Twitter Reactions: Jatinder Singh, Zeeshan Maqsood star in Oman's clinical victory

Oman skipper Maqsood was named the Player of the Match for his 4/20.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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Jatinder Singh and Aqib Ilyas
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Jatinder Singh and Aqib Ilyas. (Photo by HAITHAM AL-SHUKAIRI/AFP via Getty Images)

Dominating half-century from Jatinder Singh after bowlers restricted tournament debutants Papua New Guinea to just 129/9 helped hosts Oman to stroll to a ruthless 10-wicket victory in the opening fixture of the first round of the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Singh, who raced off to 73 off just 42 with seven boundaries and four sixes, was assisted in no small cause by opening partner Aqib Aliyas, who anchored and contributed 50 off 43 in the 131-run stand that came in just 82 balls, to set up a net-run-rate boosting victory for his side.

PNG bowlers hardly ever showed the wicket-taking bite, something they needed in plenty to defend the kind of score their batters had managed. However, the bowlers failed to create chances, and a couple they did were not held by the fielders, who reprieved both the openers once.

Amini, Vala rebuild after nervy start

After being put in, PNG made an ominous start, losing both openers Tony Ura and Lega Siaka for ducks – Ura chopped on Bilal Khan in the opening over, while his partner followed suit, as he inside-edged a Kaleemullah short ball onto his stumps in the succeeding over.

The first runs on the board came no sooner than the twelfth ball of the innings when Charles Amini (37 off 26) nudged a single to initiate an 81-run alliance for the third wicket alongside skipper Assad Vala that ensured their bowlers had at least something to bowl at.

Amini got into his groove with a couple of fours off Bilal in the third over – the first was not as convincing as he edged what would have been a regulation catch in the slip, however, the absence of a fielder meant it trickled down to the boundary. A powerful crunch through the mid-off for four followed and that made some influence on Vala, who dispatched Kaleemullah for successive fours in the immediately following over.

Zeeshan Maqsood triple strike undoes PNG recovery

Amini took another charge inside the powerplay, hitting the medium pace of Mohammad Nadeem for a six and four to compensate for his team’s nervy start, but Oman managed to keep things quiet after the powerplay. The partnership flourished until the 12th over but ended rather soggily when a direct hit by Nadeem caught Amini, who was refused for a single, well short of his ground.

Vala continued for a brief while and notched up his half-century but Jatinder Singh took a brilliant catch off Kaleemullah to cut him short at 56. The real punch, however, landed in the triple-wicket 16th over of Oman skipper Zeeshan Maqsood, who finished 4/20 to become only the second captain after New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori to register a four-for in T20 World Cup. PNG could not score even a single boundary in the last five overs, slipping down from 80/2 to 129/9.

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