Pakistan spinners raze Oman after Haris' fifty

Mohammad Haris' fifty and a bowling performance far too good for an outmatched Oman side helped Pakistan cruise to a 93-run win in their Asia Cup opener. Haris smashed 66 off 43 deliveries in an innings where none of his team-mates were quite able to match his power or timing with the bat as he helped Pakistan get up to 160.

Oman received early encouragement when a ball that kept low trapped the dangerous Saim Ayub in front. Sahibzada Farhan's off-colour form persisted in a scratchy innings as Pakistan stumbled along to 31 in the first five overs, and it was up to Haris to inject impetus into the innings.

Sixteen came off the final powerplay over, and that was the start of the onslaught. Until then, Haris had 16 off 18. His next 25 balls produced 50 as Pakistan raced up close to eight runs per over, but once again, Oman pegged them back. Aamir Kaleem, the left-arm spinner, was the pick of the Oman bowlers as he had Haris drag on, before Salman Agha lapped a full toss off his first delivery to deep midwicket.

It produced another barren spell for Pakistan and the boundaries dried up again. Fakhar Zaman struggled for timing and Hasan Nawaz, so often a hammer at the death, couldn't get himself in and holed out off his 15th ball for nine runs. But a cameo from Mohammad Nawaz, who arrived in the 17th over, ensured Pakistan got past the 150-mark.

But Kaleem's three wickets, and the overall assistance the Oman spinners got, suggested this might well end up being comfortably above par, especially in the face of Pakistan's more accomplished spin options.

And so it proved. A bright beginning for Oman's batters was waylaid by a double strike from Saim Ayub in the powerplay. Nawaz and Pakistan's two wristspinners Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed dried up the batters' scoring options, and Oman began to bleed wickets. With the field spreading out and the asking rate rising, panic set in, and the innings began to capitulate. Oman slipped from 41 for 2 to 51 for 9 before being bowled out for 67; flashes of ability drowned under the gulf in quality Pakistan were able to bring to bear upon the contest.

It is knocks like these that keep Pakistan persisting with Haris through extended poor runs. He had scored just 54 runs in 11 innings before this game, but he was promoted up the order into the powerplay today. That is his strength, and having cut loose in the sixth over, he continued pumping the Oman bowlers, almost single-handedly maintaining Pakistan's imposing run rate.

Farhan's struggles at the other end threw Haris' exploits into sharper relief. Even with the field spread out, Haris, having found his timing, continued to take on the boundary riders. His third six brought up just his second 50-plus score in the format, before a boundary the following ball saw him match his runs tally from the previous 11 innings. The 43 balls he faced for his 66 makes just this three deliveries short of his longest T20I innings in his 29-match career, and one that singlehandedly resurrected an innings that had begun to wobble.

Specialist fast bowlers have dropped down the pecking order in T20I cricket under Mike Hesson, but playing just the one in Shaheen Shah Afridi still came as a bit of a surprise at the toss. Oman began the chase in a solid manner and were 32 for 2 by the end of the fifth over. But Saim Ayub had taken both those wickets, and Pakistan began to unleash the rest of their spinners on this line-up that may never had played against bowling of this quality.

Abrar, Nawaz and Muqeem first asphyxiated them, and then the wickets began to fall. Muqeem took out Mohammad Nadeem to make it 41 for 3, and from thereon it was a procession. Nawaz got into the act before Muqeem doubled up the following over. Afridi and Faheem Ashraf helped themselves as Oman lost seven wickets for ten runs, imparting upon the scoreline a tinge of embarrassment Oman's bowlers certainly did not deserve.