Colombo: Zimbabwe began their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign in emphatic fashion, registering a dominant eight-wicket victory over Oman as they chased down a modest target of 103 in just 13.3 overs in the eighth match of the tournament at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground (SSC) in Colombo on Monday.
The fast bowling trio of Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava and Brad Evans picked up three wickets each as Zimbabwe bowled out Oman for 103 runs in 19.5 overs after choosing to bowl first.
Coming in to chase an easy target, Zimbabwe were off to a strong start as both openers struck the ball fluently, with the team scoring at a run rate of over 10 runs per over in the first three overs.
Oman finally got their breakthrough in the fourth over when Sufyan Mehmood dismissed Tadiwanashe Marumani and Dion Myers.
After the back-to-back wickets, Zimbabwe wicketkeeper batter Brendan Taylor forged a match-winning 68-run partnership with opener Brian Bennett, who rotated the strike well. With this, Zimbabwe achieved the target easily in just 13.3 overs.
Here’s a look at all the key stats from the Zimbabwe vs Oman Match
9 -Zimbabwe recorded their 9th win in the T20 World Cup matches. To date, they have played 21 matches, won 9 and lost 11. while 1 match produced no result.
8 – Oman suffered their 8th defeat in the 11th World Cup matches.
3 – Brendan Taylor was retired hurt in the 13th over of the innings, when he was playing. In the last 5 T20 innings, this was the 3rd instance when he was retired hurt.
103 -103 in 19.5 overs is Oman’s 3rd lowest total in the T20 World Cup. Before this, they scored 47 v England in North Sound in 2024 and 65 for 9 v Bangladesh in Dharamsala in the 2016 World Cup.
Aamir Kaleem of Oman became the oldest player to feature in a T20 World Cup match. At 44 years and 81 days age Kaleem broke the record of Ryan Campbell, who played at 44 years and 34 days.
Lowest totals against Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup
Total Overs For Venue Year
103 19.5 Oman Colombo 2026
116-9 20 UAE Sylhet 2014
129-8 20 Pakistan Perth 2022
132-6 20 Scotland Hobart 2022
136 19.4 Scotland Nagpur 2016
138-9 20 Australia Cape Town 2007
(IANS)
