Oman

Across the Gulf derby, the fixture where a low-key associate side found out what it was made of. The rivalry outgrew its origins in 2023, when Oman beat Ireland, a Test nation, at the World Cup Qualifier — a result that said more about where the "Red Warriors" had got to than any result against their regional neighbours could.

Oman Cricket was established in 1979 under its first chairman, Kanaksi G. Khimji, and spent two decades as an unremarkable affiliate before the International Cricket Council upgraded it to Associate status in 2014. The rise since has been steady rather than sudden: a first Twenty20 International in 2015, against Afghanistan, then qualification for the World Twenty20 that same year and a win over Ireland in the tournament itself. One-Day International status followed in April 2019, earned by winning the World Cricket League Division Two.

The team plays its cricket at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground in Al Amerat, expanded to around 4,000 seats for the 2021 T20 World Cup, and takes the field in red, white and green, the colours of the national flag. Zeeshan Maqsood led the side through much of that climb before handing the captaincy to Aqib Ilyas, while Bilal Khan has done the damage with the ball as the team's leading wicket-taker.

The honours board reads modestly next to Test nations but tells its own story of progress: the ACC Twenty20 Cup, shared with Afghanistan in 2007 and won outright in 2015, the ACC Trophy Challenge in 2009, the World Cricket League Division Three in 2017, and the T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier in 2023 — four titles in sixteen years.