Desert T20 2017: Scotland beat Oman by 7 wickets; enter knockouts without losing a game

Desert T20: SCO beat OMAN by 7 wickets; enter knockouts without losing a game

In the last group stage encounter of Desert Twenty20 (T20I) 2017, Scotland thrashed Oman by 7 wickets with 6 balls to spare. Having already qualified for the semi-finals, Scotland took this game seriously as they could have moved to the 2nd spot had they conceded the match by a huge margin. On the other hand, Oman go through to the next round despite this defeat due to a superior net run-rate over 3rd ranked side, Hong Kong. The four semi-finalists are as follows Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland and Oman. All the remaining matches of the tournament will be played on January 20, 2017.

Oman opted to bat and posted a modest score of 135 all-out in their quota of 20 overs. Zeeshan Maqsood, Aqib Ilyas, Nawaz Khan and Ajay Lalcheta played cameos but no one anchored the innings as Oman kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Safyaan Sharif’s spell of 4-0-33-3 dented Oman’s progress as his side came into bat chasing a modest score.

FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Oman vs Scotland, Desert T20 2017, Group B match at Dubai

Scotland were in no mood to throw the match and applied themselves in the middle. George Munsey and skipper Kyle Coetzer gave a steady start to their side but a 40-ball 47 from wicketkeeper-batsman, Matthew Cross, put Scotland on the brink of an easy win. They eventually won the game by 7 wickets and remained unbeaten in the tournament.

Brief Scores:

Oman 135 all-out (Khurram Nawaz Khan 23, Aqib Ilyas 20; Safyaan Sharif 3 for 33) lost to Scotland 135 for 3 in 19 overs (Kyle Coetzer 25, Matthew Cross 47, Calum MacLeod 35*; Khawar Ali 1 for 28) by 7 wickets.