half of the bat to deep backward square leg.
The fielder Tashinga made no mistake as he moved leftwards and took the catch. Shakeel Ahmed came out to bat next. He got off the mark again. Nadeem Khan got a boundary away through a top edge over the keeper for a boundary. Muzarabani came back to bowl his final over. He bowled a decent last over and finished his excellent spell.
Richard Ngarava came to bowl the 19th over of the innings as Nadeem muscled it away over deep midwicket for the maximum as this was the first maximum of the match. But Ngarava came back well and gave runs in singles as 8 came off the penultimate over as Oman reached 96/8 in 19 overs. Ngarava finished his fantastic spell.
Brad Evans came to bowl his final over and he knocked over Shakeel Ahmed for 4 off 5 balls as the yorker wide outside off-stump is bowled. Shakeel walked across a long way and opened his stance to look to whip it into the leg side as he managed an inside edge and the ball crashed into the leg stump. Faisal Shah came out to bat next. He got a top edge over the keeper and away for a boundary as the 100 came up for Oman in 19.2 overs.
Evans got the last wicket to fall as he got rid of Nadeem for 20 off 18 balls with one four and one six to his name. Evans bowled a back of a length outside the off-stump with pace off the ball. Nadeem took a step forward and tried to take on the bowler and the pull shot took place and ended up playing to deep midwicket where Bennett ran across to his right and flung himself in the air and pouched the ball being airborne. Oman were bowled out for 103 in 19.5 overs with Shah remaining unbeaten on 5 off 2 balls with one boundary to his name. 7 extras given by the fielding side.
The Zimbabwean bowlers bowled really well out there. Blessing Muzarabani was the pick as he finished with 3/16 in 4 overs. Richard Ngarava finished with 3/17 in 4 overs. Brad Evans finished with 3/18 in 4 overs. Sikandar Raza finished with 1/17 in 4 overs. Brian Bennett bowled 2 overs for 18 runs. Wellington Masakadza bowled 2 overs for 12 runs. So, Zimbabwe now will need 104 runs to win the contest.
Who’s Winning, Zimbabwe or Oman?Â
Zimbabwe have done remarkably well to keep Oman down to 103 runs all out in the final over. The pacers dominated proceedings by taking 3 wickets apiece and the batters now have to complete the formalities of chasing this down without much hiccups. Oman needs a miracle to make a match out of this. Zimbabwe have the advantage and will fancy getting the two points and hopefully winning well.
Let’s see how the chase unfolds from here.
Also Read: ICC T20 WC 2026: Michael Leask’s All-Round Show Powers Scotland To Emphatic 73-Run Win.