BARBADOS : Defending a below-par target of measly 109 was always going to be a tough task for Oman against Namibia in their opening Group B match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval ground in Bridgetown, Barbados on Sunday night (Monday morning, Oman time).

Despite the defeat in the Super Over, the mood in Oman camp was upbeat with former captain and the most experienced player in the squad, Zeeshan Maqsood, highlighting the team’s fighting spirit that nearly pulled off a victory for the Men in Red.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Maqsood, flanked by Oman team’s media manager Varun Khimji, said: “It was an outstanding team effort even in the defeat. The bowlers were exceptional, and Mehran Khan was the pick of the lot. He was just awesome and brought us back into the game.

“We knew defending 109 on this wicket would be a challenge but we showed that under Aqib Ilyas’ captaincy the players put in a fightback that we all can be proud of. Ilyas made some tactical bowling changes to keep the team in the running till the last over.”

Maqsood said that the team “had to also pay a price for the 3-4 dropped catches.”

He said: “Had we taken those, we could have won the game despite the wickets helping the bowlers. At the break time, we were not very confident of defending 109 but with the pitch conditions assisting us, we fought back. We took the match into Super Over where David Wiese was outstanding with both bat and ball.”

Maqsood added: “The defeat has given quite a few positives including a display of team’s fighting spirit and the excellent display by the bowlers. We hope to take these lessons into our next game against Australia on Wednesday night (Thursday morning, 4.30am, Oman time).”

Oman skipper Aqib Ilyas told the official broadcasters on the ground after the match. “We would have enjoyed the thriller more if we were on the winning side. Losing and winning is part of cricket but we possibly were maybe 15-20 runs short”

On the decision to bowl Bilal Khan in the Super Over, Ilyas said: “I think Bilal is one of the best bowlers you can have in Associate and this level. But there are days where you plan is not executed. He was clear, we were clear, but maybe the ball was wet, and he couldn’t execute. Some days it is your day, some days it goes the opposite way.”

Ayaan Khan, another key Oman all-rounder, said: “In such a low-scoring game, there are bound to be negatives but we are only looking at the positives. To take the game into the last over was an excellent display by our bowlers.”

Ayaan, who was involved with the biggest partnership of 31 with Khalid Kail, said: “We lost early two wickets and then another in the third over. Our plans to accelerate during powerplay went haywire but we failed as there were no big partnerships. We were short by 20-30 runs.”

He said: “The dressing room is still positive, and we look forward to putting up a much better display in the next game.”

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