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Sanju Samson marked his return to the crease after not being required to bat in India’s first two Asia Cup fixtures with a patient half-century, guiding the side to 188/8 against Oman at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday night. Samson, who had not batted in India’s earlier matches against the UAE and Pakistan, piled up 56 from 45 deliveries, which was his slowest T20I fifty in terms of balls faced. Samson breached the 50-run mark in 41 deliveries. The right-hander hit 35 runs on the off side and 21 on the leg, anchoring the innings after Shubman Gill departed early. India’s start was shaky when Gill was bowled by Faisal Shah for five. Abhishek Sharma countered in style with a 15-ball 38, lighting up the powerplay, before falling to Jiten Ramanandi. Hardik Pandya, promoted to No. 4, was run out in unfortunate fashion when a Samson drive deflected off Ramanandi’s hand onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Samson then stitched together a solid stand with Axar Patel, who struck 26 off 13 balls to lift the scoring rate. Tilak Varma added 29 from 18 afterwards, but wickets at regular intervals meant India could not push beyond the 200-run mark. Harshit Rana closed the innings with some late hitting, clearing the ropes in the final over.
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For Oman, Faisal Shah was the standout, returning 2/23. Ramanandi and Aamir Kaleem (2/31) chipped in with key wickets, ensuring India were restricted to under 200 despite the depth in their batting. India’s 188/8 was their third-highest total against an Associate side in T20Is.
