Ireland's cricketers had an afternoon to forget as they opened their World Twenty20 campaign with a shock defeat to minnows Oman, a result which leaves their chances of progression in the competition in serious doubt.
John Bracewell’s side will have it all to do in upcoming matches with tournament favourites Bangladesh and the Netherlands as they slumped to a two-wicket defeat in Dharamsala.
For Oman, this win will go down in the history books as they take part in their first major tournament.
Chasing 155, Oman openers Zeeshan Maqsood and Khawar Ali added 69 and, after a collapse of 4-21, Aamer Ali hit 32 from 17 balls.
“We were confident at half-time,” captain William Porterfield lamented. “The last four or five overs with the ball has let us down.
“It’s more of a mental thing now that we have to win the last two games to give ourselves a chance.
“We managed to drag it back pretty well after their good start but we let ourselves down in the last three or four overs.
“We’ve got to win our last two Group games now to give ourselves a chance of progressing and that’s what we’ll aim to do. We’ll re-group now and focus on trying to win those two matches and hope that it’s enough."
With 14 needed from the final over, Max Sorensen bowled two no-balls, one of which went for four and another which went for four byes to end the match.
The game was also marked by two outstanding pieces of fielding, first from Oman's Zeeshan Maqsood:
Oman what a catch!!! https://t.co/iHs53jTWnb
— Oddschecker (@Oddschecker) March 9, 2016
And then this gravity defying stop from Gary Wilson:
Ireland 154-5 (20 overs, G Wilson 38, W Porterfield 29, P Stirling 29, M Ansari 3-37)
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
