Ireland (160/5) beat Oman (116/6) by 44 runs
Updated 13.15
IRELAND EASED PAST Oman in their final group match of cricket’s World T20 qualifiers, setting up an elimination play-off meeting against Canada on Thursday.
The 44-run win guaranteed that Ireland finished in second place in Group B, with Namibia claiming the top spot after they beat Italy by 27 runs to maintain their 100% record in the tournament.
Man-of-the match Gary Wilson led the charge with 52 not out off 38 balls, with Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien adding 35 and 32 respectively as Ireland set Oman a target of 161 to win.
Max Sorensen and Kevin O’Brien then took two wickets each as the Irish attack held up their part of the bargain and held winless Oman to 116 in their innings.
“It was nice to get a half-century and feels like I am hitting the ball nicely and hopefully that form will continue into the knock-out stages,” Wilson said (see ICC Cricket).
With the loss of John Mooney for the tournament and Alex Cusack for today’s game it meant that Nigel Jones and Kevin O’Brien who don’t normally bowl as much are going to have more of a chance and it shows what depth we’ve got in the team.
If Ireland beat Canada in Thursday’s elimination play-off, they will progress to the elimination semi-finals on Friday where they will then face either the Netherlands or Scotland.
As group winners, Afghanistan and Namibia meet in the qualifying final on Thursday. The winner of that match is guaranteed the first of two qualifying spots for September’s World Cup in Sri Lanka, while the loser will play off against the winner of the elimination semi-final for the other.
