In the first match of the Super Six stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifier, Zimbabwe will be up against Oman. The fixture will be played out at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, on Thursday, 29th June.
Zimbabwe has had the perfect start to their journey in this competition, having won all of the four matches they have played so far. They are currently second in the Super Six standings, with four points in two games.
On the other hand, Oman has done well to make it this far into the competition, but their chances of making it to the main event are not very high. With two wins but also two defeats in their first four games, they are rock bottom in the Super Six standings.
What have they done so far?
Zimbabwe took on Nepal in their first match, where they conceded 290 runs, but then did well to chase the total down at the loss of only two wickets, in 44.1 overs. In their second match against the Netherlands, they conceded 315 runs before chasing it down in 40.5 overs.
The upset happened in their third fixture, where the Chevrons stunned the cricket world by beating two-time champions of the World Cup, Sri Lanka. Defending a total of 268 runs, they bundled out West Indies for a low score of only 233 runs. In their last match, Craig Ervine’s team defeated the USA by 304 runs.
Oman also had a great start to their journey, as they won their first two matches. Zeeshan Maqsood’s men were up against Ireland in their first match, where they bagged a five-wicket win. In the second match against UAE, the result was the same with Oman getting another five-wicket win.
Oman defeated Ireland in their first match
However, their campaign has turned upside down ever since. In their third match, they were bundled out for 98 against Sri Lanka and subsequently suffered a 10-wicket loss. In the last match, Oman suffered a 76-run defeat against Scotland.
Head to Head Record
Interestingly, these two teams have never crossed paths in ODI cricket, Hence, the match on 29th June will be the first instance of the African team and the Asian side coming head-to-head, with both teams willing to add two points to their name.
Key Players
Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe): Veteran all-rounder Sikandar Raza has once again been Zimbabwe’s main attraction, having done a superb job with both the bat and the ball so far. He has scored 218 runs, with his strike rate being nearly 160. In terms of his bowling, Raza has picked up 8 wickets.
Sikandar Raza has done well in every single department
Oman in particular should be wary of what Raza can produce, with the player wreaking havoc in the last meeting against them. In that fixture, the 37-year-old picked up three wickets and scored 110 wickets. Besides that, he also scored a century against the Netherlands, and a half-century against West Indies.
Bilal Khan (Oman): Oman has not been the best batting team in this competition, but they have done a fairly decent job with the ball. Bilal Khan has been the most important player for them, having picked up 9 wickets at an average of 21.22 and an economy rate of 5.61.
Like Raza, Bilal was also born in Pakistan before settling in another country. The pacer dismissed Innocent Kaia and Ryan Burl in his last meeting against Zimbabwe, whereas in the qualifiers, he picked up a five-wicket haul against Scotland.
Predicted XIs
Zimbabwe: Joylord Gumbie, Craig Ervine ©, Wessly Madhevere, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Clive Madande (wk), Wellington Masakadza, Richard Ngarava, Tendai Chatara, Blessing Muzarabani.
Oman: Kashyap Prajapati, Jatinder Singh, Aqib Ilyas, Zeeshan Maqsood ©, Mohammad Nadeem, Shoaib Khan, Ayaan Khan, Naseem Khushi (wk), Jay Odedra, Fayyaz Butt, Bilal Khan
Prediction
Oman can take a lot of positives from their campaign, given that not many expected them to make it out of the group stages. Having said that, it is highly unlikely that they will be able to topple the juggernaut of Zimbabwe.
The Chevrons have looked absolutely unstoppable so far, having brushed aside every team they have faced so far. Given their form, we have predicted Zimbabwe to get a fairly comfortable win in this fixture.