Table of Contents

NEW DELHI: Reeling from two straight defeats and now without captain Paul Stirling due to a knee injury, Ireland will look to keep their fading Super Eight hopes alive when they face fellow strugglers Oman in a Group B clash on Saturday.

Both sides are yet to open their account in the tournament and will be desperate to notch up their first win.

Ireland have gone down to co-hosts Sri Lanka and Australia by 20 and 67 runs respectively, while Oman were comprehensively beaten by Zimbabwe by eight wickets and then hammered by Sri Lanka by 105 runs.

As if the twin losses were not enough, Ireland suffered another blow with Stirling being ruled out of the remainder of the competition after sustaining ligament damage to his right knee ahead of the Oman game.

Stirling injured his knee while completing a catch during Ireland’s loss to Australia here on Wednesday and aggravated the issue later in the same match while attempting a quick single after returning to bat.

Batting under pressure

Despite the setback, Ireland will still start as favourites against an Oman side largely made up of India- and Pakistan-origin players.

Ireland are well aware that they need a convincing win to keep their slim qualification hopes alive, while Oman will be keen to restore some pride after two heavy defeats.

In Stirling’s absence, the responsibility will fall on Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker and Curtis Campher to convert starts into substantial scores, something that has been missing from Ireland’s batting in the tournament so far.

Uncapped youngster Sam Topping, named as Stirling’s replacement, will also have a chance to make an immediate impression.

In the bowling department, left-arm spinner George Dockrell has been Ireland’s standout performer so far in terms of both wickets and economy. However, he will need support from pacers Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy, along with spinners Matthew Humphreys and Gareth Delany.

Oman seek first breakthrough

Oman, meanwhile, have little to lose and will be hoping for a collective effort to spring a surprise and register their maiden win of the tournament.

The head-to-head record favours Ireland comfortably. Of their last five meetings, Ireland have won four, with Oman’s lone victory coming back in October 2019.

Oman’s batting has been a major concern, having managed just 103 and 120 for 9 against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka respectively.

Making their fourth appearance in the global T20 event, Oman have struggled against pace and extra bounce in Colombo.

They will need a strong showing with the bat from Jatinder Singh, Aamir Kaleem, Hammad Mirza and big-hitter Vinayak Shukla.

Mohammad Nadeem, who missed the opener against Zimbabwe, fought a lone battle against Sri Lanka with a half-century, but that effort proved insufficient.

Oman will need to quickly iron out their batting frailties if they are to produce another upset like they did on debut in 2016, when they stunned Ireland.

A much-improved batting display is essential if Oman’s bowling attack, their stronger suit, is to have something meaningful to defend.

Teams:

Ireland: Sam Topping, Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Ben Calitz, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Matthew Humphreys, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Harry Tector, Tim Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Ben White, Craig Young.

Oman: Jatinder Singh (c), Aamir Kaleem, Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Karan Sonavale, Jiten Ramanandi, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Sufyan Mehmood, Nadeem Khan, Shah Faisal, Shakeel Ahmed, Mohammad Nadeem, Jay Odedra, Ashish Odedara, Shafiq Jan.

Match starts at 11am