Oman open T20 World Cup with dominant win on home soil against debutants Papua New Guinea

Jatinder Singh and Aqib Ilyas eased their side to a 10-wicket victory after captain Zeeshan Maqsood had torn through Papua New Guinea’s middle order with his left-arm spin

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Al Amarat: Papua New Guinea 129-9, Oman 131-0 - Oman win by 10 wickets

Scorecard

Oman opened the T20 World Cup on home soil with a comfortable victory over Papua New Guinea, who were making their debut in a men’s global tournament.

Jatinder Singh and Aqib Ilyas eased their side to a 10-wicket win after captain Zeeshan Maqsood had torn through Papua New Guinea’s middle order with his left-arm spin.

Singh and Ilyas both made half centuries in putting together the sixth-highest first-wicket partnership in Men’s T20 World Cup history, with PNG’s score quickly shown to be under par on a brand-new surface in Al Amarat, with its beautiful, picturesque surroundings.

Earlier, Papua New Guinea had suffered the worst possible start, losing both openers – Tony Ura and Lega Siaka – without scoring to Bilal Khan and Kaleemullah, Oman’s impressive new-ball pairing.

The recovery thereafter was extremely watchable, with left-handers Assad Vala and Charles Amini cutting loose, contributing eight fours and four sixes between them in an 81-run stand that spanned 11 overs.

The game turned, however, on a poor piece of communication that saw Amini – the third generation in his family to represent his country – left in the middle of the pitch as he attempted a quick single. Mohammad Nadeem threw down the stumps to signal a collapse that would see seven wickets fall in the next 5.5 overs.

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Vala, who suffered a brief injury scare when Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood landed on his ankle as he dived to stop a ball of his own bowling, fell for 56 – the latest chapter in an international career that has been a constant through PNG’s rise.

Norman Vanua, Sese Bau and Kiplin Doriga were all then dismissed by Maqsood in the space of five balls as hopes of a competitive score went up in smoke.

The procession continued when Simon Atai gave Khan, who opened the tournament with a wicket maiden, his second success of the afternoon.

Damien Ravu looked to break the shackles but was well caught on the long on boundary to give Maqsood his fourth wicket and, in the process, the best figures in T20 World Cups by an Oman bowler. Albeit, that record is still in its infancy: this is their second appearance at the tournament.

Oman might have made life easier for themselves but for their fielding, which was desperate at times and did their bowlers a disservice. Papua New Guinea were the better side in that regard but dropped a couple of presentable chances, while none of their seamers found the movement that Khan was able to extract through the air in the early stages, allowing Ilyas and Singh to make hay in their first match as an opening pair.

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