Colombo: Captain Lorcan Tucker and Gareth Delany powered Ireland to 235/5 against Oman in a Group B match of the T20 World Cup 2026 here at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Saturday.
Captain Tucker (94), missing a century by just six runs, was ably supported by Delany, who hit a half-century, and George Dockrell, who provided a late push as Ireland posted the highest total at this T20 World Cup and the second highest across all editions.
Batting first, Ireland were off to a poor start as opener Tim Tector was clean bowled by Shakeel on the fifth ball of the innings cheaply for five. His opening partner, Ross Adair (14), who looked in great touch, hit three consecutive boundaries in the next over but went down in the third over after getting caught at mid-on.
Shakeel bagged his third on the powerplay as he castled Harry Tector (14) with Ireland reeling at 47-3 at the end of the powerplay. As Ireland hoped to recover after a shaky start Aamir Kaleem sent Curtis Campher (12) back to the pavilion in the eighth over.
With the team reeling at 67-4, Irish captain Tucker stood tall and forged a historic 101-run partnership with Gareth Delany (56) to help the team stage a great comeback. Tucker and Delany dominated the middle overs by taking down the spinners and scoring 68 runs in six overs.
Oman finally got their breakthrough in the 17th over when Delany got out off Shah Faisal’s ball while trying to hit a six. Delany scored 56 runs off just 30 balls and hammered three fours and four sixes during his innings. Lorcan brought up his fifty in just 35 balls with a four.
Tucker stepped up his innings after the half-century and scored 44 runs off the next 16 balls he faced after crossing the 50-run mark. He then stitched a 70-run stand with Dockrell, who played a splendid knock of 35 runs off just nine balls, including the hat-trick of sixes off the last three deliveries.
Meanwhile, Tucker missed the century by just six runs as he remained unbeaten on 94, laced with ten boundaries and four maximums.
For Oman, Shakeel was the most successful bowler. He finished with figures of 3-33, while Aamir and Faisal took one wicket each.
Brief Scores: Ireland 235/5 in 20 overs (Lorcan Tucker 94*, Gerath Delany 56, George Dockrell 35*; Shakeel Ahmed 3-33, Aamir Kaleem 1-29) against Oman.
(IANS)
