ICC World T20 Qualifiers, Ireland v Oman: Oman cause first upset of World Cup by beating Ireland by 2 wickets
In the second match of the Group A match between Ireland and Oman, it seemed like the result was a foregone conclusion before the start of the match with Ireland having much more experience than first-timers Oman.
However, what unfolded was an upset of epic proportions as Oman chased down a total of 155 set by Ireland, who batted first after winning the toss. Some late hitting by Oman's lower-order batsman and debutant, Aamer Ali gave Oman their first ever win in their first ever World T20 game.
Although the first over that Ireland faced was a maiden over, they got off to a good start soon after with both openers getting off to good starts. Paul Stirling, as usual, took the attacking role and played his shots with freedom before he was caught by Zeeshan Maqsood at cover, flying full stretch to his left, coming up with what might be the best catch of the tournament.
William Porterfield and Gary Wilson then shared a partnership of 36 runs and took their side to a good position at 84/1 in 11.4 overs. However, Oman pulled the game back a bit and restricted the flow of easy runs, with none of the batsmen able to strike the ball cleanly enough.
Munis Ansari, who has a bowling action similar to that of Lasith Malinga, was the pick of the bowlers for Oman as he picked up three wickets while conceding 37 runs in his 4 overs. Aamir Kaleem and Khawar Ali picked up one wicket each.
The Omani openers got their team off to an excellent start scoring 69 runs in just 8.3 overs, with Maqsood scoring 38 off 33 balls and Khawar Ali scoring 34 off 26.
Once the openers departed, Ireland got back strongly into the game as they reduced Oman to 90/5 in 14 overs. Needing 64 off 6 overs with only five wickets it looked like an impossible situation for Oman.
Debutant, Aamer Ali then came into bat with No. 3 batsman, Jatinder Singh, who had been watching only wickets fall at the other end. But, he was able to witness one of the best T20I debuts as his teammate Aamer scored a 17-ball 32, hitting five fours and one six to take his side close to a win.
Aamer was dismissed in the fourth ball of the last over with his team needing 3 more runs to win and only 2 wickets in hand. Max Sorensen, who missed out on his yorkers quite often chose the wrong ball to miss out as he bowled a no-ball that beat the keeper and awarded Oman 5 free runs, thus giving Oman a famous win.
Ireland will need to win both their upcoming matches against formidable opponents in Bangladesh and Netherlands if they are to make it to the tournament proper. Oman, on the other hand, will look to continue their giant killing and make a surprise entry in their first World T20 appearance.
Brief Scores: Oman 157/8, 19.4 overs (Maqsood 38, Khawar Ali 34, Aamer Ali 32; McBrine 2/15, Kevin O’Brien 2/25) beat Ireland 154/5, 20 overs (Wilson 38, Stirling 29; Ansari 3/37) by two wickets.