Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie has hailed a 'complete performance' as they beat Oman to book their place at the T20 Cricket World Cup.
The Irish overcame an early stumble to record a 56 run victory in their qualifier semi-final in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
They bowled out the Omanis for 109 in the 19th over.
Needing 166 to win, Oman’s batters started with intent, but from a position of 68-2 after 10 overs, they collapsed, losing eight wickets for 41 runs.
Gareth Delany top-scored for Ireland with 47 runs off 32 balls.
T20 WORLD CUP, HERE WE COME!
▪️ Ireland 165-7 (20 overs)
▪️ Oman 109 (18.3 overs)Ireland won by 56 runs
➡️ Scorecard: https://t.co/7giGGDnewL#BackingGreen ☘️🏏 #IREvOMA pic.twitter.com/5PP3RdF44K
— Cricket Ireland (@cricketireland) February 22, 2022
Ireland went into Tuesday's match after finishing top of their group following a seven-wicket victory over Germany on Monday.
The qualifying tournament wasn't all plain-sailing, however, with a dreadful 18-runs opening loss to the UAE.
Speaking after Tuesday's win, captain Andy Balbirnie praised the side's resilience in particular.
“I think our determination got us there today, we knew at the start of the week we needed to win three games, and we’ve got better every match – and that’s what you need to do in tournament cricket.
"Our T20 cricket has been inconsistent, and to win three matches in a row we knew we’d have to be at our best – we managed to do that, and that was probably our best all-round performance.
“We lost a few early wickets, but Gareth Delany and Harry Tector’s partnership was world-class.
"What impressed me was that they came out firing from ball one and didn’t just take their time to assess conditions – we’ve encouraged the batting group to back yourself and back your shots from the start, and they did that today.”
This year's tournament takes place in Australia in October.
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