Sanju Samson scores half-ton as India score 188 for 8 in Asia Cup match against Oman

Abu Dhabi | Sanju Samson struck a half century and opener Abhishek Sharma provided the early momentum as India scored 188 for 8 in their last Asia Cup Group A match against Oman here on Friday.

Abhishek (38 off 15 balls) gave India a promising start after they lost opener Shubman Gill (5 runs) early, while keeper-batter Samson played a consolidating innings of 56 runs (45 balls), studded with three boundaries and as many sixes, even as wickets kept falling at regular intervals.

The pair was involved in a 66-run stand for the second wicket.

Oman's veteran left-arm spinner Aamir Kaleem (2/31), left-arm quick Shah Faisal (2/23) and Jiten Ramanandi (2/33) took two wickets each.

Earlier, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bat. He brought in Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh in place of Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy, who were rested.

India, who had won both their group games so far, have already secured a places in the Super 4s.

Brief scores: India 188 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 38, Sanju Samson 56, Axar Patel 26, Tilak Varma 29; Aamir Kaleem 2/31, Shah Faisal 2/23, Jiten Ramanandi 2/33).

Skipper Surya, who pushed himself down to No. 11, also gave Hardik Pandya a chance to get a few hits but he was unfortunately run-out at the non-striker's end after a Samson straight drive deflected off bowler's hands to hit the stumps.

Left-handed Axar did his job to perfection in upping the ante and maintaining the tempo set by Abhishek Sharma, who again hit a whirlwind 38 off 15 balls -- his third consecutive score of 30 or more. Towards the end, Harshit Rana also contributed with an unbeaten 13 and hit a six of the last ball.

While Shubman Gill's low score isn't a concern, the team management would want one of their best batters to fire in the business end of the tournament.

Scoreboard of the Asia Cup Group A match between India and Oman here on Friday.

India innings:

Abhishek Sharma c Shukla b Ramanandi 38

Shubman Gill b Shah Faisal 5

Sanju Samson c Bisht b Shah Faisal 56

Hardik Pandya run out 1

Axar Patel c Shukla b Aamir Kaleem 26

Shivam Dube c Jatinder Singh b Aamir Kaleem 5

Tilak Varma c Zikria Islam b Ramanandi 29

Harshit Rana not out 13

Arshdeep Singh run out 1

Kuldeep Yadav not out 1

Extras: (B-1, LB-2, W-10) 13

Total: (For 8 wkts, 20 overs) 188

Fall of wkts: 1-6, 2-72, 3-73, 4-118, 5-130, 6-171, 7-176, 8-179.

Bowling: Shakeel Ahmed 3-0-33-0, Shah Faisal 4-1-23-2, Mohammad Nadeem 1-0-19-0, Jiten Ramanandi 4-0-33-2, Samay Shrivastava 2-0-23-0, Zikria Islam 3-0-23-0, Aamir Kaleem 3-0-31-2.