Pakistani expat Zeeshan Maqsood stars as Oman down Papua New Guinea

Oman defeated Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets in clinical fashion, during the opening match of the T20 World Cup at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Muscat.  

Chasing a target of 130 runs, Oman cruised home in 13.4 overs with openers Aqib Ilyas and Jatinder Singh scoring unbeaten fifties.

Ilyas scored 50 runs off 43 balls where Singh notched up 73 runs off 42 balls.

Earlier, after being asked to bat first, PNG were restricted to 129/9 in their allotted 20 overs.

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Skipper Assad Vala was the top run-scorer with 56 runs off 43 balls. His innings included four fours and three sixes. Meanwhile, middle-order batter Charles Amini scored 37 runs off 26 balls with the help of four fours and a six. The duo stitched an 81-run partnership of 60 balls for the third wicket, after PNG had lost both their openers, Tony Ura and Lega Siaka, for a duck.

At one stage PNG were 102/3 in 14 overs and looked set to post a total around 150, however that was not the case.

For Oman, skipper Zeeshan Maqsood, a Pakistani expat, was the pick of the bowlers with impressive figures of 4/20 in four overs. The left-arm spinner claimed three wickets in one over to help Oman restrict PNG to a modest total.

Pacers Kaleemullah and Bilal Khan bagged two wickets each.