Scotland beat Oman by 4 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on April 10, 2022. The match was Oman’s first of 4 in the double round-robin tri-series played as part of the ICC Men’s CWC League 2.
Batting first after winning the toss, all of Kyle Coetzer, Matthew Cross, Calum Macleod and Richie Berrington got starts, but none of them were able to convert them into substantial scores. Cross’s tally of 33 was the highest among the 4.
The only one that did so was George Munsey. First, he built a 51-run partnership with Berrington to bring some stability to the Scottish innings, but once the latter was dismissed in the 34th over, Munsey assumed total command. He remained unfazed by the regular loss of wickets at the other end and made his way to a superb 74-ball 62.
Safyaan Sharif chipped in with a valuable 19 runs at the death and Scotland were bowled out for 215 with 2 balls to spare.
With the ball, Oman’s three-pronged pace attack proved effective. Fayyaz Butt was the most impressive and finished with figures of 3/48. Bilal Khan and Kaleemullah picked up 2 wickets apiece. Ayaan Khan and skipper Zeeshan Maqsood claimed the rest.
In response, Oman started well. Jatinder Singh picked up right where he left off against Namibia at the same venue, a month prior. He dazzled on the way to a half-century.
Kashyap Prajapati, Shoaib Khan and Khawar Ali missed out, but Zeeshan Maqsood and Ayaan Khan erected a 65-run stand in the late-middle overs to keep the run-chase on track. It was the former’s run-out, 4 runs shy of a deserved 50, that brought Scotland back into the tie.
Adrian Neill, in just his third-ever ODI, sent Sandeep Goud and Naseem Khushi packing as part of his brilliant late-innings spell. Ayaan continued to lock down one end of the wicket, but the flux on the opposite side proved highly disruptive.
Scotland collectively redoubled their efforts with the ball and on the field too, making Oman work extremely hard for every single run. They also kept their nerves under pressure. Bowling the penultimate over of the match, Mark Watt embodied that spirit and collected 2 wickets at the cost of just 1 run.
Ultimately, with 6 runs needed off the final 6 balls and just 1 wicket left in the bank, Adrian Neill and Hamza Tahir combined to dismiss Ayaan for a magnificent 72-ball 68. His innings brought Oman to the cusp of victory, but proved 4 runs short of sealing it.
Post-game quotes:
Zeeshan Maqsood (Oman Captain) – The way the bowlers bowled was great. 215 in the first innings was a chasable total on that track. Jatti (Jatinder Singh) played well, Ayaan Khan batted very well but we just couldn’t make it in the end. Scotland came back very strongly too. We had some good performances in that game so we will take those positives into the next one.
Kyle Coetzer (Scotland Captain) – It was always going to be a fighting game. The score on the board was a few shy of the total we were after but on a used wicket it was always going to be a challenging total. It took a good bit of fielding, a few run-outs, taking our chances and plenty of good bowling to get us there so I’m very happy with that performance.
Adrian Neill (Player of the Match) – Don’t think I’ve been so nervous on a cricket field as I was in the last over but thoroughly enjoyed it and looking forward to the next games.
BRIEF SCORES:
Scotland 215/10 in 49.4 overs (George Munsey 62(74) 6 x 4 ; Fayyaz Butt 48/3) beat Oman 211/10 in 49.4 overs (Ayaan Khan 68(72) 6 x 4, 1 x 6 Jatinder Singh 53(71) 7 x 4 ; Adrian Neill 32/3) by 4 runs
