“Incredible….On top of the world…”

Oman’s cricket players and administrators have been struggling to sum up their emotions after the team won an extraordinary T20 World Cup qualification beating Hong Kong in a thriller on Wednesday night. 

Oman booked their place in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 after coming back from a dreadful start against Hong Kong to win by 12 runs in Dubai. 

The victory means, they will now fly to Australia to be in the most prestigious international tournament for the second time. 

Celebrating Oman’s victory, board member Pankaj Khimji was loss for words to describe his happiness. “Our boys have done it. Australia, here we come,” an excited Khimji told The Arabian Stories. 

The players celebrated wildly in the Dubai stadium and their manager Madhu Jesrani was overwhelmed. “I am feeling emotional at the moment,” Madhu said from Dubai. “It’s truly the hard work of our players and the coaching staff. We are just going to enjoy the moment. For them to achieve this is a great thing for us and for the nation,” Madhu added. 

Our boys have done it. Australia, here we come!

Pankaj Khimji, Board member — Oman Cricket

Speaking to ICC’s media team, a delighted Mohammed Nadeem who scored a crucial 26-runs for Oman said: “It’s a fantastic feeling. I am on top of the world. To do this for Oman is a great thing and we’re excited to go to Australia.”

Apart from Oman, Papua New Guinea, Ireland, Netherlands, Namibia and Scotland are the six teams who have qualified for the event from the World T20 qualifiers.

These six teams will join giant Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the preliminary stages of the World Cup. Four teams among the eight will then progress to the Super 12 stage.