Match Details
Commentary
Oman (Probable XI): Aamir Kaleem, Karan Sonavale, Jatinder Singh (c), Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Jiten Ramanandi, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Sufyan Mehmood, Jay Odedra, Ashish Odedara, Shafiq Jan
Zimbabwe (Probable XI): Brian Bennett, Brendan Taylor (wk), Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (c), Tashinga Musekiwa, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Tony Munyonga, Brad Evans, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava
Preview by Mohammad Anab
After facing each other in the warm-up fixture, Zimbabwe and Oman will start their campaigns by playing against each other in a Group B fixture of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in Colombo on Monday.
Oman have qualified for this World Cup by gaining the second spot at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Asia/East Asia-Pacific Qualifier held in October 2025. The top three sides, namely Nepal, Oman and UAE, in this tournament gained a WC berth. In the qualifiers, Oman topped their group, which comprised two other teams, namely Samoa and Papua New Guinea, and advanced to the Super Sixes. Then they won all their games except the one against Nepal.
Batter Jatinder Singh was the side's leading run scorer with 132 runs from 4 innings. Meanwhile, all-rounder Jiten Ramanandi was the tournament's third-highest wicket-taker with 11 scalps.
Since those qualifiers, Oman haven't had much match practice. However, they did feature in the Aisa Cup Rising Stars tournament in November 2025 but that didn't turn out to be a good one for them. Apart from one win against UAE, they lost all their remaining games and were unable to qualify for the semis.
Ahead of the World Cup, Oman won both their warm-up games. In the first game against Sri Lanka A, Oman restricted Sri Lanka A to 145/9. Jay Odedra, Shakeel Ahmed and Shah Faisal picked up two scalps each. In reply, Oman won the game by five wickets with two overs to spare. Opener Aamir Kaleem made an explosive 80 off 47 balls.
In the second game, they faced their upcoming opponent, Zimbabwe. The Chevrons batted first and made a huge score of 187/7. Brian Bennett and Tashinga Musekiwa scored fifties. Meanwhile, Oman's Sufyan Mehmood picked up three wickets. Oman then chased it down in the last over for the loss of six wickets. Jatinder Singh scored a half-century while Jiten Ramanandi played the finisher's role.
The Gulf side made their T20 WC debut back in 2016 and registered a victory in that tournament itself when they defeated Ireland in a nail-biting thriller. The side then again qualified for the 2021 edition and co-hosted it with UAE. In that edition, too, they registered only one victory by defeating Papua New Guinea.
After missing out on qualification for the 2022 WC, the side went on to participate in the 2024 WC. However, they lost all their games, including a heavy defeat at the hands of England.
On the other side, Zimbabwe earned a spot in the World Cup by winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier held in Harare in September-October 2025. They, along with runners-up Namibia, earned a spot in the WC. Brian Bennett was the tournament's leading run-scorer with 314 runs from five innings. Meanwhile, pacers Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava were the joint second-highest wicket-takers of the tournament with 10 scalps each. After that successful tournament, Zimbabwe suffered a whitewash against Afghanistan in a three-match home series and then a winless campaign in the Pakistan T20I tri-series that also featured Sri Lanka.
The Test-playing nation has featured in all the T20 WCs but two. In the 2024 edition, the side suffered an embarrassment as they failed to qualify for the tournament after losing to Uganda in the regional qualifiers. As far as the 2021 edition is concerned, the Chevrons didn't participate because the ICC suspended Zimbabwe Cricket for government interference in its cricket board.
Their best performance was in the 2022 edition in Australia, when they reached the Super 12 stage and even defeated Pakistan by one run at Perth.
The side is strong and depends a lot on the three very senior pros (Brendan Taylor, Sikandar Raza and Graeme Cremer) who might be playing their final T20 WC. Brendan Taylor returned to the side last year after serving a ban for breaching the ICC's anti-corruption code. The keeper-batter is the only player across all sides in this WC to have featured in the first edition of the T20 WC way back in 2007. In that edition, Zimbabwe recorded a famous victory against the Ricky Ponting-led Australia and Taylor was the star performer for the Chevrons.
Leggie and former skipper Graeme Cremer is returning to the side after more than six years. He quit international cricket due to family reasons. Current skipper Sikandar Raza is the torchbearer of Zimbabwean cricket. The veteran can turn the match on its head with both bat and ball. He has gained immense experience by playing in various franchise leagues across the globe.
Brian Bennett at the top of the order is a rising star and much will depend on the starts given by him. The pace trio of Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani also looks lethal.
In the two warm-up games played by Chevrons ahead of this WC, they defeated the Netherlands by 29 runs in the first match. Chevrons batted first and scored 178/9 on the back of a half-century from Ryan Burl. They then bundled out the Dutch for 149. Ngarava picked up three wickets. In the second game, Zimbabwe were beaten by Oman by four wickets.
Can Zimbabwe take their warm-up loss revenge? Join us at 2 PM IST & local time on Monday for the live coverage.
After facing each other in the warm-up fixture, Zimbabwe and Oman will start their campaigns by playing against each other in a Group B fixture of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in Colombo on Monday.
Oman have qualified for this World Cup by gaining the second spot at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Asia/East Asia-Pacific Qualifier held in October 2025. The top three sides, namely Nepal, Oman and UAE, in this tournament gained a WC berth. In the qualifiers, Oman topped their group, which comprised two other teams, namely Samoa and Papua New Guinea, and advanced to the Super Sixes. Then they won all their games except the one against Nepal.
Batter Jatinder Singh was the side's leading run scorer with 132 runs from 4 innings. Meanwhile, all-rounder Jiten Ramanandi was the tournament's third-highest wicket-taker with 11 scalps.
Since those qualifiers, Oman haven't had much match practice. However, they did feature in the Aisa Cup Rising Stars tournament in November 2025 but that didn't turn out to be a good one for them. Apart from one win against UAE, they lost all their remaining games and were unable to qualify for the semis.
Ahead of the World Cup, Oman won both their warm-up games. In the first game against Sri Lanka A, Oman restricted Sri Lanka A to 145/9. Jay Odedra, Shakeel Ahmed and Shah Faisal picked up two scalps each. In reply, Oman won the game by five wickets with two overs to spare. Opener Aamir Kaleem made an explosive 80 off 47 balls.
In the second game, they faced their upcoming opponent, Zimbabwe. The Chevrons batted first and made a huge score of 187/7. Brian Bennett and Tashinga Musekiwa scored fifties. Meanwhile, Oman's Sufyan Mehmood picked up three wickets. Oman then chased it down in the last over for the loss of six wickets. Jatinder Singh scored a half-century while Jiten Ramanandi played the finisher's role.
The Gulf side made their T20 WC debut back in 2016 and registered a victory in that tournament itself when they defeated Ireland in a nail-biting thriller. The side then again qualified for the 2021 edition and co-hosted it with UAE. In that edition, too, they registered only one victory by defeating Papua New Guinea.
After missing out on qualification for the 2022 WC, the side went on to participate in the 2024 WC. However, they lost all their games, including a heavy defeat at the hands of England.
On the other side, Zimbabwe earned a spot in the World Cup by winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier held in Harare in September-October 2025. They, along with runners-up Namibia, earned a spot in the WC. Brian Bennett was the tournament's leading run-scorer with 314 runs from five innings. Meanwhile, pacers Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava were the joint second-highest wicket-takers of the tournament with 10 scalps each. After that successful tournament, Zimbabwe suffered a whitewash against Afghanistan in a three-match home series and then a winless campaign in the Pakistan T20I tri-series that also featured Sri Lanka.
The Test-playing nation has featured in all the T20 WCs but two. In the 2024 edition, the side suffered an embarrassment as they failed to qualify for the tournament after losing to Uganda in the regional qualifiers. As far as the 2021 edition is concerned, the Chevrons didn't participate because the ICC suspended Zimbabwe Cricket for government interference in its cricket board.
Their best performance was in the 2022 edition in Australia, when they reached the Super 12 stage and even defeated Pakistan by one run at Perth.
The side is strong and depends a lot on the three very senior pros (Brendan Taylor, Sikandar Raza and Graeme Cremer) who might be playing their final T20 WC. Brendan Taylor returned to the side last year after serving a ban for breaching the ICC's anti-corruption code. The keeper-batter is the only player across all sides in this WC to have featured in the first edition of the T20 WC way back in 2007. In that edition, Zimbabwe recorded a famous victory against the Ricky Ponting-led Australia and Taylor was the star performer for the Chevrons.
Leggie and former skipper Graeme Cremer is returning to the side after more than six years. He quit international cricket due to family reasons. Current skipper Sikandar Raza is the torchbearer of Zimbabwean cricket. The veteran can turn the match on its head with both bat and ball. He has gained immense experience by playing in various franchise leagues across the globe.
Brian Bennett at the top of the order is a rising star and much will depend on the starts given by him. The pace trio of Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani also looks lethal.
In the two warm-up games played by Chevrons ahead of this WC, they defeated the Netherlands by 29 runs in the first match. Chevrons batted first and scored 178/9 on the back of a half-century from Ryan Burl. They then bundled out the Dutch for 149. Ngarava picked up three wickets. In the second game, Zimbabwe were beaten by Oman by four wickets.
Can Zimbabwe take their warm-up loss revenge? Join us at 2 PM IST & local time on Monday for the live coverage.
Oman Squad: Jatinder Singh (c), Aamir Kaleem, Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Karan Sonavale, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Jiten Ramanandi, Nadeem Khan, Sufyan Mehmood, Shakeel Ahmed, Shah Faisal, Mohammad Nadeem, Jay Odedra, Ashish Odedara, Shafiq Jan
Zimbabwe Squad: Sikandar Raza (c), Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Dion Myers, Brendan Taylor (wk), Ryan Burl, Tashinga Musekiwa, Wellington Masakadza, Brad Evans, Tinotenda Maposa, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Tony Munyonga, Clive Madande, Graeme Cremer