Men's T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up: Day 2 wrap
Oman and Zimbabwe score confident wins in the run up to the marquee event.
Oman and Zimbabwe began their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 preparations with confident wins in their respective warm-up clashes in Colombo on Tuesday.
A half-century by experienced opener Aamir Kaleem powered Oman to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka A, while Zimbabwe defeated Netherlands by 29 runs.
Here's how the action panned out:
Oman get the better of Sri Lanka A
After electing to bat first, the Sri Lankan top order struggled to get going and were down to 41/3 inside the first five overs.
Important contributions from Wanuja Sahan (29) and Chamindu Wijesinghe (24) lower down the order helped them to a respectable score. For Oman, Shah Faisal, Shakeel Ahmed and Jay Odedra claimed two wickets each.
Southpaw Kaleem, who has been a mainstay in the team for the last two years, shouldered the responsibility during Oman's innings. Even though he kept losing wickets at the other end, Kaleem scored 80 off just 47 balls, with the help of eight fours and three sixes. Though he did not carry the bat through, he set his team up for victory.
Vinayak Shukla added the finishing touches, staying unbeaten on 39 as Oman chased down the target with five wickets and two overs to spare.
Drawn in Group B along with Australia, Ireland, Zimbabwe and co-hosts Sri Lanka, Oman will play all their group matches in Sri Lanka. They begin their World Cup campaign on February 9, with a contest against Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe warm-up with win over Netherlands
A fine display with the bat and ball saw Zimbabwe through to a 29-run win over the Netherlands.
In their first warm-up clash in Colombo, Zimbabwe elected to bat and posted a strong 178/9. While Ryan Burl top scored with 50 off 31 runs, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Dion Myers and captain Sikandar Raza chipped in with cameos. Pacer Logan van Beek was the pick of the Dutch bowlers, as he claimed 3/22 in three overs.
The Netherlands’ chase got off to a stuttering start, as they lost the first two wickets in the first over. Left-arm pacer Richard Ngarava ran through the Dutch top order, snapping the first three wickets and finishing with figures of 3/11. Graeme Cremer may be one of the key players for Zimbabwe during the World Cup on spinner-friendly tracks in India and Sri Lanka and the leg spinner returned with an impressive 2/15 in three overs.
A defiant 40 not out by van Beek ensured that Netherlands played out their quota of overs, but they could only muster 149.
Netherlands and Pakistan will clash in the T20 World Cup opener on February 7 in Colombo.