Oman vs Papua New Guinea Prediction: Who will win today's T20 World Cup 2021 match?

One T20 festival after another - it's time to raise the curtains on the much-awaited men's T20 World Cup 2021 with a clash between Oman and Papua New Guinea on Sunday at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground.

The two challengers constitute Group B in Round 1 of the marquee tournament, which also includes Bangladesh and Scotland. With the latter two teams among the strongest in this round, this match becomes all the more crucial for Oman and Papua New Guinea's chances of advancement in the tournament.

Co-hosts Oman arrive in this match with a win and a defeat from their two practice games. Their superior bowling attack helped them cruise over Namibia with a 32-run win. But against a stronger opponent in the Netherlands, Oman fell short by four runs in a chase that went into the 40th over.

Papua New Guinea, meanwhile, are coming off two straight losses in the warmups. Both Ireland and Sri Lanka proved a bit too strong for their batting lineup as they were skittled out for 96-8 and 123-7 respectively. Ireland defeated the Assad Vala-led side by eight wickets while Sri Lanka edged them out by 39 runs.

T20 World Cup 2021: Oman and Papa New Guinea vie in an equal battle for a headstart

With a side made of some exciting local talent and an enviable group of expats, Oman have the right mix to go a long way in the tournament.

In Jatinder Singh and Bilal Khan, they have two pillars and runaway match-winners. Singh is a dependable opener who, when on song, can throw the best of bowling attacks out of their run-ups. Khan is Oman's leading wicket-taker in T20Is with 51 scalps. The left-arm quick is a menacing operator holds everything from a beaming in-swinger to an accurate yorker in his repertoire.

While Singh is likely to be paired with the stable Aqib Ilyas at the top, Khan will have a wingman in the lanky pacer Kaleemullah, making the opening and pace-bowling department Oman's strongest suit. Skipper Zeeshan Maqsood and 'keeper-batter Naseem Khushi lead the spin contingent and middle order respectively and give the side a touch of poise.

Despite being a top-drawer ODI side in recent years, Oman's returns in the shortest format have been a mixed bag. They reached the T20 World Cup after just nipping over Hong Kong in the Qualifiers but convincingly trounced Mumbai 2-1 in the recent home series, which gives a sense of unpredictability to this contest.

However, if Oman can pick their team combination right and stave off batting collapses - which have become typical of them lately - the 'Red Brigade' will be a potent force in favorable conditions.

Capricousness remains the same for Papua New Guinea. However, unlike Oman, it comes from a sense of bereavement for its players - the small nation was badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic - and a palpable lack of form overall.

Papua New Guinea were the first country to qualify for the T20 World Cup, also the first time they have made it this far. However, since the qualifiers final against the Netherlands two years ago, they haven't won a single match. Despite their early arrival in Oman, a lack of practice and a string of losses both contributed to their shoddy performances in the warmups.

The team is heavily dependent on its do-it-all skipper Vala, who is not only a batting stalwart but also does the crucial holding job with the ball. If Papua New Guinea have to beat Oman, the first blow will have to come from the captain.

Vala will also need support from Norman Vanua, an all-rounder who can tonk the ball a long way while also giving the team some thrifty overs with his medium pace.

CJ Amini, also a quality leg-spinner, is among the best fielders in the world and leads the way for a team which is known for dismantling opponents with their catches and runouts. He, however, also epitomizes the lack of specialization in the Papua New Guinea team, where most players are, in Sanjay Manjrekar's words, "bits and pieces" cricketers.

This, while giving Barramundis' decent depth and multiple resources to bank on, deprives them of any source of inspiration in tough situations.

Thus, the result of today's match will depend upon whether Oman can be the source of those tough challenges by putting up a disciplined show. If they can't, Vala's men will spare no effort and leave no opportunity to upend their losing streak.

Prediction: Oman to win the T20 World Cup opener