ANTIGUA: A ruthless bowling performance, followed by equally dominant batting led England to ease past Oman in the must-win ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 fixture here at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Thursday.
Set to chase a modest 48, England chased down the total in just 3.1 overs, courtesy of Jos Buttler’s blitz.
Earlier, opening batter Phil Salt gave the defending champions a flying start by smashing back-to-back sixes on the first two deliveries of the innings.
Salt, however, perished on the next delivery as Bilal Khan hit back.
England then lost another wicket in the run chase as Will Jacks only managed five off seven before falling victim to Kaleemullah in the second over.
Meanwhile, Jos Buttler decimated Bilal in the third over of the innings and put England just two away from the victory.
Jonny Bairstow then smashed Fayyaz Butt for a boundary on the first delivery of the fourth over to complete England’s resounding victory. He scored eight off two deliveries.
Buttler top-scored for England with an unbeaten 24 in just eight balls, peppered with four fours and a six.
For Oman, Bilal Khan and Kaleemullah could pick up a wicket.
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Sent into bat first, Oman’s inexperienced batting unit was unfolded on a meagre total in 13.2 overs.
Oman, after a disastrous start, kept losing wickets at an alarming rate and were subsequently bundled out at a paltry total.
Shoaib Khan was the only Oman batter to amass the double figures as he top-scored for the associate nation with 11.
Whereas, Kashyap Prajapati (9) and skipper Aqib Ilyas (8) were the other notable run-getters.
Adil Rashid spearheaded England’s dominant bowling attack with a four-fer, followed by Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, who picked up three wickets each.
A dominant eight-wicket victory lifted defending champions England to third in Group B standings of the T20 World Cup 2024 with three points in as many matches while Oman ended their campaign with four defeats.
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