T20 World Cup 2024: Scotland triumph over Oman by 7 wickets

NORTH SOUND: Scotland boosted their chances of qualifying for the second round of the T20 Cricket World Cup Sunday after thrashing Oman by seven wickets in Antigua to move to the top of Group B.

Brandon McMullen’s unbeaten 61 off just 31 balls steered Scotland to victory with nearly seven overs to spare as the Scots finished on 153-3 off 13.1 overs to reel in Oman’s total of 150-7.

Oman scored 150-7 off 20 overs in their T20 World Cup clash against Scotland.

Oman, beaten in their opening two Group B games against Namibia and Australia, won the toss and opted to field in bright conditions.

The move paid off with opener Pratik Athavale hitting 54 off 40 balls to get the innings going, with Naseem Khushi adding 10 and Aqib Ilyas 16.

Zeeshan Maqsood fell cheaply for three runs before Khalid Kail was run out 10 runs later to leave the Omanis wobbling at 71-4 after 8.5 overs.

But Ayaan Khan steadied the ship with an unbeaten 41 off 39 deliveries with support from Mehran Khan, who added 13.

Safyaan Sharif was the only Scottish bowler with multiple wickets, but the seamer’s brace came for an expensive 40 runs.

Brad Wheal bowled an economical spell of 1-19 off four overs while spinner Mark Watt’s four overs went for 25 runs with one wicket.

Scotland are currently second in the group standings behind Australia, following a victory over Namibia in their second match which came after their opener against England was washed out.

A Scottish victory on Sunday would pile the pressure on England, who are without a win from their opening two matches.

Squads:

Oman: Aqib Ilyas (c), Zeeshan Maqsood, Kashyap Prajapati, Pratik Athavale, Ayaan Khan, Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Naseem Khushi, Mehran Khan, Bilal Khan, Rafiullah, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Shakeel Ahmad, Khalid Kail.

Reserves: Jatinder Singh, Samay Shrivastava, Sufyan Mehmood, Jay Odedra

Scotland: Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Jack Jarvis, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Charlie Tear, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal