Bowlers lead Oman to crushing win

Left-arm pacer Bilal Khan, playing his first T20I game, sliced through Hong Kong's top order, setting up a crushing six-wicket win for Oman in the first T20 international in Abu Dhabi. Mehran Khan then snuffed out any hopes of a recovery, dismissing Mark Chapman and Tanwir Afzal. The collapse seeped into the lower order as well with Hong Kong barely managing to play out 20 overs. Bilal and Mehran claimed combined figures of 8-0-49-5, and debutant left-arm spinner Ajay Lalcheta picked up a wicket with his first delivery as Hong Kong stuttered to 106.

Waqas Khan, coming in at No.8, top-scored with 19 off 28 balls with only three other batsmen getting double-digit scores. Oman's top order suffered a similar slide, as they were quickly reduced to 43 for 4, Tanwir Afzal striking twice. However, Zeeshan Siddiqui and captain Sultan Ahmed steadied the innings and took their side home with an unbroken 64-run partnership in 8.4 overs. Siddiqui and Ahmed stuck four fours each as Oman completed the chase with nine balls to spare.