Ireland becomes 2nd Team qualify directly for ICC Men’s World T20

After Oman’s loss to Jersey by 14 runs on 27th October 2019 , Ireland became the 2^nd Team to qualify directly for the ICC Men’s World 2020 to be played in Australia. This will be their 6^t T20 World Cup. On the basis superior net run rate, Ireland topped the group.

Ireland finished with 8 points at better run rate of + 1.591. Oman had a chance to qualify for the ICC Men’s World 2020 but their 14-run loss to Jersey dented their hopes and finished with 8 points at a run rate of +0.997.

In the final league match between UAE and Canada, the hosts played positive cricket. After being reduced to 6 for 2, Muhmmad Usman played one of best innings of the tournament with unbeaten 89 not out. UAE posted a competitive 154 for 5. It was an impressive bowling effort by UAE bowlers as they restricted Canada to 140 for 5 and finished 3^rd in points table with 8 points.

Led by Gary Wilson, Ireland started their campaign with an 8 wicket win over Hong Kong played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on 18^th October.  They were stunned by UAE in their 2^nd match by 5 wickets.

Ireland produced a dominating performance to defeat Oman by 35 runs at Tolerance Oval. After posting 183 for 3 in 20 overs, Ireland bowlers restricted Oman to 148 for 9. It was another disappointing performance by Irish team as they lost to Canada by 10 runs played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on 23^rd October. Canada posted 156 for 5 in 20 overs while Ireland scored just 146.

Ireland returned to form when they defeated Jersey by 8 wickets. They played with positive intent against the Nigerian side in their last league match and crushed them by 8 wickets to end the league stage at the top.

Ireland played 6 matches with 4 wins and 2 losses in the entire tournament. Ireland and Papua New Guinea have qualified directly for the ICC Men’s World 2020.

In the playoff matches, Netherlands will face UAE and Namibia take on Oman at Dubai on 29^th October. The winner of these matches would qualify for the ICC Men’s World Cup. After that the loser of these qualifiers would face Scotland and Hong Kong.

Here are fixtures for the playoff stages

1. Netherlands versus UAE (Dubai International Stadium, Dubai)- 29^th October
2. Oman versus Namibia (Dubai International Stadium, Dubai)- 29^th October
3. Scotland versus Loser of qualifier 1 (Dubai International Stadium, Dubai)- 30^th October
4. Hong Kong versus Loser of qualifier 2 (Dubai International Stadium, Dubai)- 30^th
5. Semi-Final 1: Ireland versus Winner of qualifier 1 (Dubai International Stadium, Dubai)- 1^st November
6. Semi-finals 2: Papua New Guinea versus of winner of qualifier 2 (Dubai International Stadium, Dubai)- 1^st November
7. Finals (Dubai International Stadium, Dubai)- 2^{nd November}