ABOUT THE MATCH
Ireland will take on Hong Kong at Muscat which is serving as a warm-up tournament for the ICC World T20 Qualifier for four of the five teams. The match which is on October 7, is scheduled to start at 14:00.
Ireland who has lost against hosts were looking forward to a winning match. They had previously won on the Netherlands but then slipped to a 43-run defeat as they were bowled out for 130 last time out.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong has seen several key players turn their backs on the team and, as a result, they have already fielded eight T20i debutants in this series. They were beaten heavily by Oman first up but showed signs of improvement as they faced Nepal in their second game.
TOSS PREDICTION
Ireland has when on to bat first in both the matches when won the toss and Hong Kong too took up with bat in both of their games. If Ireland’s run of luck continues at the toss, they might well put Hong Kong in first again.
PITCH AND CONDITIONS
It looks to be sunny everywhere in Muscat with a bit of wind likely to break, otherwise a hot, clear day in Oman. There will be no rain.
Muscat’s Al-Emarat Stadium has produced some even contests so far, suggesting a good balance between bat and ball.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF HONG KONG
Ahsan Abassi, Nizakat Khan, Kinchit Shah (c), Shahid Wasif, Waqas Barkat, Ehsan Khan, Aarush Bhagwat (wk), Raag Kapur, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Kyle Christie, Nasrulla Rana
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF IRELAND
Paul Stirling, Kevin O’Brien, Andrew Balbirnie, Gareth Delany, Gary Wilson (c, wk), Harry Tector, Stuart Thompson, Mark Adair, Shane Getkate, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin
MATCH PREVIEW
HONG KONG
- Hong Kong has started its series with losing a game when they posted just 86/9 on their way to a heavy defeat to hosts Oman.
- It was their first T20 international since the Desert T20 Challenge in Dubai in January 2017.
- Mohammad Ghazanfar and Raag Kapur both made their T20 international debuts last time out, after Ahsan Abbasi, Haroon Arshed, Aarush Bhagwat, Kyle Christie, Scott McKechnie and Nasrulla Rana did likewise in the opening game.
- With Babar Hayat and Anshuman Rath leading the list of players to have turned their backs on the national team, Hong Kong has a very depleted squad to choose from.
- Despite having a depleted squad Hong Kong has shown a big improvement with the bat when they then faced Nepal in their second game of this series.
IRELAND
- Being the Tri-National Series-winning team at their home soil Ireland is going with the same intent in the Pentangular series too.
- Ireland has won by 6 wickets in the matches against the Netherlands but lost against hosts by 7 wickets.
- A batting collapse after Kevin O’Brien’s bright start saw them slip to 130 all out against hosts Oman, however – suffering a 43-run defeat as a result.
- Stuart Thompson replaced Boyd Rankin last time out, but both men could feature together this time.
- Craig Young making way, particularly as he was expensive with the ball against Oman.
PROBABLE WINNING TEAM:
Based on the previous records we back Ireland to winning ways when they take on a depleted Hong Kong in the latest game of the Oman Pentangular Series.
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