Al Amerat: An all-round performance from Scotland ensured that they booked their spot in Super 12 with an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Oman in a must-win Group B match of Round 1 at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground here Thursday.
With this win, Scotland have now topped Group B and sign off from Round 1 as the only unbeaten team in their group. They will now join Afghanistan, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and either of Ireland or Namibia in Group 2 of Super 12. Bangladesh, on the other hand, will link up with Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies and most likely Sri Lanka in Group 1.
Chasing 123, Scotland had a great power-play with 45 runs for the loss of George Munsey (20). Kyle Coetzer took over from Munsey, carting Zeeshan Maqsood for a six followed by taking a six and four off Fayyaz Butt in the next over. Coetzer slammed a 93-m six off Mohammad Nadeem in the ninth over before Khawar Ali beat him on the inside edge with a googly and hit the stumps off pads on the stroke of drinks break.
After Coetzer’s dismissal at 41 off 28 balls, Richie Berrington soothed Scotland’s nerves with massive sixes on both sides of the wicket off Ali in 14th over. Berrington then smacked Mohammad Nadeem for a four over mid-wicket before thumping a six over deep square leg, sealing Scotland’s win and a spot in the Super 12 with three overs to spare.
Earlier, electing to bat first, barring Aqib Ilyas (37 off 35 balls) and Maqsood (34 off3 0 balls), Oman’s batters struggled to score in their home conditions as only two boundaries were scored in the last 5 overs. They also lost last six wickets for 29 runs. Oman had a disastrous start as Jatinder Singh was run-out in a big confusion with both openers at non-striker’s end. Ilyas grounded the bat before Singh came, resulting in a duck for him on the second ball of the innings. Three overs later, Kashyap Prajapati’s slog went straight to mid-off off Safyaan Sharif.
Ilyas showed his prowess with the flicks while taking Sharif, Josh Davey and MarkWatt for boundaries. He was also dropped thrice during his knock of 37 off 35 balls before holing out to long-off off Michael Leask in the 10th over. Nadeem struck two boundaries before hitting straight to cover off Mark Watt.
Maqsood carried Oman’s innings by striking boundaries while surviving a caught dismissal off Chris Greaves on no-ball. Maqsood was waging a lone battle with bat even as Sandeep Goud (5), Naseem Khushi (2) and Suraj Kumar (4) fell cheaply. In the final over, Davey took out Maqsood followed by a run-out of Bilal Khan and closed the innings with dismissal of Fayyaz Butt.
Brief Scores; Oman: 122 all out in 20 overs (Aaqib Ilyas 37, Zeeshan Maqsood 34, Josh Davey 3/25, Michael Leask 2/13) against Scotland: 123/2 in 17 overs (Kyle Coetzer 41, Richie Berrington 31 not out, Fayyaz Butt 1/26, Khawar Ali 1/27) by eight wickets.
