Oman Cricket (OC) have secured One Day International (ODI) status for the first time in their cricketing history by winning their fourth consecutive group stage game in the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division 2, being held in Namibia.
From being in WCL Division 5 three years ago to being an official ODI nation has been a real growth story for Cricket Oman and with good facilities at home, it bodes well for the development of the game in Oman and in the gulf region as well, which now boasts of two nations with ODI status, UAE and Oman.
https://youtu.be/yQ3JveH_sHI
Having won the toss and elected to field, Oman looked right on top from the outset as Zeeshan Maqsood (2/27) and Khawar Ali (2/23) took early wickets and at 98/7, Namibia looked down and out, if it was not Zane Green (46) and JJ Smit (60) sharing a 103-run partnership for the 9th wicket, which lifted them to the eventual final total of 213/9 in their 50 overs.
Jan Frylinck (3/34) led the way for the Namibian bowlers, but crucial half-centuries from Suraj Kuamr and Sandeep Goud took Oman to a 4th straight win in their 50th over to begin the celebrations.
With Oman and USA already having secured ODI status, the remaining two ODI spots are still left to be decided with all four remaining countries (Namibia, Hong Kong, Canada and PNG) still in the fray, however Namibia are in a far better position in terms of net run-rate, should it become the deciding factor at the end of the final round of group stage matches on 26th Apr 2019.
Brief Scores:
Namibia 213/9 in 50 overs (JJ Smit 60, Zane Green 46, Gerhard Erasmus 30, Fayyaz Butt 3/52, Khawar Ali 2/23, Zeeshan Maqsood 2/27) lost Oman 214/6 in 49.1 overs (Sandeep Goud 57 n.o, Suraj Kumar 51, Aqib Ilyas 44, Mohammad Nadeem 27, Jan Frylinck 3/34, JJ Smit 1/36) by 4 wickets
