Oman will host Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands and Nepal for a five team T20 international series from October 5-10.
The event will serve as final preparations for the first four teams above who will then make the short trip to UAE for the men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier which gets underway only days later.
After failing to proceed beyond the Asia regional final, Nepal – the highest ranked of the five teams (currently 11th) – will be using the matches as much needed experience against quality opposition before they play their first home ODIs, during the Cricket World Cup League 2 round matches to be played in Kathmandu in February.
Oman Five Nations T20 Schedule
| Match Day | 9.30 AM Game (GMT+4) | 2.30 PM Game |
| Saturday 5th | Oman v Hong Kong | Ireland v Netherlands |
| Sunday 6th | Oman v Ireland | Nepal v Hong Kong |
| Monday 7th | Netherlands v Nepal | Hong Kong v Ireland |
| Tuesday 8th | REST DAY | |
| Wednesday 9th | Ireland v Nepal | Oman v Netherlands |
| Thursday 10th | Netherlands v Hong Kong | Oman v Nepal |
Nepal’s match against Ireland in Oman will be the country’ first T20 international against a Full member since they faced Bangladesh in the 2014 T20 World Cup. After defeating Hong Kong and Afghanistan in their other group matches Paras Khadka’s team only just missed out on qualifying for the main round ‘Super 10’ round.
After Hong Kong bowled Bangladesh out for 108 in the last match in Group A, Nepal needed its fellow Asian Associate to chase the target down in 13.1 overs or better to qualify for the Super 10s. A quick start for HK kept the dream alive, and a great comeback from the lower order after a string of wickets resulted in a huge upset, giving Hong Kong its first ever official victory over a Full Member. The final runs were scored with a one handed six over wide long off with only two deliveries remaining, 6.4 overs too late for Nepal.
Charlie Burke, who was coach of Hong Kong in 2014, later recalled that the management team – which included no Netherlands coach Ryan Campbell – was advised by tournament security that if HK indeed had chased the target down in enough time to eliminate the hosts from the tournament, the entire Hong Kong squad was to leave all belongings behind before making their way to the centre of the ground as soon as possible after the game. From this area, protected by armed soldiers, they were to be transported from the stadium ground by Black Hawk helicopters to protect them from the expected riot.
No live streaming information has been advised for the Oman tournmanet, but after the Sultanate’s cricket ran a single camera stream for both WCL3 and the recent quadrangular T20I series is it hoped this will be mean fans around the world can enjoy the action live on YouTube.
