Monday 03 / February / 2025
Muscat: Oman’s national cricket team is all set to play its first World Cup game on home soil, when they take on Papua New Guinea on 17 October.
With the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup being jointly held in Oman and the UAE, the home side’s preliminary round match against PNG will take place at 2pm GST. Bangladesh will play Scotland at 6pm at Amerat Cricket Ground on the same day.
Oman’s crunch match will come three days later against Bangladesh, who are also with them in Group B.
The men in red will take to the field at 6pm, after Scotland play PNG earlier that afternoon. Should Oman win their first two games, they will seal qualification to the next round of the tournament, the Super 12.
Group B’s final match-ups see Oman play Scotland at 6pm, following the game between Bangladesh and PNG.
“We are quite confident of making it to the Super 12,” said Oman head coach Duleep Mendis. “We have defeated both Scotland and PNG in the past and there is no reason to believe we cannot do it again. Although you can’t take any side lightly in a T20 game, playing on our own soil certainly adds to our confidence.”
Ahead of the World Cup, Oman has invited India’s domestic giants Mumbai, who will travel to the country for a series of 20 and 50-over games.
The occasion is certainly not lost on right-hand batter Aqib Ilyas, who has struck two centuries and six fifties in his international career thus far. He understands the scale of the tournament, especially as an opportunity for the game’s emerging stars to stand up.
“The T20 World Cup is one of the most popular sporting events taking place on the planet,” he said. “It’s one of the best platforms for all associate players and associate teams to compete against the best playing nations. All the teams are really competitive and they will try to give their best to secure their spot in the Super 12 phase.”
“We welcome all visitors to our country,” added Aqib. “It will be our pleasure to have you here. We will make sure that you like our hospitality.
Although the weather has made the team’s preparations physically demanding, he is determined to not use that as an excuse for taking training lightly.
“We’re really committed under the coaching of Duleep Mendis,” said Aqib. “The boys are working really hard as the weather is not supportive, it’s really hot, around 45 degrees.”
While Group B’s matches will be held in Oman, Group A qualifiers are pencilled in for the UAE, where the rest of the tournament will also take place.
Ireland play the Netherlands at 2pm GST on 18 October at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, followed by a 6pm encounter between Sri Lanka and Namibia.
Namibia then play the Dutch on the 20th, as do Sri Lanka and Ireland later that evening. Group A’s final round of fixtures will pit Namibia against Ireland and Sri Lanka against the Netherlands. Both games will take place at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The two teams that finish at the top of each group will make it through to the Super 12, where eight of cricket’s higher-ranked teams are already present. These include Australia, South Africa, England, the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and New Zealand.
The first match of the Super 12 takes place between Australia and South Africa on 23 October at 2pm in Abu Dhabi, with England and the West Indies playing against each other at 6pm that evening at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
India and Pakistan face off against each other at 6pm at the same venue a day later. The final takes place at 6pm on Sunday, 14 November, in Dubai.
The ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup was set to take place last year during approximately the same time period in Australia, but was pushed forward by a year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
It was then given to India to host, but owing to the epidemiological situation there, the tournament had to be moved to the Middle East, although the Board for Control of Cricket in India, the country’s cricket governing body, remain the hosts.
