Ireland v Oman, World T20 preview, Match 4

One of the reasons for Ireland’s success over the years is that its core team has been the same. William Porterfield, the captain, Paul Stirling, Gary Wilson and the O’Brien brothers Kevin and Niall form a strong batting unit while Tim Murtagh, George Dockrell andMax Sorensen form the bowling unit. Allrounders like Kevin and Stirling also make Porterfield’s job easier.

Ireland will also be strengthened by the return of Boyd Rankin, who had a homecoming after shifting to England for a brief while. It also has some major subcontinent experience in the form of Chaminda Vaas, the bowling coach, among its backroom staff.

In many ways, Wednesday’s clash is a battle of the experienced v the newbies. But what it certainly is not is David v Goliath. If Oman can overcome the nerves and anxiety that come along with making history, it could be an interesting clash to watch out for.

Oman: Sultan Ahmed (capt, wk), Aamir Kaleem (vice-capt), Amir Ali, Munis Ansari, Jatinder Singh, Ajay Lalcheta, Mehran Khan, Rajeshkumar Ranpura, Sufyan Mehmood, Khawar Ali, Vaibhav Wategaonkar, Zeeshan Siddiqui, Zeeshan Maqsood, Bilal Khan, Adnan Ilyas.

**Ireland:**William Porterfield (capt), Andrew Balbirnie, Gary Wilson, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Craig Young.