The road to the 2026 T20 World Cup heated up with Oman’s impressive four-wicket conquest of Zimbabwe in their 11th warm-up fixture at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club. Zimbabwe, opting to set the tone, compiled 187 for 7 in a power-packed display.
Openers Brian Bennett (56 off 28: 7×4, 3×6) and Brendan Taylor (26 off 20, retired out) slammed 86 runs in 7.4 overs. Despite slumping to 94 for 4, Dion Myers (26) and Tashinga Musakanda (54* off 28, 9 boundaries) added 43 for the fifth wicket, bolstering the total.
Oman’s attack was led by Sufyan Mehmood (3/??), Nadeem Khan (2/??), and Shah Faisal (1/??), keeping the scoring in check.
Oman’s pursuit was a tale of partnerships and power-hitting. Aamir Kaleem (23 off 11: 2×4, 2×6) and Jatinder Singh opened with 28 in 2.2 overs. Jatinder’s masterclass continued with Hammad Mirza (35, 7×4), crafting 79 off 42 balls for the second wicket.
Jatinder retired out after a dazzling 55 (33 balls: 8×4, 1×6), with Oman at 119 for 3. Karan Sonavale and Jiten Ramanandi’s 41-run alliance proved decisive, Ramanandi finishing not out on 34 (18 balls: 4×4, 2×6). Skipper Vinayak Shukla’s 10 runs completed the chase in 19.2 overs.
Blessing Muzarabani grabbed two poles for Zimbabwe; Brad Evans, Graeme Cremer, and Ryan Burl one each. Oman’s strategic batting and bowling combinations shine bright in this key preparation bout.