Bennett’s unbeaten 48 powers Zimbabwe past Oman in T20 World Cup
Brian Bennett’s unbeaten 48 guided Zimbabwe to a dominant eight-wicket win over Oman in their T20 World Cup clash in Colombo. Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava starred with the ball, sharing six wickets as Oman were bowled out for 103
Colombo: The highly rated Brian Bennett showed his class on the big stage with an unbeaten 48 off 36 balls to complement the bowlers’ excellent display and power Zimbabwe to an eight-wicket win over Oman in their T20 World Cup match here on Monday.
Opting to bowl, Blessing Muzarabani wreaked havoc with the new ball before pace-bowling colleague Richard Ngarava joined him in the demolition job to skittle Oman out for 103.
Muzarabani (3/16 in 4 overs) and Ngarava (3/17 in 4 overs) were the most successful bowlers for Zimbabwe as Oman put up an ordinary display with the bat. They were in danger of being bowled out for a much smaller total after slipping to 27 for five in the seventh over.
Pacer Brad Evans also chipped in with impressive figures of 3/18 from 3.5 overs in a brilliant Zimbabwe bowling performance.
Zimbabwe then made a flying start to the chase courtesy of Tadiwanashe Marumani, who blazed away to 21 off 11 balls before Wasim Ali pulled off a stunning catch to dismiss the opener.
Sufyan Mehmood struck again in the same over, dismissing Dion Myers for a duck.
But Bennett and experienced wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor (31 retired hurt off 30 balls) put on 68 runs for the third wicket to complete the task for Zimbabwe in just 13.3 overs.
The 22-year-old Bennett, who came into the World Cup after enjoying the form of his life on home soil by scoring three half-centuries and a hundred to clinch Zimbabwe’s place in the showpiece, continued in the same vein and showed why he is rated so highly.
Bennett’s form will hold the key for Zimbabwe going forward in the tournament.
Taylor was not far behind as he too played some fine shots en route to an easy victory for a team that has a point to prove, having missed the last edition of the tournament.
Earlier, Vinayak Shukla (28 off 21 balls), Sufyan Mehmood (25 off 39) and Nadeem Khan (20 off 18) were the significant contributors with the bat for Oman.
Opting to field after skipper Sikandar Raza won the toss, Muzarabani struck thrice and left-arm seamer Ngarava once to leave Oman precariously placed at 17 for four in the fourth over.
Raza then brought himself into the attack and tasted success when he beat Wasim Ali in the flight to disturb his stumps.
After none of their top five batters managed to reach double digits, Mehmood and wicketkeeper Shukla tried to stabilise the Oman innings with a partnership of 42 runs for the sixth wicket.
However, just when their association had begun to raise hopes of lending the total some respectability, Oman lost their sixth wicket in the form of Shukla.
He was sent back by Ngarava after a brilliant catch by wicketkeeper Taylor off a back-of-a-length delivery that cramped the batter for space.
This was soon followed by the wicket of Jiten Ramanandi as Ngarava struck for the third time in the game and Oman slipped to 71 for seven in the 15th over.
Evans then broke the resistance of Mehmood as the batter holed out at deep square leg after a half-hearted pull shot.
