Brilliant Ilyas puts Oman in contention – ICC Cricket World Cup League 2
Aqib Ilyas’s superb all-rounder performance helped Oman to a conclusive four-wicket victory over Papua New Guinea in the final match of the opening round of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 competition played in Scotland during August.{details}
Ilyas took 1 for 6 in his three overs; he then hammered a match-winning total of 63 off 76 balls, including six boundaries, with the bat to make his side’s top score. Allrounder right-arm off-break specialist Jay Odedra was Oman’s best bowler, with excellent figures of 4 for 34. The win over the Barramundis, their third out of four games played, meant that Oman ended up level on six points with Scotland in the standings table, but in second place behind their hosts courtesy of a superior Scottish net run-rate.
2019–22 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 tournament is a component part of the qualification pathway to the 2023 Cricket World Cup. This competition will consist of 21 rounds and will be played amongst the following national teams:
Nepal, Scotland and United Arab Emirates, included because they already have ODI status, along with Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea and USA who have been promoted from the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two.
Worthy of note is the fact that Oman had also pulled off another stunning victory over Scotland earlier in the round by 8 wickets, on the very same Mannofield Park ground in Aberdeen. A considerable feat, bearing in mind that Scotland had beaten mighty ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 champions England in an ODI, little more than a year ago. Aqib Ilya also produced a splendid knock of 61 in this game, a performance only eclipsed by Oman opener Khawar Ali unbeaten on 79 who also took an incredible 4 for 23 bowling that reduced Scotland to 168 all out.
However, three days later Scotland returned the favour, beating Oman by a comprehensive 85 runs, dismissed for 138 with just 38 overs gone. Hamza Tahir capturing his first ever 5-wicket haul in ODI cricket for the Scots. Nevertheless, Ilyas still managed to grind out a respectable total of 45, which bodes well for Omani prospects when they host round four against the United Arab Emirates and Namibia in January 2020
Papua New Guinea (PNG) provided both Oman and Scotland with 4 table points each, but certainly did not hand them over without a fight.
The opening match of the tournament saw Oman overpower the Barramundis by four wickets to take their first win in an ODI cricket match, having had to chase down a substantial target of 229. Scotland then beat PNG in the next match by three wickets, following their own loss to Oman, a victory which saw their skipper, Kyle Coetzer score a hefty 96 runs in the process, in search of what was still a respectable 206 to win given the conditions.
The fifth match, between Scotland and Papua New Guinea, was also played in great spirit as a fundraiser for the local cancer charity, a contest which Scotland, finishing on 242 for 7, went on to win by 38 runs to complete their third success of the series. This left PNG whitewashed in round one, but far from down and out with plenty of positives to take away, as well as every chance of redeeming themselves in the second round due to take place next month in the USA, which beside the hosts includes Namibia.
The top three teams from the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 will qualify for the 2022 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier. Meanwhile the bottom four will go into the inaugural edition of the 2022 ICC Cricket World Cup Play-Off, a cricket tournament which also forms part of the qualification pathway to the 2023 Cricket World Cup. In the latter all matches will have One Day International (ODI) status, regardless of whether a participating team has ODI status prior to the start of the event or not. Expat Sport is an ICC Partner.
