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Zimbabwe’s pace attack demolished Oman in their T20 World Cup 2026 opener, reducing the opposition to 104, with Muzarabani, Evans, and Ngarava claiming three wickets each in a dominant display.
Oman’s innings fell apart early as captain Jatinder Singh was dismissed for 5 runs off 5 balls on the first delivery of the second over, bowled expertly by Zimbabwe’s leading pacer, Muzarabani.
Richard Ngarava intensified the collapse by removing Hammad Mirza for a 5 balls duck in the next over, leaving Oman struggling at 8 for 2 in just 2.2 overs, unable to build any momentum.
The fourth over saw further setbacks as Kaleem was dismissed for 5 runs and Karan Sonavale for a duck, deepening the collapse and reducing Oman to a perilous 13 for 4 total on the board.
Sikandar Raza then clean bowled Wasim Ali for 3 runs off 8 deliveries, leaving Oman 27 for 5 in 6 overs, while Sufyan Mehmood and Vinayak Shukla attempted to stabilize a crumbling innings under pressure.
Their 42 runs partnership briefly steadied the innings, but Ngarava broke it by dismissing Shukla for 28 runs off 21 deliveries, including 4 boundaries, leaving Oman reeling at 69 for 6 in 14.1 overs.
Jiten Ramanandi followed soon after for 1 off 3 balls, giving Ngarava his third wicket, while Brad Evans struck in the 17th over to remove Mehmood, the top scorer with 25.
Despite minor late contributions from Nadeem Khan and Shakeel Ahmed, Evans returned to bowl the final over, dismissing Shakeel for 4 runs, with Shah Faisal hitting a boundary to take Oman past 100.
Nadeem Khan fell for 20 runs off 18 deliveries, ending Oman’s innings, as Zimbabwe’s bowlers produced a clinical performance, dominating every stage of the match and leaving the opposition thoroughly defeated.
Chasing 104, Zimbabwe lost two early wickets, including Marumani for 21 and Dion Myers for a 2 balls duck, leaving the score at 30 for 2 in just 3.3 overs before Brian Bennett consolidated the innings.
Bennett partnered Brendan Taylor to push Zimbabwe past 50 in the 7th over with a 50 runs stand before Taylor retired hurt, making way for captain Sikandar Raza to finish the chase.
Raza struck a boundary to secure the winning runs, remaining unbeaten on 5 runs off 2 deliveries, while Bennett top scored with 48 off 36 balls, including 7 boundaries, sealing an eight wickets victory.
