ICC WC Qualifiers: Oman defeats Ireland by 5 wickets with historic win

Oman, a cricketing unknown, stunned the world by defeating Ireland in their opening World Cup qualifier by five wickets on Monday in Bulawayo. This was the Gulf sultanate’s first-ever victory over a Test team in an ODI.

Sri Lanka thrashed the United Arab Emirates by 175 runs in the other Group B encounter.

In their allotted 50 overs, Ireland scored a respectable 281 for seven wickets thanks to George Dockrell’s 91 not out and Harry Tector’s 52.

However, they had not anticipated the tenacity of an Oman team led by opener Kashyap Prajapati, who scored 72, as well as captain Zeeshan Maqsood, who contributed 59, Aqib Ilyas, 52, and Mohammad Nadeem, 46 not out.

Maqsood, elated, said it was a “honour” to have defeated Ireland, eventually by five wickets with 11 balls remaining.

“If we keep going like this, we’ll get some more good results.” It was a team effort, and we needed it to beat a strong opponent. We came here to play there (in India).”

The result was described as “very disappointing” by Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie.
“We felt like we had a pretty good score,” he explained. “280 in a one-day game is quite impressive.” They were difficult to bowl against at times. We felt right at home.

“Oman’s victory did not surprise us… it’s a long tournament.” We need to get back into it as soon as possible.”

The second Group B match was much more academic, with Sri Lanka scoring 355 for six wickets in 50 overs.

Kusal Mendis (78), Sadeera Samarawickrama (73), Pathum Nissanka (57), and Dimuth Karunaratne (52) contributed half-centuries, while Charith Asalanka contributed 48 not out.

Only two of the ten teams competing in the three-week qualification will advance to the World Cup, which will be held in India in October and November.

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