🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 :G B, M8: Zim vs Oman, at Colombo🏏 - Page 2

Another exciting afternoon awaits at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground! Zimbabwe takes on Oman in Group B of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (Match 8, often listed as the 7th in some schedules).

Oman carries real confidence after beating Zimbabwe in their recent warm-up game, but today is the real deal – first official T20I clash between these two sides.

Pitch Report & Conditions

The SSC pitch is known to be balanced but slowly turns into a spinner’s playground as the match goes on. Early on, fast bowlers can get some swing and seam thanks to the afternoon humidity. Middle overs become tough for batters facing quality spin.

Toss impact : Chasing teams have won about 60% of recent T20Is here. Still, posting 160+ usually puts you in a strong position.

Weather : Warm and humid around 33°C – no rain expected, so full game ahead!

Oman's Red Brigade, having qualified comfortably for their fourth appearance in five editions, are now a familiar fixture at the T20 World Cup. Yet the team travelling to Sri Lanka bears little resemblance to the one that last took to the biggest stage, with veterans Shakeel Ahmed and Mohammad Nadeem the only two survivors from the 2024 World Cup squad. The wholesale changes following a pay dispute that came to a head at the T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup in 2024 left Oman tasked with an entirely unprecedented rebuilding project, but the new-look side has nonetheless begun to hit their straps under returning skipper Jatinder Singh, coming good at the combined Asia-EAP qualifier, where they finished second behind Nepal. Facing down four full members in Group B will doubtless be a stern test for a squad with limited experience at the highest level, and a measure of the Sultanate's resilience and bench strength as they look to bounce back from a tumultuous couple of years.

The extraordinary upheaval in the Omani camp some 16 months back has seen no less than 18 players make their debuts for the side since the last T20 World Cup, but a measure of consistency has returned to selection of late, suggesting the new team is beginning to gel. Oman are sticking with a similar squad to the one that won them qualification - a mix of returning veterans such as skipper Singh, Amir Kaleem and Sufyan Mehmood, and newer faces such as Vinayak Shukla, Jiten Ramanandi and Shafiq Jan.

Still the transformation of the side remains more a renewal than rejuvenation; with an average age of close to 34, Oman are once again the oldest squad at the tournament by some distance. It's notable that none of the youth team graduates to have debuted for the senior side in recent months made the plane - Aryan Bisht and Muhazir Raza the most prominent omissions there - suggesting a continued preference for experience over youth in major tournaments.

Who can bend a match in 10 balls

Oman don't lack for impact players with the bat, Singh himself at the top and Shukla especially of late at the back end, but their greatest strength is in the unspectacular, the likes of Shakeel or Khan quietly strangling the opposition as ten balls pass for seven or eight runs to arrest the momentum or turn the screw.

Scheduling

Oman will enjoy the advantage of immobility through the first phase, with both warm-ups and all their group games in Sri Lanka, switching between SSC and Kandy. The same is true of the other four sides in their group however, and Sri Lanka will have both home advantage and the crowd behind them in their second fixture Oman will likely feel more at home in Colombo and Kandy than will Zimbabwe, Ireland or Australia, however, and they'll have a sighter of Zimbabwe ahead of time, rather oddly playing them both in their second warm-up and opening match.

Date Opponent Venue
Feb 9 Zimbabwe Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo
Feb 12 Sri Lanka Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Feb 14 Ireland Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo
Feb 20 Australia Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy

Banana peel fixture

With four full members in their group Oman will be underdogs in every game, but they may well have identified the opening match against Zimbabwe as their best bet at going home with a win, so they will have to hit the ground running.

What a good World Cup looks like

Super over defeat to Namibia denied them a win at the last edition, and it's now been almost a decade since Oman last recorded a victory over a test-playing nation at the T20 World Cup. Besting Ireland again would be less of a shock upset these day than it was back in 2016, and Oman will be looking to add at least one more full member scalp to their belt this time round. Progression to the next stage remains improbable if not implausible for an Oman side untried at the highest level, but going home winless again would be a disappointment.

Zimbabwe look to hit the ground running vs Oman

Oman are playing their second successive T20 World Cup while Zimbabwe are here after missing qualification in 2024

Big picture: Zimbabwe, Oman have a point to prove

Could the T20 World Cup 2026 be a tournament for the underdog? The early signs are promising. Netherlands came a dropped catch away from a monumental upset of Pakistan, while USA had India on the ropes until a god-tier Suryakumar Yadav intervention saved the giants.

Now, the spotlight shifts to the SSC in Colombo, where Oman will be hoping to go one better when they square off against Zimbabwe in a high-stakes Group B encounter.

It is a contest made more intriguing as a repeat of their warm-up clash just four days prior. There, Oman issued a stern signifier of their intentions, chasing down a formidable 187 with four wickets to spare. This followed an equally impressive five-wicket dispatching of a Sri Lanka A side.

For those paying attention, Oman's ascent is no fluke. Since becoming an ICC Affiliate in 2000, they have evolved from a regional side into a four-time T20 World Cup participant (2016, 2021, 2024, and 2026). After qualifying as runners-up in the East Asia Pacific Qualifier, they enter this tournament with a ranking that has climbed to 18th in the world, and despite a winless Rising Stars Asia Cup campaign they offered up some fight against India A.

For the "Chevrons" that warm-up loss was a bucket of cold water. Zimbabwe's run-up to the tournament has been a mixed bag: despite an undefeated Africa Region Qualifier campaign, they managed just one win in November's tri-series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and suffered a home whitewash against Afghanistan.

However, the longer view remains hopeful. This is a side that finally broke a string of first-round eliminations in 2022 - highlighted by a famous defeat of Pakistan - and they are desperate to erase the memory of failing to qualify in 2024. Now they're back with a squad largely on the right side of 30, and one anchored by the supreme experience afforded by a trio of near-40-year-olds - Sikandar Raza, Brendan Taylorand Graeme Cremer.

Over recent years, they've shown the ability to hang with the best, now is when they will hope to bring it all together. Oman. meanwhile. want to show they're ready for the big time. Two sides with something to prove, it's what the T20 World Cup is all about.

Form guide

Zimbabwe: L L W L L (last five completed matches, most recent first)

Oman: W W L W W

Aamir Kaleem was handed a late recall to the Oman squad

In the spotlight: Aamir Kaleem and Brian Bennett

An experienced, versatile asset, Aamir Kaleem's 2026 World Cup campaign is the an unlikely story of resurgence. Initially serving as the national U-19 coach, and left out of the World Cup squad, the 44-year-old was handed a late injury recall and immediately proved his worth by smashing a match-winning 80 off 47 balls against Sri Lanka A in the warm-ups. Providing explosive power at the top of the order and disciplined left-arm spin, the veteran's skillset and composure - along with his impact in the dressing room - could prove vital in Oman's giant-slaying ambitions.

At 22, Brian Bennett is undoubtedly the future of Zimbabwean cricket, but such has been his impact as late he is also very much the present. In the warm-up game against Oman, he struck a 28-ball 56, which is not surprising when you take his recent form - over the past 10 games, he's struck at 152.25 and averages 40.50. Against Associate nations this number balloons, striking at 187.31 and averaging 48.84. He is set to be the cornerstone of Zimbabwe's 2026 T20 World Cup campaign, and they will be banking on another fast start to set them on their way.

Team news

Zimbabwe (probable XI): 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Tadiwanashe Marumani, 3 Brendan Taylor (wk), 4 Sikandar Raza (capt), 5 Ryan Burl, 6 Tony Munyonga, 7 Tashinga Musekiwa, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Wellington Masakadza, 10 Tinotenda Maposa, 11 Richard Ngarava

Oman (probable XI): 1 Jatinder Singh (capt), 2 Aamir Kaleem, 3 Hammad Mirza, 4 Karan Sonavale, 5 Wasim Ali, 6 Vinayak Shukla (wk), 7 Jiten Ramanandi, 8 Nadeem Khan, 9 Shah Faisal, 10 Shakeel Ahmed, 11 Jay Odedra

Pitch and conditions

The SSC welcomed back T20 cricket in some style on Saturday as Netherlands and Pakistan contested a thriller on a wicket that offered something for the seamers and batters in the first half of each innings, before becoming much more spin-friendly as the innings wore on. Expect more of the same on Monday. As for the weather, expect some shade from the clouds but the rain is expected to stay clear.

Stats and trivia

• Brian Bennett holds is the youngest player to have scored a century in all three international formats
• At 44 years old, Aamir Kaleem is officially the oldest player to ever feature in a men's T20 World Cup
• Sikandar Raza needs 117 more to become the first Zimbabwean to reach 3,000 runs in the format