It never felt like a high-stakes evening in Abu Dhabi – the two sides already knew their fate in the Asia Cup pool – yet India still cobbled together a serviceable 188 for 8 after choosing to bat first against Oman.
The early burst came from Abhishek Sharma, who rattled off 38 in 15 balls. Five fours, two sixes, and the power-play rocketed to 60. A life on 21 helped – Vinayak Shukla put down a routine leg-side tickle off Mohammad Nadeem – and the delivery was eventually called wide. “Those things happen, you just crack on,” the Oman keeper admitted ruefully on the TV feed.
Abhishek’s dismissal – another thin nick, caught this time – handed the stage to Sanju Samson. His 56 from 45 was equal parts cruise and crawl: stuck on 13 from 14 at one point, he jump-started with a six and four off wrist-spinner Samay Shrivatsava, then belted Zikria Islam straight down the ground in the tenth. The tempo dipped again before a neat flick for two brought up his half-century from 41 balls. Two deliveries later he holed out to long-on. “I would’ve liked ten more runs, but the surface slowed up,” Samson told the host broadcaster.
Because the game was a dead rubber India took the liberty of resting Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy, while captain Suryakumar Yadav decided not to bat at all despite eight wickets falling. It left the middle order looking a touch make-do. Harshit Rana, back in the XI, made an unbeaten 13 from No. 8 and finished the innings by carving Faisal Shah over backward point for six – only the second boundary in the last three overs.
For Oman, the left-arm spin of Faisal (2 for 23) and the tidy medium-pace of Jiten Ramanandi (2 for 34) checked India after the power-play. Veteran all-rounder Aamir Kaleem also chipped in with two.
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer, on commentary duty, summed it up neatly: “India won’t mind 188, but the bowling group will want early scalps – otherwise 175 can be chased here.”
Scoreboard: India 188-8 (Samson 56, Abhishek 38; Faisal Shah 2-23) v Oman.
Dead rubber or not, 188 feels competitive. The focus now shifts to how keenly India defend it, given two first-choice bowlers are on the bench.
