Scotland down Ireland in a thriller; Oman grow in confidence - CWC23 Qualifier Day 4 wrap

Michael Leask's stunning knock of 91* helped Scotland down Ireland in their Group B encounter at Bulawayo. In the other contest of the day, Oman chased down a target of 228 with ease against UAE.

Ireland vs Scotland scorecard

When Scotland had lost their seventh wicket in the 34th over, it seemed that the game would end as a one-sided win for Ireland.

However, a late-order resurgence from Scotland turned the contest into a thriller. Led by Leask, Scotland pulled off a highly improbable win off the last ball. With this, they have won 13 of their last 14 ODIs batting second.

Mark Adair brought an early breakthrough for Ireland when he accounted for Matthew Cross in his very first over. Christopher McBride took the charge with the bat in the following overs, ensuring that his side maintained a healthy scoring rate. Adair struck again in the 11th over, when he got Brandon McMullen caught at the covers.

McBride continued to hold his end and maintained a positive scoring rate, reaching his fifty in the 18th over. However, the Ireland centurion Curtis Campher returned to strike with the ball, and had McBride (56) leg before in the 20th over. One brought two, as Ben White accounted for George Munsey (15) in the very next over, to put Ireland right on top.

Things only got worse for Scotland after the 25 over mark. Josh Little was exceptional in his second spell, and got rid of Scotland captain Richie Berrington and Tomas Mackintosh in the 26th and 28th over respectively. After Mackintosh's fall, Ireland need merely four wickets, while the batting side were 165 runs away from a win.

The Scotland lower-order then began to flutter. Chris Greaves scored a 20 before falling to George Dockrell in the 34th over. But it was the eighth-wicket stand between Michael Leask and Mark Watt which gave Ireland concerns. They took advantage of what remained a good batting strip, and added quick runs.

The feisty partnership of 82 runs off 67 balls was finally broken in the 46th over, when Dockrell had Watt (47) stumped. However, the danger for Ireland was far from over as Leask continued to fight from the other end.

He hit two sixes and two fours off Little as Scotland took 22 runs in the 47th over. With this, they needed 22 runs to win the game.

They took 14 off the next two to near in on a famous win. And when Leask hit the first ball of the final over for a four, the equation for Scotland was merely four runs in five deliveries.

However, Ireland clawed their way back in by picking a wicket and giving merely two runs off the next four balls. Leask was on strike when his side needed two off the final delivery.

A lucky inside edge beat the keeper as Scotland managed to finally get to a win.

In the first innings, Ireland were rescued by centurion Campher (120) and George Dockrell (69) after having been 33/4 at one stage. For Scotland, Brandon McMullen starred with the ball, picking 5/34 in seven overs.

Ireland had a terrible start to their innings when they lost opener Paul Stirling and skipper Andrew Balbirnie off back-to-back deliveries in the very first over. Young seamer Brandon McMullen was the orchestrator of this horror.

The Irish collapse continued when McMullen sent the No.7 batter in MRF Tyres ICC Men's ODI Player Rankings, Harry Tector, back to the pavilion in the fifth over. Scotland's grasp over the Powerplay was complete when Mark Watt stunned Lorcan Tucker with a delivery that bounced extra, and the right-hander edged the ball to first slip.

All-rounders Andy McBrine and Curtis Campher were forced to take the conservative route in order to rebuild. But the slow run rate increased the pressure on batting side, and McBrine (35) fell in the 19th over while going for a pull against Christopher McBride.

Ireland's no. 7, George Dockrell, who had hit an unbeaten 91 against Oman in Ireland's first group game, contributed with another crucial knock on this occasion. Along with Campher, he brought stability to the Irish innings before upping the scoring rate.

Together the duo added 136 off 25 overs, before Dockrell fell to McMullen in the 44th over. Campher, for his part, kept going for runs and with good assistance from Gareth Delany (19 from 14), helped Ireland finish strongly. On the way, he brought up his maiden ODI hundred.

Earlier, Scotland won the toss and elected to bowl in their first outing of the competition. For Ireland, Campher returned to the team with Graham Hume making way.

Oman vs UAE scorecard

Oman proved to be the overall better side in their encounter against regional rivals, UAE.

Junaid Siddique's twin strikes in the fifth over provided the perfect start to UAE. The dangerous duo of Kashyap Prajapati and Jatinder Singh was sent back into the hut. Chasing a modest target of 228, Oman needed batters who could hold the innings while seeing off the new ball.

Aqib Ilyas and Shoaib Khan came together to deliver for the Gulf side. They batted carefully over the next 10 overs, getting Oman to 42/2 in the first 15 before going for their shots. They went about six an over between overs 16-25 and got Oman to 101.

However, Oman lost the duo as soon as they had added 100 runs for the third wicket. Aqib (53) was bowled by Rohan Mustafa in the 27th over, and Shoaib Khan retired hurt at the end of that very over.

The arrival of two new batters was UAE's ticket into the contest. The Emirati side was further buoyed by the dismissal of Zeeshan Maqsood in the 30th over. The Oman skipper fell leg before to Mustafa's off-spin.

Effectively five down, Oman chose the attacking route. Mohammad Nadeem and Ayaan Khan brought up their fifty run stand off merely 47 balls. As the required rate came closer to four, the UAE side began to lose their spirit in the field.

UAE got a breakthrough in the 43rd over when Aayan Khan dismissed Ayaan for 41. But this brought Shoaib Khan, who had recovered from his injury, back to the crease. He helped Oman get over the line with Nadeem's help, while also getting to his half-century.

During the UAE innings, an 87-run stand for the third wicket between Aravind and Rameez and an aggressive fifty by teenager Aayan Afzal Khan, helped UAE to 227.

Probing new-ball spells from Bilal Khan and Fayyaz Butt, gave Oman early advantage against their Gulf rivals. Bilal drew first blood when he got the UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem lbw for 8 in the third over of the morning. The very next over, Fayyaz had Rohan Mustafa caught behind for the same score. The duo bowled tight lines to keep UAE at 36/2 at the 10-over mark.

Vriitya Aravind and Rameez Shahzad brought order after chaos and ensured that the Emiratis moved ahead at a steady rate. However, Rameez's (38) loss to Jay Odedra's off-spin in the 25th over gave Oman a crucial breakthrough at the right time.

This wicket turned to be a turning point, as Oman impressed with the ball in the middle overs. They picked three wickets between overs 26-35 besides stifling the scoring rate. Aravind and Ali Naseer were cleaned up by Odedra's brilliant off-spin, while Basil Hameed fell to Ayaan Khan's left-arm spin.

When Fayyaz returned to account for Asif Khan in the 40th over, UAE were 154/7 and Oman were right on top of the game. But for Aayan Afzal Khan's aggressive 58*, UAE might've struggled to cross even 200 in the game. The youngster hit 10 fours during his enterprising knock.

The men from the Sultanate turned heads in their opening outing, rolling over Ireland in an assured chase of 282, also on the same ground on Monday. They've gone with the same XI, while UAE have made one change with Junaid Siddique, a fast-bowling replacement for Muhammad Jawadullah.