In a Group B clash in Colombo, Zimbabwe will take on Oman in the second match of the day in the afternoon looking to get off to a winning start in this campaign. Both teams will eye a win as the group contains heavyweights like Australia and Sri Lanka and so a loss could mean catastrophic for either side. Zimbabwe are more stablished of the two sides but Oman cannot be taken likely as most associate teams have shown in this tournament so far.
Zimbabwe will be led by Sikandar Raza while Oman will be led by Jatinder Singh. Both sides boast of good players hoping to make a mark and create a name for itself. The stage is set for both teams to start their campaign in SSC in Colombo at 3 PM IST and the game will be great fun for both sides with Oman having nothing to lose one can say in this format.
Overview.Â
Fresh from facing each other in the warm-up fixture, Zimbabwe and Oman will start their campaigns by playing against each other in a Group B fixture of the tournament in Colombo later today. Oman have qualified for this World Cup by gaining the second spot in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Asia/East Asia-Pacific Qualifier held in October 2025. The top three sides, namely Nepal, Oman and UAE, in this tournament gained a berth. In the qualifiers, Oman topped their group, which comprised two other teams in Samoa and Papua New Guinea and advanced to the Super Sixes. Then they won all their games except the one against Nepal.
Batter Jatinder Singh was the side’s leading run scorer with 132 runs from 4 innings. Meanwhile, all-rounder Jiten Ramanandi was the tournament’s third highest wicket-taker with 11 wickets. Since those qualifers, Oman haven’t had much match practise. However, they did feature in the Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament in November 2025 but that didn’t turn out to be a good one for them. Apart from one win against UAE, they lost all their remaining games and were unable to qualify for the semis.
Ahead of the World Cup, Oman won both their warm-up games. In the first game against Sri Lanka A, Oman restricted Sri Lanka A to 145/9. Jay Odedra, Shakeel Ahmed and Shah Faisal picked up two wickets each. In reply, Oman won the game by five wickets with two overs to spare. Aamir Kaleem made an explosive 80 off 47 balls.
In the second game, they faced their upcoming opponent, Zimbabwe. The Chevrons batted first and made a huge score of 187/7. Brian Bennett and Tashinga Musekiwa scored fifties. Meanwhile, Oman’s Sufyan Mehmood picked up three wickets. Oman then chased it down in the last over for the loss of 6 wickets. Jatinder Singh scored a half-century while Jiten Ramanandi played the finisher’s role.
The Gulf Side made their T20 WC debut back in 2016 and registered a victory in that tournament itself when they defeated Ireland in a nail biting thriller. The side then qualified for the 2021 edition and co-hosted it with UAE. In that edition too, they registered only one victory by defeating Papua New Guinea. After missing out on qualification for the 2022 WC, the side went on to participate in the 2024 WC. However, they lost all their games including a heavy defeat at the hands of England.
On the other hand, Zimbabwe earned a spot in the World Cup by winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier held in Harare in September-October 2025. They, along with runners-up Namibia, earned a spot in the WC. Brian Bennett was the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 314 runs from five innings. Meanwhile pacers Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava were the joint second highest wicket-takers of the tournament with 10 scalps each. After that successful tournament, Zimbabwe suffered a whitewash against Afghanistan in a three-match home series and then a winless campaign in the Pakistan T20I tri-series that also featured Sri Lanka.
The Test playing nation has featured in all the T20 WCs barring two. In the 2024 edition, the side suffered an embarrassment as they failed to qualify for the tournament after losing to Uganda in the regional qualifiers. As far as the 2021 edition is concerned, the Chevrons didn’t participate because the ICC suspended Zimbabwe Cricket for government interference in its cricket board. Their best performance was in the 2022 edition in Australia where they reached the Super 12 stage and even defeated Pakistan by one run at Perth.
The side is strong and depends a lot on the three senior pros Brendan Taylor, Sikandar Raza and Graeme Cremer who all might be playing their final T20 WC. Brendan Taylor returned to the side last year after serving a ban for breaching the ICC’s anti-corruption code. The keeper batter is the only player across all sides in this WC to have featured in the first edition of the T20 WC way back in 2007. In that edition, Zimbabwe recorded a famous victory against the Ricky-Ponting led Australia and Taylor was the star performer for the Chevrons.
Leggie and former skipper Graeme Cremer is returning to the side after more than six years. He quit international cricket due to family reasons. Current skipper Sikandar Raza is the torchbearer of Zimbabwean cricket. The veteran can turn the match on its head with both bat and ball. He has gained immense experience by playing in various franchise leagues across the globe. Brian Bennett at the top of the order is a rising star and much will depend on the starts given by him. The pace trio of Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani also looks lethal.
In the two warm-up games played by Chevrons ahead of this WC, they defeated the Netherlands by 29 runs in the first match. Chevrons batted first and scored 178/9 on the back of a half-century from Ryan Burl. They then bundled out the Dutch for 149. Ngarava picked up three wickets. In the second game, Zimbabwe were beaten by Oman by four wickets. The stage is set and we have to wait and see whether Zimbabwe can take their warm-up loss revenge against Oman?
Zimbabwe and Oman have met only in warm-up game and Oman won that. They haven’t met in any international match yet.
Pitch and Weather Report.Â
The pitch at the Sinhalese Sports Club is grassy and balanced and can favour the batters a tad. It is known as a medium scoring ground for players. The venue is one of the historic grounds for Sri Lankan cricket. But there are no major demons and a score of 160-170 will be competitive batting first.
The weather in Colombo will have a high of 32 degrees Celsius and it will be 21 degrees in the night time. The chances of rain or thundershower is minimal and so we can expect a full afternoon of cricket.
Predicted/Possible Playing XIS of both sides.Â
Here, we will predict the playing XIs of both sides or at least try to.
Oman XI: Aamir Kaleem, Karan Sonavale, Jatinder Singh (c), Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Jiten Ramanandi, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Sufyan Mehmood, Jay Odedra, Ashish Odedra, Shafiq Jan.
Zimbabwe XI: Brian Bennett, Brendan Taylor (wk), Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (c), Tashinga Musekiwa, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Tony Munyonga, Brad Evans, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava.
Predicted Outcome of the Match.Â
Cricket is a funny game and anything can happen on a given day as associates are pushing the big teams hard in this World Cup. But having said that, we feel Zimbabwe has a slight edge owing to their experience of playing the World Cup more. But Oman cannot be taken likely and can spring up a surprise. The game will be of good view in Colombo. Let’s see who adapts better and comes out on top there.
The game will be fascinating and expecting a clear day in Colombo.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: Maheesh Theekshana & Wanindu Hasaranga Helps Sri Lanka Start With Win