The bowlers’ outstanding performance was complemented by Brian Bennett’s unbeaten 36-ball 48, which helped Zimbabwe defeat Oman by 8 wickets in their T20 World Cup encounter on Monday in Colombo.
Before his pace-bowling partner Richard Ngarava joined him in the demolition operation to skittle out Oman for 103, Blessing Muzarabani chose to bowl and wreaked havoc with the new ball.
The most effective bowlers for Zimbabwe were Richard Ngarava (3/17 in 4 overs) and Muzarabani (3/16 in 4 overs), while Oman’s batting performance was mediocre. After falling to 27/5 in the seventh over, they faced the prospect of being bowled out for a significantly lower score.
As part of an outstanding bowling display by Zimbabwe, pacer Brad Evans also contributed with remarkable numbers of 3/18 from 3.5 overs. Before Wasim Ali grabbed a spectacular catch to remove the opener, Tadiwanashe Marumani blasted his way to 21 off 11 balls, giving Zimbabwe a strong start to the chase.
Dion Myers was dismissed for a duck by Sufyan Mehmood, who struck again in the same over. However, in just 13.3 overs, Bennett and seasoned wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor (31 retired injured off 30 balls) combined for 68 runs for the third wicket, completing the task for Zimbabwe.
Bennett, 22, continued in the same manner and demonstrated why he is so highly regarded. Bennett entered the World Cup having been in the best form of his life at home, scoring three half-centuries and a hundred to secure Zimbabwe’s spot in the showcase. Bennett’s performance will undoubtedly be crucial for Zimbabwe moving further in the competition.
Not far behind, Taylor also made some excellent shots as they easily won for a side that has a point to show after missing the previous competition.
Earlier, Oman’s top batsmen were Vinayak Shukla (28 off 21 deliveries), Sufyan Mehmood (25 off 39), and Nadeem Khan (20 off 18).
After Sikandar Raza won the toss and opted to field, Blessing Muzarabani struck three times and left-arm seamer Richard Ngarava once to leave Oman reeling at 17/4 inside four overs. Raza then introduced himself into the attack and struck immediately, deceiving Wasim Ali in flight to rattle his stumps.
Mehmood and wicketkeeper Shukla attempted to steady the Oman innings with a partnership of 42 runs for the sixth wicket after none of their top five batsmen reached double digits. However, Oman lost Shukla, their sixth wicket, just when their association had started to generate hopes of giving their total some respectability.
After a stunning catch by wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor off a back of a length delivery that cramped the batter for space, Ngarava sent him back. As Ngarava struck for the third time to remove Jiten Ramanandi, Oman was reduced to 71/7 in the 15th over.
Evans then shattered Mehmood’s resistance, causing the batter to hole out at deep square leg following a hesitant pull shot.
