Published: Jan 15, 2017, 02:54 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 15, 2017, 06:50 PM (IST)
Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live cricket blog and updates for the Desert T20 Challenge. This is the third match of the tournament between Oman and Netherlands. It will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. The Desert T20 Challenge is played between eight teams, which are divided in two groups: A and B. All the teams will play one match each against one another (of their respective groups) to claim a spot in the semi-final. The participating teams are Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland and UAE. Both teams have not tasted success in their previous series.
Netherlands have shown immense resilience in T20 cricket in 2016. They began their success in ICC T20 World Cup where they won their debut match in a thriller game. They also defeated Ireland at Dharamsala. They also clashed against Afghanistan for four-day match in July losing inside two days. Oman, on the other hand, had beaten Hong Kong in Asia Cup before famously upsetting Ireland in the same tournament.
ALSO READ: Oman look to ride on debut World T20I success
Though they are officially ranked below The Dutch in this half of the draw, Oman, after having some excellent T20I outings, did well in World Cricket League Division Five in May and Division Four in November as well. Given Oman’s ability to shock oppositions, Netherlands will have to be wary when they take field. Netherlands have experienced players on the side who can take the game’s success at the top.
Wesley Barresi, Stephan Myburgh, Timm van der Gugten, Pieter Seelaar, and Paul van Meekeren, while former South African cricketer and IPL star Roelof van der Merwe will also play a major role. For Oman their trump card will be Ajay Lalcheta.
Squads:
Oman: Sultan Ahmed (c), Aqib Ilyas, Bilal Khan, Kaleemullah, Khawar Ali, Khurram Nawaz, Ajay Lalcheta, Mehran Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Naseem Khushi, Arun Poulose, Rajeshkumar Ranpura, Sufyan Mehmood, Zeeshan Maqsood
Netherlands: Peter Borren (c), Ahsan Malik, Wesley Barresi, Ben Cooper, Vivian Kingma, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Michael Rippon, Pieter Seelaar, Sikander Zulfiqar, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Tobias Visee
