Muscat: Oman easily won the first match of the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup. In the first match of Group B, they defeated Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets.
This is the third time in the World Cup that a team has won by ten wickets. Papua New Guinea, playing in the World Cup for the first time, scored 129 runs for the loss of nine wickets. In reply, Oman won the toss and elected to bat with 38 balls to spare. Openers Jatinder Singh (73 off 42 balls with four sixes and seven fours) and Aqeeb Elias (50 off 43 balls with 50 fours and five fours) were the top scorers.
Papua’s seven bowlers came to bowl but could not break the opening pair. The winning run was born in the over thrown by Charles Amini. Amini was the top scorer with 31 runs in 2.4 overs. Damien Rao conceded 28 runs in three overs while Lega Siaca conceded 17 runs in two overs. The start of Papua New Guinea was pathetic. Before the scoreboard opened, openers Tony Ura and Lega Siaka returned. In the first over of the World Cup, Bilal Khan bowled Tony Ura. An attempt to drive the inswinger hit the edge of the bat and into the stumps. Tony returned after five balls. In the next over thrown by Kalimullah, Lega returned for a similar shot. Captain Azad Wala (56 off 43 balls with three sixes and four fours) and Charles Amini (37 off 26 balls with one six and four fours) were the main contributors. The duo put together 81 runs.
The alliance fell apart when Amini Mohammad Nadeem ran out of air. Azad crossed the 100 mark with the help of Sese Bau (13 off 13 balls). Azad returned after Jatinder caught Kalimulla’s ball. Oman captain Seeshan Maqsood’s wicket chase followed. In the first ball of the 16th over of the season, Norman Vanuatu (1) dismissed Sesa Bao in the third ball and Kiplin Doriga (0) in the fifth ball. Damien Rao (one) was also dismissed by the season in the 18th over. Season Maqsood, who took four wickets for 20 runs in four overs, became the star of the match. Bilal Khan and Kalimullah took two wickets each. Kabua Moria (six) and Nozina Pokana (five) were not out.
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