Oman celebrating their victory over Ireland. Image courtesy: @RyanK_Bailey on Twitter
Oman celebrating their victory over Ireland. Image courtesy: @RyanK_Bailey on Twitter

Oman give Ireland a taste of their own medicine

Cricket has come to a point where almost every country in the world play the sport irrespective of race or gender and it’s a wonderful thing the game has achieved over the few decades. With more and more nations playing Cricket, the future of the sport looks bright. I have mentioned earlier too that I love the way the associate nations spice up the tournament. [Read: Associate Nations and their impact] Those thrilling matches, the huge upsets and what not they bring to the game. Further I’ve always talked about my love and support for the Afghans. Their story itself is a fairy-tale – from battlefield to cricket ground. Putting this aside, there was another upset last night and I was lucky to have witnessed the match. Oman beat Ireland in a nail-biting thriller at the picturesque Dharamshala.

Oman celebrating their victory over Ireland. Image courtesy: @RyanK_Bailey on Twitter
Oman celebrating their victory over Ireland. Image courtesy: @RyanK_Bailey on Twitter

Oman created history last night by winning their debut match in International T20 and beating one of the best associate sides – Ireland. Yes the same Ireland team that upset the British during the ICC 2011 world cup last time around in India. Oman are the lowest ranked team in the tournament and definitely gave Ireland a taste of their own medicine as they are known for causing huge upsets. Ireland winning the toss first and deciding to bat first, put up a score of 154-5 for Oman to chase. Well they would have definitely thought that they had the game in their kitty. Oman came out to bat and started at a good note with a perfect mix of aggression and caution. One of their star players Aamir Ali played a match winning innings of 32 from just 17 balls. But the fate of the match was not decided as wickets tumbled at one end and runs been scored at the other.

No Balls Not at the right time

In many matches played in the recent past, we have observed the bowlers giving away runs at key moments in the match. One of the matches in the recently concluded Asia Cup T20 we saw Sami bowl 2 no balls at a crucial time which probably costed them the match. Even the same thing happened last night too. Oman needed 14 runs off the last over and the experienced Max Sorensen was handed the duty. To everyone’s surprise Max bowled 2 no balls and both of went for four runs while the second one handed the match to Oman as they needed 3 runs off 3 balls. I wonder what’s with the No Balls stuff !

Aamir Kaleem's one handed catch. Image Courtesy: Rediff
Aamir Kaleem’s one handed catch. Image Courtesy: Rediff

Nevertheless, all credits to Oman. Their bowlers bowled well, batsmen did their job and fielders their bit. The match also saw some great fielding with both teams saving few runs for their team. We had Wilson from Ireland saving a 6 at a crucial point and Aamir Kaleem pulled a one-handed blinder at short cover to dismiss Stirling. Surely a day when Cricket Won ! It was indeed a night to remember for the Oman team who won million hearts. But will they manage to win against other contenders ? Only time will say. Meanwhile you can say what you think about Oman’s future in the tournament.

About Atulmaharaj

A seasoned blogger and a content marketer for close to a decade now. I write about Food, Technology, Lifestyle, Travel, and Finance related posts. Blogging brings me joy and the best part is I get to read and e-meet so many amazing bloggers! PS: I'm also the founder for Socialmaharaj.com :) Favorite Quote: "Traveling is like reading a book, one who hasn't traveled, hasn't turned a page.

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