A strange situation nearly unfolded in the ICC men's T20 World Cup Asia-East Asia Pacific Qualifier involving Papua New Guinea and Oman on Friday (October 10).
Papua New Guinea slump to defeat in T20 World Cup Qualifier
On Friday, the two sides faced off at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in their final group stage match of the tournament. PNG put Oman in to bat, and they made 138-7 on a tacky surface of sorts, recovering from 32-4. Three of their top four were dismissed for single-digit scores, and No.7 Vinayak Shukla top-scored with 48 off 24.
Match 9, Oman vs Papua New Guinea
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Oman's bowlers then took over, removing Gaudi Toka and Lega Siaka to reduce PNG to 12-2. Sese Bau and Patrick Nou recovered to take them to 71-3 after 12 overs. But an almighty collapse followed, as they lost the last seven wickets for just 15 runs, slumping to a 52-run defeat.
What are the rules of the T20 World Cup Asia-East Asia Pacific Qualifier?
With nine teams in the tournament, they were split into three groups of three. The top two from each group go through to the Super Six stage, from where the top three qualify for the 2026 men's T20 World Cup.
UAE and Qatar qualified from Group A, Nepal and Japan from Group B and Oman and Samoa from Group C.
Why did PNG almost get more points for a smaller win?
The teams that qualify for the Super Six stage carry over their points and net run rate from the matches played against the other team that qualified from their group.
Since this was the final group stage game, at the innings break PNG knew exactly what the net run rate equations would be. In their earlier match, they had lost to Samoa, so it was in PNG's interest to (a) win this match and (b) ensure Oman also qualified for the Super Six, in order for them to carry the two points from this victory into the next round.
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If they chased down 139 in 14.5 overs or fewer, PNG would dent Oman's net run rate by too much, and eliminate them from the Super Six. So, they would have had to take at least 15 overs to get over the line.
Delaying a chase is rarely seen these days, since most scoring systems (net run rate or bonus points, mainly) only ever reward teams for completing chases quickly. PNG ended up losing anyway, meaning this loophole did not take effect, but perhaps the system should be amended to avoid a similar situation in the future.
A near-identical scenario actually did unfold in the 1999 World Cup, though. With the same rule in place, Australia slowed down in their chase of 111 against West Indies to help their opponents qualify for the Super Six (they had zero points against the other teams in the group). Australia won, but in the end it didn't matter as New Zealand later thrashed Scotland to overtake West Indies and qualify for the Super Six.
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