Ireland stand one win away from T20 World Cup spot

Victory over Germany by seven wickets at Al Almerate Stadium in Oman set up a semi-final date with the host nation on Tuesday (10am GMT).

Ireland advance as group winners and now turn the focus to a final test towards booking a World Cup spot in Australia this October.

“We were really good today, we set ourselves the task at the toss, and our bowlers put it in good areas – there was a bit in it for the bowlers, and they bowled tightly,” said Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie. “It was a really complete performance and we’re starting to get it together at the right end of the tournament.

“I think the win against Bahrain got us up and running – we tend to play better the longer a tournament goes.

“There was good buzz around this morning, the guys knew we had to win two games to reach a World Cup, and we’ve got rid of one of those and are now in a semi-final.

“All of our bowlers performed well today – we have guys on the bench who could do a job as well – we’re happy with where our bowling is at but it means nothing unless we turn up and do the same thing tomorrow.”

Ireland started their run chase knowing that if they could complete the victory in less than 16 overs they would guarantee themselves progression to the semi-final stage after Bahrain – playing in a concurrent match – posted 172-5 against UAE.

After an efficient bowling performance that restricted Germany to 107-7, the Irish batters completed the run chase in 13.1 overs with Harry Tector flashing a square cut to the boundary to bring up the winning runs.

Paul Stirling (34) and Andrew Balbirnie (32) posted a 67-run opening stand from just 47 balls to get the run chase off to the necessary start, but despite both openers falling within three balls of each other,