Sufyan gears up for T20 World Cup with hat-trick

Muscat, Dec 31
Oman national cricket team’s medium pacer Sufyan Mehmood has geared up for his third World Cup appearance with his second career hat-trick in Oman Cricket’s domestic Twenty20 tournament.
Sufyan, who also featured for Oman in their impressive Asia Cup outing in the United Arab Emirates in September, achieved the feat for his team Renaissance Challengers during the Oman Cricket’s D20 match against Yallah Shabab.
The Renaissance captain extracted seam and swing as he took the hat-trick in the 17th over at the Oman Cricket Academy pitch on December 27. Sufyan castled Kerala state player Anfal with an inswinging delivery that knocked the off stump for the first wicket. Two brilliant outswingers claimed the next consecutive wickets of Oman national team players Zakariya Islam and Jay Odedra as Sufyan celebrated his hat-trick.
Sufyan’s heroics didn’t help his team as Yallah Shabab won the match by eight runs. Sufyan took four wickets for 16 runs in his four overs.
The all-rounder repeated his four-wicket feat in the next match as Renaissance Challengers won by 12 runs against IAS Invincibles. Sufyan hit a nine-ball 19 as the skipper earned the man of the match award in the match.
Looking ahead to the Twenty20 World Cup, Sufyan said he is looking forward to the challenge.
“It is a big task at the World Cup. I will do my best with the ball and bat for the Oman side. Most of the players in the side know their role and we hope to make a impact at the World Cup.”
The 20-team tournament will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.
Oman begin their campaign against Zimbabwe on February 9 in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo and then meet hosts Sri Lanka (Kandy) on February 12 followed by a match against Ireland (Colombo) on February 14. Duleep Mendis-coached Oman will conclude their group assignment with a game against heavyweights Australia in Kandy on February 20.
Oman will play warm-up matches against Zimbabwe on February 3 and against Sri Lanka A on February 6 in Colombo.
Sufyan recalled his experience in the recent Asia Cup.
“It was a great experience to lock horns with some of the top players in the world. I played against Pakistan and it was a good exposure for me.”
Sufyan Mehmood made an impactful performance at the T20 World Cup Qualifiers.
“I came back to Oman and played the T20 World Cup Qualifiers. I ended up as the second best wicket taker for Oman and fourth best in the tournament.”
“I feel good confidence and form ahead of the World Cup and I hope to do well in the global showpiece tournament,” Sufyan added.