Credit to our bowlers for putting up a good show against Australia: Ilyas
Oman skipper Aqib Ilyas loves to play with straight bat, be it on the field or off the ground. After his team lost by 39 runs to heavyweights Australia, their second successive defeat, in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup game on Thursday morning (Oman time), he said that “playing against a big team like Australia was a great experience.”
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Ilyas said: “Playing a team like Australia was a great experience especially after the Super Over against Namibia in the opener. Australia played really well today but credit to our bowlers putting up a good show against Australia and restricting them. On turning tracks our bowlers can do really well.”
The Oman skipper said: “Australia have top players in the side and we respect them. We had a grip on the game till the 14th over. We have to work on our batting. We have done in the past. If we can bat well in the powerplay it will be important for us and as a batter I have to do well there. Hopefully we will turn up better next time.”
We didn't tick all three boxes: Ayaan
Oman’s all-rounder and the team’s top-scorer against Australia, Ayaan Khan, said: “We had our moments against them today. We definitely are taking away lot of positives from this match.”
Ayaan said that “electing to bowl first was the correct decision” despite the surface turning slower and slower in the second innings. “It was a fresh wicket. Today is a sunny day and it didn't rain, so we thought there should be a little bit moisture and it will have rough patches as well. The ball will spin a lot. Because only in one day the wicket will not change. We knew there would be a little bit of improvement [pitch]. The ball will come on the bat properly. We were just hoping that if we get to bowl first, we will restrict them early.”
Ayaan added: “We always talk about positives and that is what we are trying to do to play some aggressive cricket. Unfortunately, we didn't tick all three boxes tonight. Especially in a T20 game, if you tick all three boxes you will be on the winning side,” said Ayaan.