North West pair Andy McBrine and Craig Young play part in Ireland booking T20 World Cup spot

North West pair Craig Young and Andy McBrine both shone with the ball, but it was the Donemana man, whose impressive 36 runs from just 21 balls in the latter stages of the Ireland innings, played a major role in the win and also helped him pick up the player of the match award.

A sensational team performance saw the Irish side recover from an early stumble to record a convincing victory, bowling out the Omani’s for 109 in the 19th over.

Needing 166 to win, Oman’s batters started with intent, but from a position of 68-2 after 10 overs, they collapsed, losing eight wickets for 41 runs, with Ireland earning the holy grail of a World Cup spot in Australia in October.

Player of the match McBrine hit 36 off 21 balls and claimed 2-24 in an all-round performance of quality. Josh Little delivered another menacing spell with 2-14 from his four overs, and Simi Singh cleaned up the tail finishing with 3-20 from 3.3 overs.

Captain Andrew Balbirnie led from the front in the field, and made a number of tactical bowling changes that paid immediate dividends at crucial times. The most influential switch was to bring Little back for an over at the halfway stage with Oman setting themselves for a launch at the target and two set batters gradually upping the run rate. Little’s extra pace induced an edge from Shoaib Khan from his first ball - and from there Ireland didn’t look back.

Craig Young (2-32) continued his run of wicket-taking form capturing eight wickets in the four matches of the tournament at an average of 13.38.

In the end, Oman’s Fayyaz Butt skied a ball to long on and was caught, bringing his side’s innings to a close on 109. Ireland’s players burst into spontaneous celebration, having won three matches on the trot in do-or-die encounters.

Earlier in the day Oman won the toss and decided to bowl first having built up a good record chasing down totals on their home pitches. Despite four boundaries coming from the bats of Balbirnie and Paul Stirling, both openers were soon back in the pavilion with the score on 19 - both batters out chasing a quick start, miscuing shots from the bowling of Bilal Khan.

Gareth Delany and Harry Tector then came together to put on an energetic 82-run stand in 57 balls. The pair looked to attack from the first ball together, striking five sixes and five fours between them - Delany hitting three maximums in a row off the 11th over by Zeeshan Maqsood.

Tector, who only came into the team after being left out of the first match of the tournament, looked comfortable throughout - swinging through the line and finding the gaps at regular intervals. However, on 35 he slashed at a wide ball outside off-stump and picked out the point fielder. Lorcan Tucker chopped on first ball, then Delany fell for a 32-ball 47 an over later after at one stage threatening to take the game away from Oman - and from a healthy 101-2, Ireland was now wobbling on 105-5.

George Dockrell played a short cameo of 18 from 16 balls to try reclaim the momentum, but it was McBrine who stepped up with the bat this time. Receiving well-deserved plaudits for his bowling in this tournament,

The Donemana man swivelled and pulled his first ball for four, going on to strike 36 from just 21 balls, which included three boundaries and two sixes, eventually falling off the last ball of the innings.

Ireland had put on 59 off the last six overs to finish on 165-7 from their 20 overs - a competitive total, but not ‘out of reach’ for the home side.