Published: Jan 14, 2017, 10:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 13, 2017, 05:04 PM (IST)
The inaugural edition of Desert T20 will witness 8 Associate Nations clash in a seven-day tournament in UAE. Netherlands and Oman will clash in the third match of the tournament, at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. As usual, Peter Borren will lead Netherlands while Oman will be head by Sultan Ahmed. Netherlands have shown remarkable resilience in T20 cricket, especially in ICC World T20 where they had tested Bangladesh in the group stages before being going down by 8 runs. Prior to their defeat against Bangladesh, Netherlands had even defeated Ireland at Dharamsala. They also clashed against Afghanistan for four-day match in July losing inside two days followed by a WCL Championship tie with Nepal in August.
Oman, on the other hand, had beaten Hong Kong in Asia Cup before famously upsetting Ireland in the same tournament. Had they managed to beat Bangladesh, they would even have qualified for the main stage. 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.
ALSO READ: Oman team in ICC T20 World Cup 2016, Preview: Unknown yet ‘fearless’ Oman reach the big stage
Apart from Borren, Netherlands will rely on their senior men, 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. Ajay Lalcheta will obviously be Oman’s biggest card.
Squads:
Oman: Sultan Ahmed (c), Aqib Ilyas, Bilal Khan, Khawar Ali, Ajay Lalcheta, Mehran Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Arun Poulose, Rajeshkumar Ranpura, Sufyan Mehmood, Zeeshan Maqsood.
Netherlands: Peter Borren (c), Wesley Barresi, Ahsan Malik, Vivian Kingma, Stephan Myburgh, Pieter Seelaar, Max O’Dowd, Roelof van der Merwe, Tobias Visee, Paul van Meekeren, Sikander Zulfiqar, Timm van der Gugten.
