Oman vs Papua New Guinea T20I: Oman to win the match

The mega event, the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, will kickstart when hosts Oman take on Papua New Guinea. PNG (Papua New Guinea) is ranked 15, higher than the Oman team, stationed in 18th place. However, this figure can be a little misleading since Oman will have an advantage playing at home and has showcased better form too.

Oman has lost three of the four T20 matches the team has played this month so far. Two of those matches were played against Sri Lanka at Al Amerat, the home ground of Oman. In the two games, the batters did a decent job and got to 143 runs and 159 runs, although the bowling couldn't see them through. If the team can get to such scores against the Lankans' much better bowling attack, then the hosts can put up a big total against a much thinner Papua New Guinea attack.

In the warm-ups, the team also put up 161 runs against Netherlands and 152 against Namibia. However, the only downside to these scores is that most batting has been heavily dependent upon Aqib Ilyas, who has made 170 runs in the last four games at an average of 42.5 and looks like the only consistent batter. Is Oman over-reliant on him? The team will need their premier batter Jatinder Singh to claim form; he has made just 21 runs in the last four matches, now is the right time to click!

PNG is inconsistent, susceptible to collapses, and can burn out whether batting first or second. The team lost all their three warm-up matches and showed that it is not likely to last out long against quality bowling lineup-up, a case in point? The team got to only 96 runs against Ireland, but yes, the pitch overall behaved in favor of bowlers. The team is led by Assad Vala, who can make a difference with both bat and ball.

Papua New Guinea can crack an opening against Oman, where most batters struggle for form. However, warm-up games can be misleading, and a threat like Jatinder Singh can explode anytime, so the team can't think that the warm-up matches and the practice series against Sri Lanka necessarily reflect the form of all players. PNG will have to do a lot of heavy lifting in the World Cup as they enter as one of the lower-rated teams. 

The pitch is a turf, meaning there is a coating of grass. It implies that there will be help for fast bowlers. Lahiru Kumara of Sri Lanka got the ball to move a bit and claimed six wickets in two matches, so an early spell of fast bowling can especially prove troublesome. Oman's Kaleemullah also reeled in an excellent spell of one for 18 runs against a much better batting lineup of Sri Lanka, so Papua New Guinea can be tested.

However, it doesn't mean that the pitch is downright unplayable. The average score of the four innings in the series between Sri Lanka and Oman was 156.75, showing the run-scoring potential. Although the wicket supports fast bowling, one can't discount the contributions of spinners who play a significant role in the format.

Oman is more likely to win this game for two simple reasons, the team is playing at home, and the team showed some guts while playing a tougher team in Sri Lanka. Papua New Guinea is susceptible to collapses, and the Oman batters will feel more confident against the team's bowling. 

• Oman to win for 1.17;
• Individual Total 2 Over 135 for 1.488