Asia Cup 2025: Haris, Spinners Star As Pakistan Crush Oman For 67

DUBAI: Mohammad Haris’ blazing half-century and Pakistan’s spin attack combined to dismantle Oman, guiding Pakistan to a comprehensive win in the fourth fixture of the Asia Cup 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Pakistan, batting first, set a challenging target of 160, having got over an initial hiccup. The opening over put the side on the back foot, but Sahibzada Farhan partnered with Haris to steady the innings after the golden duck of Saim Ayub. Their partnership of 85 runs was the basis of a good score. Farhan contributed 29 off 29 and went down in the 11th over, and Haris raced to a formidable 63 off 43 balls, hitting seven boundaries and three sixes. Mohammad Nawaz (19 off 10) and Fakhar Zaman (23 off 16) cameos took Pakistan to 160 in 20 overs.

In pursuit of 161, Oman disintegrated. Jatinder Singh scored one run off Saim Ayub in the second over, and although Hammad Mirza formed a brief alliance with Aamir Kaleem, the innings got out of hand. Kaleem scored 13 off 11 balls; however, wickets were falling every now and then. The fourth over saw Oman drop to 24-2, and they never bounced back.

The spinners in Pakistan took advantage of the situation, and they hit at the middle of the overs and made the batting of Oman a noose. The failure moved on with the second wave of strikes in the seventh over, leaving Oman in shambles. Not too long thereafter, the innings folded. Oman lost the match by a whopping 93-run margin, eventually being bowled out after 16.4 overs, with a measly 67 on the board.

Not only did this give Pakistan confidence, but it also highlighted the fact that they were proficient in the batting department and also well-rounded in the bowling department, and Oman will come back to reorganize themselves once they are shown up in all aspects.

Playing XIs

Pakistan XI:
Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (capt), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed

Oman XI:
Aamir Kaleem, Jatinder Singh (capt), Hammad Mirza, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Hassnain Shah, Shah Faisal, Mohammad Nadeem, Zikria Islam, Sufyan Mehmood, Shakeel Ahmed, Samay Shrivastava