In its first ever match in a global event, Oman stunned the favourites, Ireland, to win a heart-stopping, see-saw thriller by two wickets with two balls to spare in their World T20 qualifier on Wednesday.
As with most such historic victories, there were multiple heroes for Oman. Munees Ansari (3-37), Aamir Kaleem (1-27) and Khawar Ali (1-20) starred with the ball and helped restrict Ireland to 154-5 before more heroes arose in the batting unit.
Zeeshan Maqsood and Khawar, the openers, set the platform with a 69-run stand before a stunning cameo from Aamer Ali, making his debut at the age of 37, grabbed the match from Ireland with a 17-ball 32. In the end, Oman finished on 157-8 with two deliveries to spare.
In the other qualifier Bangladesh beat the Netherlands by eight runs thanks to an unbeaten 58-ball 83 from Tamim Iqbal that was followed by a combined effort from the bowlers.
Netherlands opted to field first and did well to restrict Bangladesh to 153-7, but lacked firepower in its batting, managing only 145-7. That the only six of the Netherlands innings came in the 19th over via its No 9 batsman should tell a story in itself.
