Ireland beat Oman by 96 runs in a Group B T20 World Cup match in Colombo.

Skipper Lorcan Tucker’s blistering 51-ball 94 powered Ireland to a tournament-high 235 for five against Oman in their Group B T20 World Cup match in Colombo on Saturday.

Opting to bowl, Oman went spin-heavy from the outset, with five of the six Powerplay overs delivered by spinners. The move paid immediate dividends as Shakeel Ahmed ripped through Ireland’s top order with a three-wicket burst in his three-over spell, reducing them to 47 for three.

Shakeel removed Tim Tector in the opening over and then dismissed Ross Adair, who had briefly counterattacked with three fours off Shah Faisal. In the fifth over, Harry Tector also fell to Shakeel as Ireland stumbled. Veteran Aamir Kaleem, the oldest player in the competition at 44, tightened the screws further by dismissing Curtis Campher.

The momentum shifted decisively once Tucker found his rhythm. The Ireland captain launched a ferocious counterattack, striking 10 fours and four sixes in a sensational knock. 

He added 101 runs off 56 balls with Gareth Delany, who made 56, to seize control of the innings.

Tucker then combined with George Dockrell for a rapid 70-run stand off just 19 deliveries. Dockrell’s nine-ball 35 featured five towering sixes as the assault gathered pace. Eighty-six runs came off the final four overs as Oman’s bowlers wilted under sustained pressure.

Tucker, who survived a stumping chance earlier in his innings, brought up his half-century off 35 balls with a boundary off Kaleem. Delany matched the aggression, smashing back-to-back sixes off Jiten Ramanandi in a 15th over that yielded 18 runs. He reached his fifty off 28 balls before falling to Shah Faisal in the 17th over.

The carnage continued as Tucker plundered three sixes and two fours off Mohammad Nadeem in a 26-run over. 

The penultimate over went for 21, with Dockrell clearing the ropes twice before finishing in style by hammering the final three deliveries for sixes, taking Ireland to the highest total of this edition of the tournament.

--Agencies