USA seal ICC ODI status after win over Hong Kong

The United States of America (USA) sealed the ICC ODI status after their win over 84-run Hong Kong on Wednesday. "Tonight's the night everyone's been waiting for...@usacricket claim ODI status under the leadership of Captain America!" tweeted ICC.  

Tonight's the night everyone's been waiting for...@usacricket 🇺🇸claim ODI status under the leadership of Captain America! pic.twitter.com/5nxXWo3npO

— ICC (@ICC) April 24, 2019

The historic moment came a day after Oman joined the elite group of nations holding One-Day International status. Sitting strong on top of the table, Oman won its third successive game in ICC’s WCL Division Two in Windhoek, Namibia on Tuesday which ensures the Sultanate will be among the top four sides to have earned the much-coveted One-Day International status for the next two and a half years.

Great scenes of joy from the whole #TeamUSA camp as we guarantee a Top 4 place at #WCL2 and with it, ODI Status, for the first time in our history#WeAreUSACricket🇺🇲 pic.twitter.com/j1KHhZQUU5

— USA Cricket (@usacricket) April 24, 2019

Oman, and the other top three teams in the top four, joined the UAE, Scotland and Nepal in the new ICC World Cricket League Division Two 2019 and play as many as 36 ODIs over a period of 30 months. Oman coach Duleep Mendis had said before leaving for Namibia that qualifying for the ODI status would be among their foremost goals in Namibia and they would be fighting hard to achieve that.

Left-arm paceman Bilal Khan bowled superbly, taking four wickets, while Jatinder Singh batted sensibly against Hong Kong to make sure Oman secured its third successive win as the only unbeaten side in the six-nation tournament.