Oman’s Mohammad Nadeem created history on 12 February. He broke Sri Lanka legend Sanath Jayasuriya’s record of becoming the oldest batsman to score a half-century in T20 World Cups.
Nadeem achieved the feat at 43 years and 161 days old while Jayasuriya was 39 years and 345 days old while scoring a 50. The destructive opener did it against the West Indies in the 2009 T20 World Cup.
Nadeem’s 50, however, failed to break a rather ’embarrassing’ record of scoring the slowest half-century in T20 World Cups. He equaled Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan after reaching his 50 from 52 balls. Rizwan achieved his record against Canada in New York during the 2024 tournament.
Just behind them is South Africa’s David Miller, whose 50 from 51 balls came against the Netherlands in New York in 2024.
Three players share the next slowest effort, each scoring a half-century from 49 balls. West Indies batsman Devon Smith recorded his innings against Bangladesh in Johannesburg in 2007.
Australia’s David Hussey followed with a similar effort against England in Barbados in 2010. Suryakumar Yadav joined the group with a 49-ball 50 against the United States in New York in 2024.
Highest 50s in T20 World Cups
Mohammad Rizwan, along with KL Rahul, is among the Top 10 players to have the most number of 50s in T20 World Cups. They have 5 half-centuries each.
Suryakumar Yadav and Jos Buttler have six 50+ scores each. Tillakaratne Dilshan also recorded 6 during his career.
David Warner (8) and Mahela Jayawardene (7) feature prominently. Chris Gayle ranks next with nine 50+ scores. He is the only player with multiple (2) centuries in the tournament.
Virat Kohli leads the list with 15 fifty-plus scores between 2012 and 2024. He has scored 1,292 runs in 35 matches at an impressive average of 58.72.
Rohit Sharma follows with 12 half-centuries from a long career spanning 2007 to 2024. He scored 1,220 runs in 47 matches.
Ireland vs Oman
Mohammad Nadeem’s form, however, did not continue in the match against Ireland on 14 February. He was out for just 1 off 3 balls. Nadeem was caught by Gareth Delany off Joshua Little’s delivery.
Batting first, Ireland posted a total of 235/5 in 20 overs. Their innings was powered by an outstanding unbeaten innings from Lorcan Tucker. The wicketkeeper-batsman struck 94 not out from 51 balls. He was named Player of the Match.
He received strong support from Gareth Delany (56 from 30 balls) while George Dockrell added a rapid unbeaten 35 from just 9 deliveries.
Oman’s bowlers struggled to contain the scoring. Shakeel Ahmad had a respectable figure of 3/33. Aamir Kaleem and Faisal Shah chipped in with 1 wicket each.
In reply, Oman managed 139 in 18 overs despite a fighting half-century from Aamir Kaleem and a steady 46 from Hammad Mirza.
Ireland’s bowling unit was led by Joshua Little’s 3/16. Matthew Humphreys and Barry McCarthy claimed 2 wickets each.
With this, Oman are virtually out of the tournament. They have failed to win any of their 3 matches. They will play their final match against Australia on 20 February. Australia, after losing to Zimbabwe, must win the match to keep their hopes alive.
