Right then, that is it from this game and so far, we have seen 4 fairly one-sided games and this was somewhat expected as well, given the fixtures. However, the first weekend of the 2025 Asia Cup is about to bring a couple of big clashes, starting with Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh on Saturday, 13 September and that game will begin at 2.30 pm GMT. The Lankan Lions vs the Bangla Tigers is a brewing rivalry in cricket and it should be an exciting watch, so do join us early for the build-up as well. Cheers!

Salman Agha, the captain of Pakistan, says that they were pretty good with the ball, but still need to improve with the bat. Adds that they don't mind playing with the spinners and they are different and Saim Ayub can chip in as well. Mentions that they should have gotten 180 with the start they got. Says that they have been playing good cricket in the last 2-3 months, and if they execute their plans, they can beat any team in the world.

The Oman skipper, Jatinder Singh, says that restricting Pakistan to 160 was very good and is proud of the boys. Goes on to add that the boys executed the plans brilliantly with the ball but also mentions that their batters failed to hold their nerves and reckons that they are better than what they showed today. Adds that they are looking forward to the next game and want to keep a positive mindset.

Mohammad Haris is the PLAYER OF THR MATCH for his fine knock. He says that it is a great feeling and it was a crucial win. Adds that the pitch looked flat, but it wasn't easy. Mentions that he is happy to bat anywhere according to the needs of the team. Ends by saying that he just wants to get on with the bat and the skipper also want them to be positive all the time.

The Presentation ceremony...

Earlier in the game, Pakistan won the toss and Salman Agha opted to bat first, as opposed to what India did against a minnow. The idea for Pakistan was to go hard with the bat but they lost Saim Ayub very early in the piece. However, Mohammad Haris who was promoted back to his favored number 3 position, managed to up the ante and brought up a fiery 50 as Sahibzada Farhan continued to play second fiddle. But once Haris got out, Oman capitalized and their bowlers, led by Aamir Kaleem and Shah Faisal, kept on picking up wickets at regular intervals and held Pakistan down to a not-so-big total of 160.

This is Oman's 2nd lowest T20I total, their lowest being 47 against England in last year's T20 World Cup but again, this will be another learning curve for the associate nation. They did lose a wicket in the second over but for a few minutes, things started to look positive as Aamir Kaleem and Hammad Mirza took on Pakistan's premier pacer Shaheen Afridi. However, the Oman batters did not have much of an answer to the opposition spinners and kept on losing wickets in a heap. Mirza was the only bright spark with a knock of 27, whereas Kaleem was the only other batter who even got into double figures until Shakeel Ahmed managed to hit a six just before getting out and got to 10 runs.

Not often do we see Pakistan play more than two spinners, but they played 3 proper spinners in this game and also had Saim Ayub as a very handy option. And it was Ayub who picked up a couple of early wickets to get the ball rolling. Sufiyan Muqeem and his left-arm wrist spin were too good for the opposition and even though Abrar Ahmed didn't get a wicket to begin with, he too bowled well and picked up the final wicket of the game. Shaheen Afridi, playing as the single frontline pacer, did get a wicket late in the game as Faheem Ashraf picked up two, and overall, it was a happy day for Pakistan in the field.

A rollicking win for Pakistan and this is just the start they would have wanted heading into that big clash against India in a couple of days' time. They did falter with the blade, but the bowlers were on song and have made light work of the Oman lineup here.