Blessing Muzarabani stars as Zimbabwe claims first T20 World Cup win over Oman

The 29-year-old seamer was named Player of the Match for his impressive spell of 4 overs, 1 maiden, conceding just 16 runs and picking up three wickets, which helped restrict Oman to a modest total.

Speaking during the post-match presentation, Muzarabani said the team was pleased to get their first victory on the board but stressed the importance of taking the tournament one game at a time.

"Yes, it was really nice for us to get that first win out of the way. But from here on, it's just game by game. I'm really happy with today," Muzarabani said, as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Commenting on his shorter run-up during the match, the Zimbabwe pacer revealed it was linked to managing his fitness. "(Talking about bowling short run-up) Not really. I'm coming back from a small back injury, so sometimes it's just in your head, and you don't want to push it too much. But otherwise, it was the same effort and the same plan," he explained.

Muzarabani also spoke about the pitch conditions, saying the bowlers were able to exploit the bounce and skid on offer. "Yes, there was some bounce, which was good to see. It was also a bit skiddy, and we were happy to make use of the conditions," he said.

Looking ahead in the tournament, the pacer remained grounded. "Yes, definitely. As I said, it's just game by game. I don't want to overthink it. I'm just happy with today. Yes, it's going to be a good challenge. But again, we'll take it one game at a time. Nothing changes. Thank you very much," he added.

Zimbabwe chased down a modest target of 104 runs comfortably with Brian Bennett hitting an unbeaten 48 off 346 balls and Brendan Taylor contributing with 31 runs.

Earlier, opting to bowl first, Zimbabwe got the first breakthrough when Blessing Muzarabani bowled Oman skipper Jatinder Singh in the second over.

Richard Ngarava got Hammad Mirza in the next over when Brendan Taylor took a fine catch behind the wickets to complete the job.

Muzarabani Aamir dismissed Kaleem in the next over. He made five runs off seven balls. Muzarabani dismissed Karan Sonavale in the same over to take his third scalp. Sonavale failed to open his account.

Sufyan Mehmood (25 off 39 balls) and Vinayak Shukla (28 off 21 balls) added 42 runs off 43 balls for the sixth wicket. Nadeem Khan's 20 off 18 balls in the end helped Oman cross the 100-run mark.

Brad Evans, Muzarabani and Ngarava took three wickets each as Raza also picked up one wicket for Zimbabwe.

Brief Score: Oman 103/10 in 19.5 Overs (Vinayak Shukla 28, Sufyan Mehmood 25; Blessing Muzarabani 17/3) Vs Zimbabwe 106/2 in 13.3 Overs (Brian Bennett 48, Brendan Taylor 31; Sufyan Mehmood 12/2).

- ANI