Dubai: Ireland cricket on Sunday became the second country to qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup, which will be held in Australia next year, after Papua New Guinea (PNG).
"@Cricket_PNG are off to the #T20WorldCup Australia! Congratulations to the Mighty Barras," ICC tweeted.
PNG achieved the feat by defeating Kenya in their group stage match of the ICC T20 World Cup qualifying tournament by 45 runs.
After PNG, Ireland book tickets to T20 World Cup 2020
Both Ireland and Oman managed to win four matches in their group B, but the former went ahead on the basis of net run rate.
PNG, Ireland
However, their fortunes were dependent on the match between the Netherlands and Scotland. If the former had managed to chase down the total of 130 in 12.3 overs, they would have topped Group A and then they would have qualified.
But the Netherlands failed to chase the target in 12.3 overs and as a result, PNG topped Group A and they directly qualified for the ICC T20 World Cup.
The Netherlands managed to win their match, but they finished at the second place in Group A on the basis of net run rate.
Both PNG and Netherlands played six matches in the group stage and they managed to win five out of those.
Ireland, however, had defeated Nigeria by eight wickets on Saturday but their fortunes depended on the match between Oman and Jersey.
If Oman had managed to defeat Jersey, then they would have topped Group B and would have qualified for the T20 World Cup next year. But Jersey managed to deny Oman to defeat them by 14 runs.
"The result leaves Ireland in pole position for the top spot in Group B and qualification to the #T20WorldCup," T20 World Cup's official handle tweeted.
With this, Ireland topped Group B and secured its place for the tournament next year.
Both Ireland and Oman managed to win four matches in their group B, but the former went ahead on the basis of net run rate.