Match 20, North Sound, June 09, 2024, 10:30 PM
Oman
150/7(20.0ov)
Scotland
153/3(13.1ov)
Scotland beat Oman by 7 wickets
Right then, that is it from this one-sided affair where Scotland knocks Oman out of the World Cup and goes top of their group for now. Next up is a tasty clash between South Africa and Bangladesh on 10th June, Monday. That game will start at 8 pm IST (2.30 pm GMT), but as you know, you can join us early for all the build-up to the match. Until then, cheers and goodbye!
Richie Berrington, the victorious skipper of Scotland says he’s very pleased, it is an important win. Adds the bowlers did well to bring it back, the spinners too did well. Mentions they tried bowling the right lines and lengths and they defended the small side quite well. Ends by saying the openers got them into a strong position which freed up the middle order up.
Aqib Ilyas, the captain of Oman says that it was a good toss to win but they could not utilise in the death overs. Adds that they played a lot of dot balls in the middle overs and you just cannot do that in a T20 game. Tells that they could have scored 170-175 and thing could have been different. Credits Scotland for their batting and using the shorter side which they could not. Mentions that, this was also a good total to defend but when you are dropping that many chances, the batters will punish you and that was the case here. Says that they still want to take all the positives into the next game and this is cricket, you lose some, you win some.
Brandon McMullen is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his amazing knock. He says he feels awesome, he wanted to use the breeze to their advantage and it worked for them. Adds the main priority was to win the game but during the break they decided to go for the net run rate.
Presentation Time...
Nothing much to talk about the Oman bowling effort here. Their pacers did well initially but the spinners could not make much impact. The wind blowing to the shorter side did not help that as well and their catching also let them down as they dropped quite a few chances. Aqib Ilyas, Mehran Khan, and Bilal Khan picked up one wicket each but that was never going to be enough. Earlier, they managed to post a fighting total on the board courtesy of a gritty fifty from Pratik Athavale and a good knock from Ayaan Khan. However, their bowlers were just not upto the task and Scotland picked up a comfortable win here.
Scotland got off the blocks quickly with both the openers playing a few lusty blows. Michael Jones got out early but George Munsey took the Oman bowlers to the cleaners. When he was attacking, Brandon McMullen held the other end and supported well. Once, his partner got out, McMullen also went to overdrive and took the oppurtunity to improve the NRR. He smashed a brilliant half-century while Matthew Cross also flexed his muscles towards the end. Fittingly, it was Brandon McMullen who hit the winning runs and stayed unbeaten to take his side home.
Scotland moves inches closer to the Super 8's now! A comprehensive win for them and they have chased this down with almost seven overs to spare. This not only put them in a strong position of making it to the next round but also put a lot of pressure on England. Oman have lost all three of their games but they gave a good account of themselves in this World Cup and will take a lot of lessons from it.
In over# 14
4
Bilal Khan 12/1(2.1)
13.1
4
FOUR! Finishes it off in style! This is short and on the body. Brandon pulls it behind square on the leg side and this races away to the fence. SCOTLAND WIN BY 7 WICKETS!
In over# 13
0
6
6
1
6
1
Ayaan Khan 20/0(1)
12.6
.
Outside off. Cross looks to cut but misses.
12.5
6
SIX! Three in the over and now just the two needed! On the pads. Cross walks in and plays the slog sweep. Over the square leg fence for another biggie.
12.4
6
SIX MORE! The slog sweep yet again and it is nailed yet again. It goes well over the mid-wicket fence.
12.3
1
On off. This is pushed down to long off for one.
12.2
6
SIX! That is out of here! With the wind! Angled into the pads. This is swept over the square leg fence for a biggie. Top shot.
12.1
1
Slower and around off. This is guided towards point for one.
In over# 12
0
4
4
0
2
1
Aqib Ilyas 41/1(3)
11.6
.
Dot! Outside off. This is cut but to point.