Not entirely convincing either with bat or ball, India were made to stretch every sinew by a spirited Oman at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Friday night. India beat Oman by 21 runs to register their third victory in a row.

In their final Group ‘A’ encounter with qualification to the Super Fours of the T20 Asia Cup already secured, India posted the highest total of the tournament, 188-8, but it wasn’t the domineering performance one would have expected of the No. 1 side in the world. Sanju Samson eked out a scratchy half-century after Abhishek Sharma made a typically boisterous start before falling for this third successive score in the 30s, and there were sweet cameos from Axar Patel, who left the field after hitting his head on the turf when he dropped a catch, and Tilak Varma lower down the innings.