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Ireland and United Arabic Emirates clinched their respective semi-finals at the global qualifier A in Oman to secure their ticket for the 2022 ICC men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. While UAE overcame Nepal by 68 runs, Ireland kept Oman at bay by a margin of 56 to confirm their places at the tournament to be played in October-November Down Under.
It would be a big relief for them, especially Ireland, whose sustenance depends largely on the financial windfall that comes from qualifying for these major world events. One of the two newest Test-playing nations, they are still recovering from their absence at the 2019 ODI World Cup in the United Kingdom.
As it happened for them on the day, the Irish lost the toss and were asked to bat first. Under pressure to produce a big score, they began shakily, losing their openers Paul Stirling (6) and skipper Andy Balbirnie (12) very early. But then, the middle-order duo of Gareth Delany (47) and Harry Tector (35) played critical innings for them, stitching an important stand of 82 runs for the third wicket.
🏆 What a way to seal your spot at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Australia!
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 23, 2022
🤝 Gareth Delany and Mark Adair combined on the boundary for this amazing catch!
📽️ Watch the full highlights from Ireland's victory over Oman: https://t.co/L5GijV3wIr#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/SKzOAbw3w0
Their quick departure, followed by the struggles of George Dockrell (18 off 16), threatened to derail Ireland’s progress, but then another extremely crucial effort from Andy McBrine (36 off 21) allowed his team to cross the 160-mark.
Bilal Khan (3/23) was the star of the show with the ball for Oman, who, however, lacked a collective effort that would’ve kept Ireland down to a more manageable score. This is where Ireland beat their Asian counterparts, with Simi Singh (3/20), McBrine (2/24) and Joshua Little (2/14) all delivering the goods.
Oman were dismissed for a paltry 109 in 18.3 overs, with only Shoaib Khan (30) and skipper Zeeshan Maqsood (28) taking the fight back to the opposition.
Brief scores
Ireland 165/7 in 20 overs (Delany 47, McBrine 36; Bilal Khan 3/23) beat Oman 109/10 in 18.3 overs (Shoaib Khan 30; Singh 3/20, McBrine 2/24) by 56 runs
In the other semi-final played in Al Amerat, UAE toppled over Nepal after winning the toss and opting to bat first. They posted a daunting total of 175/7 before the cookie crumbled for Nepal’s weaker suit, their batting, and they were dismissed for only 107 runs.
In a straightforward game, UAE exercised their dominance over the Nepalese with few stand-out performances on the batting and the bowling fronts. With the bat, opener Muhammad Waseem was their star of the show.
He smashed the Nepal attack, featuring spin sensation Sandeep Lamichhane, for an important 70 off 48 balls, including four fours and four sixes. Wicketkeeper-batter Vriitya Aravind was the next highest scorer with a blistering 46 off 23 balls.
Once Waseem and Aravind allowed UAE to make it past the 170-mark, the task for their bowlers became relatively easy, and nobody made the advantage count better than skipper Ahmed Raza, whose five-fer (5/19) made it a no-contest.
Raza ran through the Nepal middle and lower order and had Junaid Siddique (3/27) playing an able support act to maintain pressure and wicket-taking threat.
Nepal needed Lamichhane (1/24) to come up with the goods, but once UAE batters played out their biggest threat watchfully, the pressure fell on the rest of the attack, and they couldn’t quite respond well. Jitendra Mukhiya (3/35) and Abinash Bohara (3/46) picked three wickets apiece but proved very expensive.
Brief scores
UAE 175/7 in 20 overs (Waseem 70, Aravind 46; Mukhiya 3/35) beat Nepal 107/10 in 18.4 overs (Airee 38; Raza 5/19, Siddique 3/27) by 68 runs
