A snoozer to start the T20 World Cup five years after the previous, but a ray of sunshine in the shape of a dominant performance from an associate nation. A fantastic pursuit from Oman to bring things to a conclusion, and a show for the home audience. The same stadium will host another game tonight, this time between Bangladesh and Scotland. Consider Shakib Afridi, who may be forced to play in a World Cup match less than 48 hours after finishing second in the IPL final. But that’s it from us. You can change tabs to watch the other game. Cheerio!
Zeeshan Maqsood | Oman captain
We need to examine our fielding and limit our errors so that we can confess our faults and come back strong. We usually employ a variety of bowling choices, which is beneficial to us. Our catching is adequate, but owing to nervousness, our ground fielding has to improve. We can’t afford to take it easy and fix our blunders.
Assad Vala | PNG captain
It didn’t get off to a good start, and losing two wickets for no runs didn’t help matters. It was unfortunate to lose the partnership after such a strong start, and we were unable to pick up wickets as well, so they deserved to win. We would have had a chance to win if we had shot 160. The middle order might have given us a decent opportunity, but we didn’t perform properly, and they took key wickets at vital times.
Zeeshan Maqsood Man of the match
I’m overjoyed; it was a critical moment for us, and they were batting brilliantly. We took vital wickets and prevented them from putting up a huge total. I simply try to keep it tight, don’t bowl loose ones, and bowl with the field in mind. We really didn’t want to allow any boundaries or loose balls, so that run-out and then Assad Vala’s wicket were critical for us to get back into the game. We are familiar with these conditions; any total of 120-140 can be chased well; the wicket was in good shape, the ball was coming on nicely, and the openers played brilliantly. Thank you to all of our donors and family members.
Is there anything more dominating than this? Oman got off to a strong start, taking two early wickets, but PNG’s sole showing of heart – a pair of excellent partnerships – helped them recover. It was all downhill from there, as they were reduced to 129-9 before the Omani openers controlled the hapless PNG bowlers and raced to victory in 82 balls, without losing a wicket. They were helped by the occasional missed catch, a slew of extras, and one particularly delicious combo of the two, but they couldn’t get a wicket today. PNG had a disappointing day, but Oman was thrilled in front of their home fans. In a few moments, I’ll be giving a presentation…
Large cricketing nations should send their A or B teams to play Associate teams in a series. T20 league franchises should be required to include one player from an associate nation in their starting XI. Big countries should form certain teams to help grow them.
PNG SCORCARD
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Ura | b Bilal Khan | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lega Siaka | b Kaleemullah | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Assad Vala (c) | c Jatinder Singh b Kaleemullah | 56 | 43 | 65 | 4 | 3 | 130.23 |
| Charles Amini | run out (Mohammad Nadeem) | 37 | 26 | 47 | 4 | 1 | 142.30 |
| Sese Bau | c Jatinder Singh b Zeeshan Maqsood | 13 | 13 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Norman Vanua | b Zeeshan Maqsood | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Simon Atai | c Ayaan Khan b Bilal Khan | 3 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Kiplin Doriga † | c Sandeep Goud b Zeeshan Maqsood | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Damien Ravu | c Mohammad Nadeem b Zeeshan Maqsood | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Kabua Morea | not out | 6 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Nosaina Pokana | not out | 5 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Extras | (lb 6, w 1) | 7 |
| TOTAL | (20 Ov, RR: 6.44) | 129/9 |
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilal Khan | 4 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 4.00 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaleemullah | 3 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 6.33 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aqib Ilyas | 4 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 7.00 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mohammad Nadeem | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 7.66 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Khawar Ali | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 8.50 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Zeeshan Maqsood | 4 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 5.00 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
OMAN SCORCARD
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aqib Ilyas | not out | 50 | 43 | 67 | 5 | 1 | 116.27 |
| Jatinder Singh | not out | 73 | 42 | 67 | 7 | 4 | 173.80 |
| Extras | (lb 2, nb 3, w 3) | 8 |
| TOTAL | (13.4 Ov, RR: 9.58) | 131 |
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kabua Morea | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9.00 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Damien Ravu | 3 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 9.33 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Nosaina Pokana | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 7.50 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Simon Atai | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charles Amini | 2.4 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 11.62 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Assad Vala | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 11.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Lega Siaka | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 8.50 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Match Info
| Toss | Oman, elected to field first |
| Series | ICC Men’s T20 World Cup |
| Season | 2021/22 |
| Player Of The Match | Zeeshan Maqsood |
| Match number | T20I no. 1307 |
| Match days | 17 October 2021 – day (20-over match) |
| T20I Debut | Ayaan KhanKashyap Prajapati |
| T20 Debut | Kashyap Prajapati |
| Umpires | Chris GaffaneyKumar Dharmasena |
| TV Umpire | Richard Kettleborough |
| Reserve Umpire | Ahsan Raza |
| Match Referee | Ranjan Madugalle |
| Points | Oman 2, Papua New Guinea 0 |
