T20 WC: Aamir Kaleem becomes the oldest player to hit a half-century in the tournament’s history
Colombo, Feb 14 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Oman’s most experienced all-rounder Aamir Kaleem has etched his name in the history books, becoming the oldest player to hit a half-century, as he smashed 50 off just 28 deliveries, against Ireland in their third match of the T20 World Cup 2026 played at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Saturday.
Aamir opened the innings for Oman when they came out to chase a mammoth target of 236 to secure their first victory in the ongoing tournament.
Aamir started the innings with a four on the second ball, followed by a six on the fourth ball he played. As the wickets were falling on the other side, Aamir stood tall and forged a 73-run partnership with Hammad Mirza.
Aged 44 years and 86 days, Aamir Kaleem brought his half-century in just 28 balls, hitting five fours and two sixes during the course of his innings. Unfortunately, he could not turn it into a big one and fell on a sharp bouncer of Barry McCarthy.
With this knock, he surpassed his teammate Mohammad Nadeem’s record for becoming the oldest player to score a half-century, a milestone Nadeem had set earlier in the T20 World Cup 2026 after making a fifty against Sri Lanka at the age of 43 years and 161 days.
Sri Lanka’s legend Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored a half-century at 39 years 345 days against the West Indies in the 2009 T20 World Cup, sits at third on the list.
Despite Aamir’s historic knock, Oman’s innings collapsed after his wicket, and they were bundled out for just 139 runs in 18 overs as Ireland registered a 96-run emphatic win.
Aamir recently became the oldest to take part in the T20 World Cup, surpassing the previous record held by former Hong Kong captain Ryan Campbell (44 years and 30 days) from the 2016 edition. Kaleem was part of Oman’s maiden T20 World Cup squad in 2016 and has featured in multiple Asia Cup qualifiers and World Cup qualification campaigns.
He has played 54 T20I matches and scored 718 runs while also taking 48 wickets.
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