Pallekele [Sri Lanka], February 21 (ANI): Oman achieved an unwanted feat during their last group-stage match against Australia when they lost the match by nine wickets at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka on Friday.

The defeat against Australia was Oman's 10th consecutive defeat at the T20 World Cup. They first qualified for the multi-nation T20 tournament in the 2016 edition, where they finished their campaign with a win in three group stage matches.

In the 2021 edition held in Oman and the UAE, the Zeeshan Maqsood-led side managed to get one win in three matches.

They failed to qualify for the 2022 edition, which was hosted by Australia.

Under the captaincy of Aqib Ilyas, Oman failed to win any match in the 2024 edition held in the USA and the West Indies. The same has been repeated in this edition as well, where they finished at the bottom of Group B with four defeats.

They have joined Bangladesh for the most consecutive defeats at the T20 World Cups, when Bangladesh lost all of their 10 matches from 2007 to 2012.

Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bowl first. Wasim Ali (32 in 33 balls, with four boundaries) was the only batter to cross the 20-run mark as the rest of the batters barely offered any resistance against an Aussie attack wounded by an early exit from the tournament.

The Aussies were out for blood, skittling out Oman for 104 in 16.2 overs, with Glenn Maxwell (2/13 in three overs), pacer Xavier Bartlett (2/27 in four overs) being amongst the thick of action. Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Ellis also got a wicket each.

In the chase, skipper Mitchell Marsh (64* off 33 balls, with seven fours and four sixes) and Travis Head (32 in 19 balls, with six fours) bludgeoned the bowling attack, chasing down the target in 9.4 overs with nine wickets in hand.

Australia won the match with 62 balls to spare, and that is the joint-biggest win with balls remaining in the match, where the target was 100-plus runs. Australia joined England, who chased down a 116-run target in the last edition against the USA with 62 balls to spare in Bridgetown. (ANI)