In a historic T20 World Cup match on Friday (June 14) at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, West Indies, England secured the fastest win in the tournament’s history by defeating Oman. Led by captain Jos Buttler, England chased down Oman’s target of 48 runs with 8 wickets in hand, achieving the feat in just 19 balls.
This triumph marked England’s most decisive victory in T20 Internationals, with 101 balls to spare. This surpassed their previous record of a win with 70 balls to spare against the West Indies in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
The win significantly boosted England’s net run rate to +3.081, keeping their hopes of reaching the Super 8 stage alive. To advance, England must defeat Namibia in their final group match and rely on Australia to overcome Scotland.
After winning the toss, England opted to bowl first. Oman struggled against England’s formidable bowling attack, collapsing to 47 runs in 13.2 overs. Shoaib Khan was Oman’s top scorer with 11 runs, as none of their batters reached double figures.
Spinner Adil Rashid spearheaded England’s bowling with 4 wickets, while Jofra Archer and Mark Wood took 3 wickets each.
England’s chase was swift and decisive. Opener Phil Salt contributed 12 runs off 3 balls, while Jos Buttler smashed 24 runs off 8 balls. Jonny Bairstow added 8 runs, and Will Jacks scored 5 runs before Buttler’s explosive batting sealed the win. Buttler hit a series of boundaries — 4, 0, 4, 4, 6, 4 — off Bilal Khan’s over, propelling England to 50/2 in just 3.1 overs.
For Oman, Bilal Khan and Kaleemullah each took one wicket. With this defeat, Oman’s journey in the T20 World Cup has come to an end.
