MUSCAT: Muscat won twice in two days to take a giant leap towards Premier Division 50-over League title by beating Renaissance and Al Turki over the weekend at Oman Cricket’s grassy ground 1 in Amerat.
With 12 points from 8 games including 6 wins, Muscat now shares the top spot on team standings with Assarain who have the same number of points from 8 matches but carry a slight edge due to a higher net run rate. Passage to India (PTI) are third with 8 points from 6 games and is still in with a serious chance to win the tournament.
Muscat’s remaining two games are against the two title contenders Assarain and PTI which will decide the actual champion.
Muscat’s star bowlers Ayaan Khan (4 for 5), Badal Singh (3 for 21) and Samay Shrivastava (2 for 40) ran through Renaissance, dismissing the Premier Division rookies for 133 in the 41st over. Only Adil Khan made a notable score of 41.
Muscat raced to the target in only 17.3 overs, scoring 135 for 1 thanks to sparkling fifties by Shoaib Khan (57) and Jatinder Singh (50).
Earlier, chasing Al Turki NMC’s 261 to win, Aniruddha Chore’s superb 106 steered Muscat to an exciting 5-wicket victory in the 49th over. Ayaan lent him good support with a fluent 39.
Sankata Prasad’s brilliant 101 was the highlight of Al Turki’s fighting total of 260 for 8 which also saw a solid 45 from Suraj Kumar. Siddharth, Samay and Sandeep Goud picked up two wickets each.
Brief scores
Premier Division
Renaissance 133 all out in 40.5 overs (Adil Khan 41 – 5x4, Ayaan Mohammed Khan 4-5, Baadal Singh 3-21, Samay Shrivastava 2-40) lost to Muscat CT 135 for 1 in 17.3 overs (Shoaib Khan 57 – 6x4, 1x6, Jatinder Singh 50 – 6x4, Waruna Sajith 1-26) by 9 wickets.
Al Turki NMC 260 for 8 in 50 overs (Sankata Prasad 101 – 9x4, 2x6, Suraj Kumar 45 – 5x4, 1x6, Siddharth 2-34, Samay Shrivastava 2-44, Sandeep Goud 2-44) lost to Muscat CT 262 for 5 in 48.4 overs (Aniruddha Chore 106 in 12x4, Ayaan Mohammed Khan 39 – 4x4, Jay Oddedara 2-41) by 5 wickets.
Bilal, Wasim shine for PTI
In another Premier Division game, Bilal Khan and Wasim Ali bagged three wickets each to bowl PTI to a comfortable 8-wicket win over Renaissance.
Chasing 120 to win, PTI surpassed the target in only 13.4 overs, scoring 121 for 2 thanks to main contributions from Zohaib Amanat (48) and Khawar Ali (40).
Brief scores
Premier Division: Renaissance 119 all out in 19.5 overs (Waruna Sajith Fernando 86 – 6x4, 3x6, Bilal Khan 3-16, Wasim Ali 3-17, Aaqib Sulehri 2-13, Khawar Ali 2-29) lost to Passage To India 121 for 2 in 13.4 overs (Zohiab Amanat 48 – 3x4, 3x6, Khawar Ali 40 – 5x4, Syed Muzamil 1-39) by 8 wickets.
A Division: Ooredoo 211 all out in 37.5 overs (Praveen Das Kulangara 77 – 12x4, 2x6, Jayson Delboy 41 – 5x4, Nalinda Prasad 5-55, Deepak Kandpal 2-50) lost to ARM Alpha 212 for 6 in 44 overs (Hasan M 37 – 5x4, Ikram Saadat 33 – 2x4, Nalinda Prasad 33 – 5x4, Arun Pushpan 2-34, Irfan Khalid 2-53) by 4 wickets.
B Division: OCT Seeb 151 for 8 in 30 overs Samir Othman 70 – 7x4, Issa Abdul Rahim 29 – 5x4, Puneet Mehta 3-18, Ilyas Afreedi 2-32) lost to ACT 152 for 4 in 18 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 56 – 7x4, Ilyas Afreedi 25 – 3x4, Samir Othman 2-19) by 6 wickets.
B Division: PDO 203 for 9 in 30 overs (Abdul Naveed 98 – 15x4, 1x6, Mazhar Javed 37 – 3x4, Ravindu Weeramuni 2-16, Prinson Thalakkottukara 2-35, Shreyash Samir 2-38, Rahul Ramachandran 2-51) lost to LC Tech 204 for 3 in 25.5 overs (Supriya Soumitra 65 – 8x4, Ravindu Weeramuni 59 – 5x4, Zakir Khan 1-32) by 7 wickets.
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