New Zealand great Ross Taylor made his debut for Samoa on Wednesday (October 8), and top-scored even as the side lost to Oman.
Ross Taylor makes Samoa debut
In the first match of the Asia and East-Asia Pacific qualifiers for next year's men's T20 World Cup, Samoa took on Oman at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground. Oman skipper Aamir Kaleem won the toss, and put Samoa in to bat. It was an inauspicious start for the batting side, as opener Sean Solia was dismissed off the final ball of the first over by Shah Faisal.
Faisal then got rid of Darius Visser in his next over, before Samoa stumbled to 20-2 in the Powerplay. Just after the fielding restrictions lifted, Mohammad Nadeem had Benjamin Mailata caught, bringing New Zealand great Ross Taylor to the crease, on debut for Samoa.
Taylor scored over 18,000 international runs across formats for New Zealand, and switched to Samoa earlier this year, in order to help the country of his mother's birth in their attempt to reach a first men's senior ICC event.
Match 1, Oman vs Samoa
vs
- Ball by ball Over
After Taylor got off the mark first ball, Nadeem struck again to get rid of Samuel French, leaving Samoa 21-4. That soon became 22-5, as captain Caleb Jasmat was dismissed for a duck.
At that point, Taylor dropped anchor, and sought to bat through the innings. Solomon Nash survived 18 balls to score 10, before Taylor got more solid support from Fereti Suluoto.
Taylor made his way to 22 off 27 balls, before pacer Hassnain Shah got one to keep low, and trap him in front in the 18th over of the innings. Suluoto then helped Samoa post 92-9. That proved insufficient in the end, as Oman crossed the line with three overs and five wickets to spare.
Samoa's next fixture is against Papua New Guinea, on October 9 at the same venue.
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