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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Catholic Bishops' body slams Bhagwat's remarks
New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on Thursday slammed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his reported remark that Pranab Mukherjee, when he was President, had said tribals would turn "anti-national" if there is no "ghar wapsi"Catholic Bishops.'
In a statement issued here, CBCI, a body of Catholic Bishops, referred to reports which said Bhagwat, at an event on Monday, claimed that Mukherjee, while he was President had appreciated ghar wapsi and told him that had it not been for the Sangh's work on reconversion, a section of Adivasis would have turned "anti-national".The CBCI called the report "shocking".
"Fabricated personal conversation being attributed to a former president of India and its posthumous publication with the vested interest of an organization with questionable credibility raises a grave issue of national importance," the CBCI claimed.
"Is it not the violent ghar wapsi program of VHP and other similar organizations, curtailing the exercise of freedom of conscience of economically deprived tribals, the real anti-national activity?" it asked.
'Ghar wapsi' is a term used by the RSS and affiliated organisations to refer to reconversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, based on the belief that they were originally Hindus before converting to other religions.
The CBCI also questioned why Bhagwat did not speak about it while Mukherjee was alive.
"We, the 2.3 percent of Indian citizens who are Christians feel extremely hurt by such manipulated and motivated propaganda unleashed," it said.
In a post on X following the statement issued by CBCI, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said, "Speak up. This is a start!"
"Bishops body have issued a statement condemning remarks made by Dr Mohan Bhagwat and RSS for defaming the Christian community," he said.
O'Brien added that they should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi more questions, including why Christmas Day has been turned into "Good Governance Day".
The TMC leader, in a blogpost earlier this month, had said "hard questions" must be asked to the government with regards to the Christian community, including why the FCRA has been 'weaponised', and why has Manipur been 'ignored'.
