New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) Zimbabwe, Nepal and Oman enjoyed confidence-boosting victories in the latest round of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up matches.
Zimbabwe beat the Netherlands by 29 runs, Nepal chased down 146 to beat the UAE by seven wickets and Aamir Kaleem impressed with the bat as Oman defeated Sri Lanka A by five wickets.
Burl and Ngarava shine for Zimbabwe:
Ryan Burl and Richard Ngarava played key roles as Zimbabwe overcame the Netherlands by 29 runs.
Burl entered the fray at 77 for three in the ninth over, Dion Myers having got Zimbabwe off to a flyer with a 14-ball 32, and made an unbeaten 50 from 31 balls, with six boundaries, to guide his side to 178 for nine.
Logan van Beek was the pick of the Dutch attack with three for 22 but the reply got off to a nightmare start as both Max O’Dowd and Bas de Leede fell for ducks.
Captain Scott Edwards made 26 but his departure left the Netherlands on 94 for eight, with Van Beek’s 40 not out, with three sixes, proving too little too late.
Nepal power past the UAE:
An unbroken century stand between Dipendra Singh Airee and Aarif Sheikh led Nepal to a seven-wicket win over the UAE in Chennai.
The UAE batted first and slipped from 42 for one to 66 for five, Sandeep Lamicchane taking two for 24.
Sohaib Khan (38 not out) and Harshit Kaushik (35) added 68 for the sixth wicket to repair the damage and two run-outs early in the reply left Nepal with plenty of work to do from 45 for three.
Singh Airee and Sheikh made light work of the task at hand, however, finishing unbeaten on 50 and 61 respectively to guide Nepal home with three overs to spare. Sheikh struck eight fours and two sixes in his 37-ball knock.
Aamir leads Oman home:
Aamir Kaleem’s entertaining 80 led Oman to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka A in Colombo.
Sri Lanka A opted to bat first but lost regular wickets in the powerplay, which ended with them on 49 for four.
Sahan Kosala (21) and Wanuja Sahan (29) helped guide their side into three figures while Chamindu Wijesinghe made an unbeaten 24 from 13 balls as the hosts finished on 145 for nine, with Jay Odedra, Shah Faisal and Shakeel Ahmed taking two wickets apiece.
Only two Oman batters got into double figures in reply but they did so emphatically enough to win the game. Aamir was the standout, blasting eight fours and three sixes in his 47-ball blitz, while wicketkeeper Vinayak Shukla’s 39 not out from 24 saw his side home with two overs to spare.
Sahan bowled tidily to claim three for 16 from his four overs in a losing cause.
–IANS
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