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Finally, the much-awaited T20 world cup will kick start tomorrow, the 17th of August, 2021 with the host, Oman locking horns with PNG (Papua New Guinea) at the Al Amerat Cricket Grounds. This is the first match of the World Cup tournament and will set the pace for the rest of the games. The match will be played at 20:30 IST, 10:00 pm local time. Papua New Guinea is ranked higher than the Oman cricket team at position 18. However, this fact may not play a big role in tomorrow’s match as Oman will have the advantage of playing the game at home grounds and also the team has showcased a better form compared to Papua New Guinea’s Team.
OMAN TEAM NEWS
Oman has lost 3 of the four T20 matches the team has played this month so far. Two of these matches were Played against Sri Lanka at Al Amerat, the very home ground of Oman. In the two games, the batters did a good job and got to 143 runs and 159 runs, though the bowling could not see them through. If the team will get to such scores against the Lankans’ far better bowling attack, then the hosts will place up a big total against a much thinner Papua New Guinea attack.
In the warm-ups, the team also place up 161 runs against the Netherlands and 152 Namibia. However, the only drawback to those scores is that almost all batting has been heavily dependent upon Aqib Ilyas, who has created one hundred seventy runs in the last four games at an average of 42.5 and appears just like the only consistent batter. Is Oman over-reliant on him? The team needs their premier batter Jatinder Singh to claim form; he has made just twenty-one runs in the last four matches.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA TEAM NEWS
Papua New Guinea is inconsistent, at risk of collapses, and may break whether or not batting 1st or second. The team lost all their 3 warm-up matches and showed that it’s not going to ride out long against quality bowling lineup-up, a case in point? The team got to only score ninety-six runs against Ireland, but yes, the pitch overall behaved in favor of bowlers. The team is led by Assad Vala, who will build a distinction with each bat and ball.
Papua New Guinea will crack an opening against Oman, where most batters struggle for form. However, warm-up games may be deceptive, and a threat like Jatinder Singh will explode anytime, therefore the team cannot think that the warm-up matches and also the practice series against Sri Lanka essentially replicate the form of all players. Papua New Guinea can have to be compelled to do tons of work in the World Cup as they enter as one of the lower-rated groups.
PITCH CONDITIONS
The pitch is a turf, which means there’s a coating of grass. It implies that there’ll be helpful for fast bowlers. Lahiru Kumara of Sri Lanka got the ball to maneuver a bit and claimed six wickets in 2 matches, so an early spell of quick bowling will particularly prove difficult. Oman’s Kaleemullah also reeled in an excellent spell of 1 for eighteen runs against a far higher batting lineup of Sri Lanka, thus Papua New Guinea may be tested.
However, it doesn’t suggest that the pitch is downright unplayable. The typical score of the four innings in the series between Sri Lanka and Oman was 156.75, showing the run-scoring potential. Though the wicket supports quick bowling, one cannot discount the contributions of spinners who play a major role in the format.
PREDICTED PLAYING SQUADS
Oman:
- Zeeshan Maqsood
- Aqib Ilyas
- Jatinder Singh
- Khawar Ali
- Muhammad Nadeem
- Ayan Khan
- Suraj Kumar
- Sandeep Goud
- Nestor Dhamba
- Kaleemullah
- Bilal Khan
- Naseem Khushi
- Sufyan Mehmood
- Fayyaz Butt
- Khurram Khan
- Assad Vala
- Charles Amini
- Lega Siaka
- Norman Vanua
- Nosaina Pokana
- Kiplin Doriga
- Tony Ura
- Hiri Hire
- Gaudi Toka
- Sese Bau
- Damien Ravu
- Kabua Vagi-Morea
- Imon Atai
- Jason Kila
- Chad Soper
- Jack Gardner
- Oman Win: 1
- PNG win: 1
