T20 World Cup 2026: Ireland vs Oman Highlights, Match 22 - Stats, Player of the Match & More

Match Overview

Ireland and Oman locked horns in the 22nd match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground (SSC) in Colombo on Saturday, February 14. Oman captain Jatinder Singh won the toss and elected to field first.

The Omani opening bowler Shakeel Ahmed provided his team with a good start, scalping the top three within the powerplay for 47 runs on the board. Ireland suffered another blow soon in the form of number five batter Curtis Campher. With the scoreboard reading 67/4 at the end of the eighth over, Oman looked on top.

However, captain Lorcan Tucker and Gareth Delany had different plans. The duo counterattacked and started to take the game away from Oman. Both completed their half centuries before Delany was dismissed by Shah Faisal in the 17th over.

If Oman thought the onslaught was over, they were wrong. New man George Dockrell combined with Tucker and the pair scored a massive 70 runs off just 19 balls to take their team to 235/5. Notably, this is now Ireland's highest total in T20 World Cups and the second-highest overall in the tournament history.

Oman, in their response, began well but were pegged back after a couple of wickets by the third over. However, Aamir Kaleem and Hammad Mirza took the reins and formed a 73-run partnership off 49 balls to keep the team in the game slightly but with Kaleem's wicket at 97/3 in the 11th over it was a procession afterwards. Oman kept losing wickets at regular intervals and ended up losing the game by 96 runs. For Ireland, it was the third-biggest margin of victory in terms of runs in all of T20I cricket.

Top run-scorer of the match

Top wicket-taker of the match

Player of the Match

Lorcan Tucker

The Irish captain led by example to help his team register a massive win. The wicketkeeper-batter arrived at the crease after the second-wicket of Ross Adair. The right-hander looked positive and kept the scoreboard moving for himself. The 29-year-old's partnership with Delany and, especially with Dockrell, put the game far away from Oman's reach. The Irish batter showed real class and his stroke-making skills to complete his 11th T20I fifty and register his highest score as well.

Turning Point

The fifth-wicket partnership between Tucker and Delany turned the match from Oman to Ireland's favour. The duo added 101 runs which took Ireland from 64/4 in 7.3 overs to 165/5 in 16.5 overs. The pair began the partnership at a tricky time but brought their team out of it with flying colours.

What the captains said

Winning Team Captain, Lorcan Tucker (IRE)

"Previous game wasn't one of our best days. I think things didn't work out for us, but we just turned it around and played with positivity today. We knew they (Oman) were a good side, we've played against them before, we haven't always beaten them. They're competitive. It's all just important to respect your opposition. They bowled really well at the start in the powerplay and through the first ten. We tried to make sure that we were just staying in the game, gave ourselves an opportunity to come home strong in that first innings."

"(Losing the toss) We had talked about batting first. I think in general the pitch was pretty good. We were happy to do either. I think it worked out nicely in the end though, batting first. (Morale of the team now) It's massive. We needed to come here and win today and put in a good performance. I think we're not out of the competition yet, but we need some things to go our way. A bit of a boost for our run-rate there as well won't do any harm."

Losing Team Captain, Jatinder Singh (OMA)

"(Choosing to bowl) Well, I think since it was a new track and we just wanted to bowl first, because we didn't know because last time also we lost the toss and they had put us in. So we just wanted to bowl first. (What could have been done differently?) I think when we took the four wickets, we were very much in the game. After 10 overs, they built a partnership. I think credit goes to Tucker. The way he built the partnership with Delany was masterful and yeah, I think we tried to execute our plans, but we failed to execute, but they were very much in the game and they were taking over the bowlers."

"(Chat before the chase) Well, the message was simple. Just go out and go for the shots, go and chase the target because 235, you can't be playing down. So you have to go and play some strokes. Yeah, but we lost too many wickets in the span of maybe 25 runs. But otherwise, I think we were very much in the game. I think till the 10th over after that, I think we lost the grip."