MUSCAT: Oman lost the spot in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 after they lost to Ireland by 56 runs in the semi-finals of the qualifiers played in Al Amerat Cricket Stadium on Monday.
In the first semi-final, UAE beat Nepal to book the T20 World Cup spot, Canada and Bahrain registered wins in play-off.
Oman’s decision to bowl was vindicated as they struck early with Bilal Khan removing the Irish openers in the third over. It should have slowed Ireland down but Gareth Delany and Harry Tector had other plans.
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While Tector eased into the game, Delany took it upon himself to attack. In one Zeeshan Maqsood over, he hit a hat-trick of sixes. However, the 82-run stand was broken in the 13th over with Kaleemullah picking up the wickets of Tector (35) and Tucker (0) in back-to-back deliveries.
Delany followed suit when he was caught by Bilal off Khawar Ali in the next over, falling three runs short of a fifty. Despite the quick blows, a quick-fire 36 from Andy McBrine helped Ireland post 165/7.
Chasing 166, Oman did not have the best start, losing their openers in the Powerplay and reaching 37/2 in six overs. Zeeshan Maqsood and Shoaib Khan added 31 more runs before Joshua Little struck to dismiss Shoaib (30) and Khurram Nawaz (0) in the 11th over.
Khawar Ali (10) too departed after hitting a six.
Oman’s situation worsened when Craig Young saw off Naseem Khushi (1) and Zeeshan Maqsood (28) in the same over. The wickets continued to fall, and at 98/9 in 16 overs, all was lost for Oman.They were bundled out for 109.
Ireland’s brilliant 56-run victory meant they’ve booked one of the two spots up for grabs for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, alongside UAE.
