ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, warm-up wrap: Afghanistan vs Oman
Afghanistan had an impressive run in the ODI World Cup, where they picked up wins over top teams like England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The warm up fixtures continued as it was Afghanistan who were all set to take on Oman in their first and only warm-up match in the T20 World Cup 2024 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad. However, it was not the ideal pratice which both the teams were hoping to have as the match was abandoned due to rain.
The game initially started late due to poor weather conditions. However, a temporary reprieve from the rain allowed for just one inning to be played. In this rain-curtailed match, Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bowl first. The pitch, affected by the rain, was slightly slower, posing challenges for Oman’s batters. Despite this, the Oman team had a steady and cautious start.
The opening pair of Kashyap Prajapati and Pratik Athavale put together a partnership of 35 runs in 24 balls. Their partnership was broken when Azmatullah Omarzai dismissed Athavale for 16 runs. This brought Oman skipper Aqib Ilyas to the crease. From the start, Ilyas looked in excellent form, scoring an unbeaten 66 runs off just 48 deliveries, including seven boundaries and three sixes Ilyas was also very well supported by opener Kashyap Prajapati (35) and Zeeshan Maqsood (35). Oman managed to post a total of 154/3 in their allotted 20 overs. Unfortunately, heavy rain prevented the second innings from starting, leading to the abandonment of the game.
Afghanistan will look to replicated their ODI World Cup form
Afghanistan had an impressive run in the ODI World Cup, where they picked up wins over top teams like England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. However, the team aimed to go a step further and bag their maiden ICC title. Afghanistan are currently placed in Group C of the T20 World Cup along with Uganda, New Zealand, PNG, and the West Indies.
The team will be opening their campaign against Uganda on June 3, followed by matches against New Zealand, PNG, and the West Indies on June 7, 13, and 17, respectively. Also, Afghanistan need to finish as one of the top two teams in the group to qualify for the Super 8s. On the other hand Oman will be playing their second T20 World Cup this time around. They had been grouped alongside Australia, England, Namibia, and Scotland. In what looked like an impossible group for them to qualify, they aimed to play the best cricket that they could.
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