Appearances 2 (first in 2005) Captain Hemal Mehta | Appearances 1 (first in 2016) Coach Mazhar Khan Location Oman | |
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ICC status Affiliate (2000)Associate (2014) Best result First round (2005, 2009) Profiles | ||
Oman national cricket team arrival
The Oman national cricket team represents the Sultanate of Oman in international cricket matches. The Oman Cricket Board became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2000, and gained associate status in 2014. The national side has played matches at both list-A and twenty20 level.
Contents
- Oman national cricket team arrival
- Early years and ICC membership
- 2005 ICC Trophy and aftermath
- 20072013
- 2014 onwards associate membership and T20I status
- ICC World Twenty20
- World Cricket League
- ICC TrophyWorld Cup Qualifier
- ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier
- ACC Trophy
- ACC Twenty20 Cup
- Asian Games
- Desert T20 Challenge
- Current squad
- Coaching Staff
- Records and Statistics
- Twenty20 International
- References
Oman's first competitive matches came at the 2002 ACC Trophy, and the side has since participated in most non-Test-level Asian Cricket Council tournaments, finishing runner-up in the 2004 ACC Trophy and twice winning the ACC Twenty20 Cup. Oman has twice participated in the final qualification process for the World Cup without qualifying for the final tournament, placing ninth at the 2005 ICC Trophy and eleventh at the 2009 World Cup Qualifier. Oman has also participated in the qualification process for the World Twenty20, without success, placing fifteenth at the 2012 World Twenty20 Qualifier.
Most cricket in Oman is played by expatriate Indians and Pakistanis (and their descendants), rather than by native Omanis – in 2010, only 100 of the 780 players in the national league were Arabs, or around 13 percent. The composition of the Omani national side has generally reflected this, although several Arabs have appeared for the team. Quotas of Arab players have been introduced for both club teams and the national side, in order to boost cricket's popularity amongst the Arab population.
In July 2015, with their win against Namibia in the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, Oman gained Twenty20 International status and qualified for 2016 T20 World Cup in India.
Early years and ICC membership
Oman became an affiliate member of the ICC in 2000. Their senior international debut came at the 2002 ACC Trophy where they failed to progress beyond the first round, with their only win coming against Qatar. A huge improvement was shown in the 2004 tournament when they reached the final, where they lost against the United Arab Emirates. This qualified them for the 2005 ICC Trophy, the final qualification stage for the 2007 World Cup. It also qualified them for the Asia Cup in 2006. Later in 2004, they won the Middle East Cup after a tied game against Bahrain. They won the tournament as they beat Bahrain in the group stage. In the 2014 ACC Premier League in Malaysia they reached 4th place with three wins.
2005 ICC Trophy and aftermath
In 2005, Oman became the first affiliate member of the ICC to compete in the ICC Trophy. They lost all their group games, but then won their play-off games against Uganda and the USA, the latter when they successfully chased down a mammoth target of 345, featuring an unbroken 127-run partnership for the eighth wicket. This gave them ninth place out of the twelve teams in the competition, enough to earn a place in Division Two of the ICC World Cricket League in 2007.
2006 saw a drop in form for Oman, as they were eliminated in the first round of the ACC Trophy, with their only win coming against the Maldives. As mentioned above, they were originally scheduled to participate in the Asia Cup in 2006, playing their first ODIs against Pakistan and India. However this tournament was postponed until 2008, and the ACC decided to use the 2006 ACC Trophy as a qualification tournament, meaning that Oman's place was taken by Hong Kong.
2007–2013
In October/November 2007, Oman took part in the inaugural ACC Twenty20 Cup held in Kuwait, where they played in Group A against; Afghanistan, Malaysia, Nepal and Qatar. Oman finished in the top two of their group and qualified for the semi-final stage. Oman beat Kuwait in their semi-final, then shared the tournament after the final match against Afghanistan was tied.
In November 2007, Oman travelled to Namibia to take part in Division Two of the ICC World Cricket League. They played Denmark, the hosts and the UAE in addition to the two qualifiers from Division Three; Uganda and Argentina. Although Oman won all their group matches, they lost to the UAE in the final. On the basis of their top four finish in this tournament, Oman qualified for the ICC World Cup Qualifier in 2009, the final tournament in qualification for the 2011 World Cup.
In January 2009, Oman participated in the ACC Cup, Challenge tournament in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They came first with ease, defeating the Maldives and Bhutan in the Semi finals and finals respectively. The fourth favourites to win the cup were hosts, Thailand who ended up in fourth place.
In April 2009, Oman travelled to South Africa to participate in the ICC World Cup Qualifier, the final tournament in qualification for the 2011 World Cup. During the tournament Oman finished last in their group and in the 11th place playoff they beat Denmark by 5 wickets.
In the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup, Oman were drawn in Group B. In the group stages of the competition it won all five of its games, finishing top of the group and qualifying for the semi-finals. In the semi-finals it lost to the United Arab Emirates, therefore missing out on a chance to win back-to-back titles. In the third place playoff, it defeated Kuwait. This victory enabled Oman to claim the final qualifying spot for the cricket tournament at the 2010 Asian Games. They played in 2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Three, where they came 3rd to remain in 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three.
2014 onwards: associate membership and T20I status
At the ICC Annual Conference, held in Melbourne, Australia, in June 2014, the Oman Cricket Board was upgraded from an affiliate member of the ICC to an associate member. That announcement came during the 2014 WCL Division Four, where Oman placed fifth to be relegated to the 2016 Division Five event. Despite the team's poor performance in the 50-over format, Oman went on to win its next major international tournament, the 2015 ACC Twenty20 Cup, thus qualifying for 2015 World Twenty20 Qualifier in Ireland and Scotland.
By defeating Namibia in a sudden-death match at the World Twenty20 Qualifier, Oman reached the top six teams at the tournament, thus qualifying for the 2016 World Twenty20 and gaining Twenty20 International status until at least 2019. The team made its T20I debut in the fifth-place play-off against Afghanistan, and later in the year played bilateral T20I series against Afghanistan, Hong Kong, and United Arab Emirates. In 2016 Oman appeared at the 2016 World Twenty20 in India where they recorded an upset victory over Ireland.
They also appeared at the 2016 Asia Cup Qualifier.
In January 2017 Oman took part in the 2017 Desert T20 Challenge. They reached the semi-finals of the tournament by beating Hong Kong in the group stages, before being defeated by Afghanistan.
ICC World Twenty20
World Cricket League
ICC Trophy/World Cup Qualifier
ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier
ACC Trophy
ACC Twenty20 Cup
Asian Games
Desert T20 Challenge
Current squad
Oman's squad at their most recent tournament, the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, and 2016 ICC World Twenty20 tournament.
Coaching Staff
Records and Statistics
International Match Summary — Oman
Last Updated 20 January 2017
Twenty20 International
Most T20I runs for Oman
Most T20I wickets for Oman
T20I record versus other nations
Records complete to T20I #586. Last updated 20 January 2017.