Ireland (235-5, 20 overs – Lorcan Tucker 94*, Gareth Delany 56; Shakeel Ahmed 3-33) beat Oman (139 all out, 18 overs, Aamir Kaleem 50; Josh Little 3-16) by 96 runs
Turns out the cure for Ireland’s cricketing woes was a Valentine’s date with an ageing Oman side shorn of their better players amid a historic pay dispute.
A record-breaking day saw the highest Irish T20 score of 235 (also the second highest in this competition’s history). It was always going to be too much for an imploding Oman outfit, as Ireland secured a badly needed first win of this T20 World Cup campaign.
Ireland aren’t used to hammering teams, rendering the ruthless nature of this victory impressive. Regardless, caveats on the standard of opposition do apply, even if the 96-run shellacking gave Ireland the net run rate boost they needed to keep hopes of miraculous qualification for the Super Eights alive.
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In his first World Cup game as captain, standing in for the injured Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker equalled his T20 international best score of 94. He unselfishly told George Dockrell to keep hitting sixes at the death when a single would have given the Pembroke man a chance at a maiden century in this format.
Dockrell’s hitting was savage. Brutal. Merciless. Insert your bludgeoning term choice – it was an astonishing display of power that brought him 35 runs off nine balls.
That said, such numbers tell you all you need to know about the opposition. Oman’s spinners threatened to tear through the Irish line-up, only for the seam bowlers to undo all their good work. Twelve overs of spin cost 96 runs, eight overs of seam went for 138, including all of Dockrell’s late salvo. At this level, no matter how impressive the innings, no man should hit that many runs off so few deliveries.
In response, Oman briefly threatened to mount something approaching a comeback. Ireland were a touch short and at times wide with their lines in the power play. Aamir Kaleem punished them, striking seven boundaries in his effort of 50. Aged 44, he became the oldest man to reach a half-century in the history of World Cups.
Josh Little, though, offered a timely reminder of his abilities, beating batters for pace as he returned to the side with a spell of three wickets for just 16 runs. There were dropped chances in the field – it wouldn’t be an Irish display without them. Gareth Delany put down a sitter while Tucker missed a difficult chance behind the stumps.
Delany, though, emerged from the contest with plenty of credit after his innings of 56 sent Ireland on the way to their record-breaking onslaught. The Leinster man signalled the start of the acceleration, launching poor old Jiten Ramanandi into the sight screen for a pair of maximums in the 11th over.
This after Delany and Tucker rebuilt following left-arm spinner Shakeel Ahmed’s devastating three-wicket opening spell. It could have been an altogether different day had wicketkeeper Vinayak Shukla kept the ball in the right hand when attempting to stump Tucker early in his knock.
To qualify, Ireland need another dominant victory over Zimbabwe on Tuesday. They also require Sri Lanka to beat Australia. Progression remains unlikely, if mathematically possible.
Still, after hitting just six sixes in two matches so far at this World Cup, to clear the ropes 13 times today represents a welcome return to form – albeit against the competition’s weakest side.
