T20 WC: Clinical Scotland qualify for Super 12s with unbeaten record, beat Oman by 8 wickets
Al Amerat, Oct 21: An impressive Scotland crushed Oman by eight wickets to register their third consecutive win in the first round and qualify for the T20 World Cup Super 12 stage by topping Group B here on Thursday.
Scotland, who had stunned Bangladesh by six runs before beating Papua New Guinea by 17 runs in their previous matches, remained unbeaten and finished their group encounter with six points.
Besides Scotland, Bangladesh also qualified for the Super 12s from the group by finishing second with four points. Hosts Oman and PNG are out of the tournament.
Scotland are now placed alongside India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan and an yet-to-be decided second-placed team from Group A in Group 2 of the Super 12s.
Bangladesh find themselves in Group 2 alongside England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka.
In Thursday's match, Scotland first dished out a clinical bowling effort to bundle out Oman for a below-par 122 after being asked to bowl.
The chase turned out to be a cakewalk for Scotland as they reached the target with as many as three overs to spare.
Skipper Kyle Coetzer made an attacking 28-ball 41 with the help of two boundaries and three sixes, while George Munsey (20) and wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Cross (26 not out) also played good hands.
Towards the end, Richie Berrington struck some lusty blows en route to an unbeaten 31 that came off just 21 balls and was laced with one boundary and three hits over the fence.
Berrington finished off the chase in style, hitting Mohammad Nadeen for a four and a six.
Earlier, Oman lost two quick wickets -- Jatinder Singh and Kashyap Prajapati -- after opting to bat in the must-win game before Aqib Ilyas (37 off 35 balls) and Mohammad Nadeem (25 off 21) stabilised the innings with a 38-run third-wicket stand.
But Scotland pulled things back, removing both Ilyas and Nadeem, who perished in search of one too many just after clobbering Mark Watt over the boundary.
Sandeep Goud (5) and Naseem Khushi didn't help their side's cause either as Oman kept losing wickets at regular intervals to reach 98 for six after 16 overs.
Skipper Zeeshan Maqsood (34 off 30) tried his best to push the scoring rate but Scotland bowlers didn't give Oman batters any leeway.
Josh Davey (3/25), Michael Leask (2/12), Safyaan Sharif (2/25) and Mark Watt (1/23) were the wicket takers for Scotland.
In fact, Davey's final over resulted in three Oman wickets, including a run out.
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Air India flights to North America, Europe to use alternative routes
New Delhi (PTI): Air India will operate its flights to North America and Europe using alternative routes over available airspaces in the Middle East and cancel six flights to various European cities on March 2.
The airline, which cancelled 50 international flights on Sunday, said it would extend suspension of all flights to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar till 23:59 hours (IST) on March 2.
In a post on X on Sunday, the carrier said six flights, including Amritsar-Birmingham (AI117) and Birmingham-Delhi (AI114), would be cancelled on Monday.
Besides, AI151 and A152 flights between Delhi and Zurich, as well as AI157 and AI158 flights between Delhi and Copenhagen, would be cancelled on Monday.
“All other flights to North America and Europe will operate as per schedule using alternative routings over available airspaces in the Middle East, which is expected to add to the flying times.
"Additionally, flights to New York (JFK) and Newark (Liberty International) will operate with technical stops at Rome (Fiumicino Airport)," Air India said.
With stops in Rome, the flying time for Air India flights to North America would increase and also result in increased operating expenses.
Since the Iran and Iraq airspaces remain closed, officials said the airline would take the Egypt route to reach Europe, which would mean 30-40 minutes of additional flying time.
The flights would take the route through Oman, the southern part of Saudi Arabia and Egypt for European and North American destinations, the officials added.
The airline also said that it continues to closely monitor the situation and has carefully assessed the evolving circumstances across multiple parameters, including safety, security, airspace availability, and operational feasibility, before deciding on these operations for March 2.
In the wake of the escalating Middle East crisis, flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with the civil aviation ministry saying Indian carriers cancelled 350 international flights on Sunday.
