Ireland face crunch T20 clash with Oman

Ireland face a crunch clash with bogey side Oman in Abu Dhabi today knowing that defeat would most likely end their hopes of automatically qualifying for next year's T20 World Cup.

After a humbling defeat to the UAE on Saturday, a second loss in three matches would almost certainly mean Ireland could not top Group B. And their place in Australia next autumn would then depend on a nervy sequence of play-offs.

Only hours after watching their counterparts crash out of the Rugby World Cup, the Boys in Green put on an equally dismal performance, limping to 125 all out and having no answers as the hosts romped home.

Paul Stirling and Harry Tector were able to leave the Zayed Stadium with heads held high, however.

Stirling scored his seventh T20 half-century of the year, to equal the record of the great Virat Kohli, while teenager Tector was again superb in the field, pulling off two late run outs.

But the rest of the Ireland team were well below par, losing six wickets to the last nine balls.

Skipper Gary Wilson's tactics came under scrutiny once again as he insisted on batting at No 5, ahead of big-hitting Mark Adair and Gareth Delany, and his decision to open the bowling with George Dockrell and Stirling, instead of regular pair Adair and Delany, may have proven costly.