Zimbabwe Thrash Oman in T20 WC Opener as Raza Praises Clinical Display

Raza highlighted their solid execution of plans, despite some boundaries and bad overs. Raza was pleased with the team's composure, considering it was the first game of the 2026 World Cup and nerves were expected.

Zimbabwe thrashed Oman by eight wickets in match 8 of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 held at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Monday.

"We saw the wicket well. We executed our plans well. I think this is as clinical as we can be. There were boundaries here and there, and a few bad overs for us, but that doesn't really bother me. I thought the plans we set we executed. Even with the batting as well, ideally you want to win by a bigger margin and get a good start and finish the game, but first game of a World Cup, a little bit nervous, putting everything into consideration, this is as clinical as we can be," Raza said after the match.

Oman skipper Jatinder Singh acknowledged that his side didn't put enough runs on the board and that, as a batting side, Oman didn't click well.

"Our batters didn't put enough runs on the board. So it is a bit too much to ask for the bowlers to take charge on 106. As a batting unit, we did not click. So I think in T20 game, we have to have around 160-170 competitive runs for the bowlers to put up a fight," Jatinder Singh said.

In the Group B fixture, chasing 104, Zimbabwe opener Brian Bennett remained unbeaten on 48 runs off 36 balls as the Sikandar Raza-led side chased down a modest target of 104 runs comfortably.

Wicketkeeper-batter Brendan Taylor also played a decent knock of 31 runs before getting retired hurt. He hit three fours in his knock. Raza finished the chase by hitting the winning boundary.

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