MUSCAT: Muhammed Nadeem and Suraj Kumar struck brilliant half centuries to steer Oman to an exciting six-wicket victory against USA in their opening match of the ICC World Cricket League Division Two in Windhoek, Namibia on Saturday. Opting to bowl first, Oman dismissed USA for 148 in 37.5 overs thanks to early strikes by paceman Ahmed Fayyaz Butt who claimed three wickets for 23 runs. Captain Zeeshan Maqsood, Bilal Khan and Kaleemullah took two wickets each.
Having lost its top order cheaply, Oman was in dire straits at 17 for 3 on a difficult pitch with uneven bounce. The match looked evenly poised when Muhammed Ali Khan dismissed Maqsood, reducing Oman to 55 for 4. However, an unbroken 97-run partnership between Nadeem (55 not out) and Suraj (50 not out) steered Oman out of troubled waters, leading their team to its maiden win in the all-important six-nation tournament that will see the top four teams enjoying the ODI status.
In the day’s other two games, Hong Kong defeated Canada while Namibia thrashed PNG.
Brief scores: USA 148 all out in 37.5 overs (KRP Silva 33 – 1x4, 2x6. Ahmed Fayyaz Butt 3-23, Zeeshan Maqsood 2-24) lost to Oman 152 for 4 in 47.5 overs (Muhammed Nadeem 55 not out – 2x4, 1x6, Suraj Kumar 50 not out – 2x4, 2x6. Muhammed Ali Khan 4-27).
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