Ireland & UAE qualify for the T20 World Cup 2022

Ireland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have booked their tickets for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, later this year.

In the two semi-finals held in Oman on Tuesday (February 22), Ireland hammered hosts Oman in a one-sided encounter by a whopping 56 runs to book their ticket for Australia.

This will be Ireland's 7th consecutive appearance in the Men's T20 World Cup, having missed out on the same during the inaugural edition in South Africa.

Batting first, the Irish got off to a poor start as they lost veteran opener Paul Stirling and skipper Andy Balbirnie at the score of 19.

However, Gareth Delany and Harry Tector took the fledgling innings by the scruff off its neck as they stitched an 82-run-stand in the next 10 overs.

While Delany smashed a 32-ball 47; an innings studded with three fours and as many sixes, Tector racked up 35 off 27 deliveries with the help of two fours and as many sixes.

However, the duo fell in quick succession thanks to Bilal Khan and Khawar Ali, which triggered a mini-collapse as they went from 2/101 to 5/105 in no time.

But, a whirlwind 21-ball 36 from Andy McBrine and valuable contributions from George Dockrell (18 off 16 deliveries) and Simi Singh (9* off 6 deliveries) ensured that Ireland ended up with a total of 165/7.

The total proved to be more than enough as an all-round Ireland bowling attack applied the squeeze on the Oman batsmen with stunning effect.

With 3/20 in 3.3 overs, Simi Singh was the pick of the bowlers and he was brilliantly backed up by Josh Little, Andy McBrine and Craig Young as the trio shared six wickets between them.

Oman were eventually dismissed for 109 in 18.3 overs, with Shoaib Khan top-scoring with a 22-ball 30.

Ireland had a disappointing campaign at the T20 World Cup last year as they failed to make it to the Super-12s. They will be looking to make amends this time around.

In a similar one-sided contest, the United Arab Emirates smashed Nepal by 68 runs to book their tickets for the T20 World Cup.

Batting first, the Emirates nation rode on a whirlwind 48-ball 70 from opener Muhammad Waseem. The right-handed opener hammered as many as four fours and four sixes.

He was backed up by keeper Aravind, who hammered a 23-ball 46, eventually paving the way for the UAE to post 175/7 in 20 overs.

Pacer Junaid Siddique (3/27 in four overs) and left-arm orthodox Ahmed Raza (5/19 in four overs) then proceeded to run through Nepal's batting, eventually dismissing them for 107 in 18.4 overs.

The final two spots for the first round of T2O World Cup 2022 will be decided at the Global Qualifier B event in Zimbabwe, in July.

Brief Scores: 

Ireland 165/7 in 20 overs (Gareth Delany 47, Harry Tector 35; Bilal Khan 3/23) beat Oman 109 all-out in 18.3 overs (Shoaib Khan 30; Simi Singh 3/20, Joshua Little 2/14) by 56 runs.

UAE 175/7 in 20 overs (Muhammad Waseem 70, Aravind 46; Jitendra Mukhiya 3/35, Abinash Bohara 3/46) beat Nepal 107 all-out in 18.4 overs (Dipendra Singh 38; Ahmed Raza 5/19, Junaid Siddique 3/27) by 68 runs.