T20 World Cup Qualifier: Ireland beat Oman by 56 runs in semi-final to reach World Cup

Ireland qualified for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year with a 56-run victory over hosts Oman.

Ireland recovered from losing openers Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie in the third over to post a score of 165-7.

With nine balls left in the game, Oman were all out for a total of 109.

Shoaib Khan scored 30 for the hosts.

In the other semi-final, the United Arab Emirates beat Nepal by a score of68. Ireland and the United Arab Emirates will meet in the final of the Qualifier on Thursday.

The Irish will be making their seventh straight appearance in the T20 World Cup, having only missed the inaugural edition in 2007.

Ireland lost their first game of the Global Qualifier A event last week to the UAE, but bounced back to win their next two games and reach the semi-finals.

Irish captain Balbirnie and Stirling fell early to leave Ireland 19-2 after they had made three straight fifty partnerships.

Delany hit 47 from 32 balls, before Andy McBrine added 36.

Ireland's spinners Singh and McBrine took five of the six Oman wickets to fall, as the Arabians were bowled out for just109.

Craig Young and Josh Little both took two.

The main tournament Down Under of the T20 World Cup will have Ireland and the United Arab Emirates in it.

There are two spots left for the Global Qualifier B event in Zimbabwe.