Colombo: Opening batter Brian Bennett made a sparkling 48 not out to help Zimbabwe beat Oman by eight wickets in their T20 World Cup match Monday.
Bennett hit seven fours during his 36-ball unbeaten knock while wicketkeeper-batter Brendan Taylor (31 retired hurt) and Tadiwanashe Marumani (21) chipped in with important contributions as Zimbabwe chased down a small target of 104 with 39 balls to spare.
Zimbabwe reached 106 for 2 in 13.3 overs.
Earlier, pacers Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans grabbed three wickets each as Zimbabwe bowled Oman out for 103 in 19.5 overs.
Sent in to bat in the Group B match, Oman struggled to get going with Vinayak Shukla top-scoring with 28. Sufyan Mehmood and Nadeem Khan chipped in with 25 and 20 respectively.
Sikandar Raza got the remaining wicket for Zimbabwe after Ngarava (3/17), Muzarabani (3/16) and Evans (3/18) got three each.
Brief Scores:
Oman: 103 all out in 19.5 overs (Vinayak Shukla 28; Richard Ngarava 3/17, Blessing Muzarabani 3/16, Brad Evans 3/18).
Zimbabwe: 106 for 2 in 13.3 overs (Brian Bennett 48 not out; Sufyan Mehmood 2/12).