Scotland dominated Oman in the must-win game for both squads as the team beat the hosts by eight wickets with three overs to spare. Batting first, Oman batting floundered and could only reach 122, meanwhile, Scotland, who won all three First Round games, chased it in just 17 Overs, finishing at the top of Group A and going forward to Super 12s.
Oman’s batting collapse
Oman lost their highest run-scorer Jatinder Singh to a run-out just on the second ball. Meanwhile, Kashyap Prajapati also fell soon after. Mohammad Nadeem and Aqib Ilyas post a 38 runs partnership but once Aqib got to Leask after making 37 runs, the team couldn’t overcome a slow start of 53 runs in 10 Overs.
Nadeem fell to Watt at the score of 79 and the rest of the batters except Zeeshan Maqsood showed sub-par shot selection and lost their wickets looking to hoick the ball out of the park. Maqsood batted till last over for 34 runs in 30 balls but the rest of the batters scored in single figures. Scotland’s catching handed them multiple wickets, meanwhile Josh Davey, once again had a big game, claiming three wickets for 25.
Meanwhile, Mark Watt remained tight with his sharp lines and conceded just 23 runs in four overs for a wicket. Leask got two for 13 runs in his three overs. Safyan Sharif also had terrific returns of two wickets for 25 runs in his four overs. Chris Greaves gave just nine runs in his two overs to round off a superb bowling effort.
Scotland’s top-order breezes through a small total
George Munsey and Kyle Coetzer began well and made 33 runs in 27 balls before Fayyaz Butt sniffed out Munsey for 20 runs. That didn’t make much of a difference and in-form wicketkeeper batter Matthew Cross and skipper Kyle Coetzer dug in for a 42 runs partnership in just 32 balls. When Coetzer got bowled to Khawar Ali, the team needed just 48 runs with 60 balls to spare. Kyle topped all scorers with 41 runs off just 28 balls.
Then Cross and Richie Berrington batted smartly, with Cross depending on singles and doubles, without taking many risks. Cross played the anchor role while Richie smoked three sixes to bring up 31 runs in 21 balls. Matthew finished with 26 runs without any boundary, and the Scottish men closed out Oman comfortably. Although he didn’t get any wickets, Bilal Khan remained the most impressive bowler for Oman, giving just 15 runs in three overs.
