Murray, Djokovic, fall out of ATP Top 10
MUSCAT: With defending champions Assarain seven down at 170 odd runs and Al Turki in a mood to kill, in walks Naseem Khushi. Six overs later, moods change… completely. Assarain in a mood to kill and Al Turki NMC not too sure if it can stop them. And it didn’t, couldn’t… after those six moralesapping overs when somebody called ‘Raja Wasim’ not only changed the momentum, but fortunes too. Assarain win, Al Turki lose as Premier Division drama sees another exciting episode come to an end.
Assarain talisman Naseem Khushi, nicknamed Raja Wasim, not only brings his team luck but victories too. Batting low down the order at No 8, Khushi uses his bat and feet like a magic wand, turning things around in no time to not only lift his team’s morale but total too. By the time he’s done with his job, Assarain are not only raring to go but go for the kill too. He is as good at lifting his team’s morale with his amazing onslaughts as he is at hitting fours and sixes, almost at will.
His 16-ball 53 against a competent Al Turki side on Saturday was the highlight of a game that had little else that could be called sensational.
Assarain won by 51 runs without its three main pacemen doing any worthwhile damage. The damage was perhaps done in those six overs of the previous innings.
Brief scores: Assarain 243 all out in 50 overs (Shahan Akram 54 – 3x4, 1x6, Naseem Khushi 53 – 4x4, 5x6, Arun Poulose 44 – 4x4, 1x6. Gopendra Bohara 2-34, Jay Oddedara 2-45) beat Al Turki NMC 192 for 8 in 50 overs (Twinkle Bhandari 64 – 3x4, Suraj Kumar 31 – 5x4. Vinukumar Gapalakrishnan 2-22, Shakeel Ahmed 2-25, Shahan Akran 2-34) by 51 runs. Zawawi trounce E&Y Zawawi Powertech Engineering thrashed Ernst & Young by 82 runs in a 30-over B Division clash at Muscat Municipality ground 1 in Al Amerat on Friday.
Batting first, Zawawi was bowled out for 233 with 20 balls still to be bowled. Vonoth Kumar topscored with 65 off 45. Prabhakaran Kannan (41) and Veerapan Karthikeyan (38) were the other notable scorers. Salman Khan and Vishak Jayakumar bagged three and two wickets respectively.
Ernst & Young failed to put up much of a fight and folded up for 151 in the 27 over. Rana Zeeshan (27) and Muhammed Attique (23) were the leading scorers.
Mohan Kumar caused the damage with three wickets Kalairasan Natarajan claimed scalps.
Brief scores: Zawawi Powertech Engineering 233 all out in 26.2 overs (Vonoth Kumar 65 – 11x4, Prabhakaran Kannan 41 – 3x4, 1x6, Veerapan Karthikeyan 38 – 6x4. Salman Khan 3-39, Vishak Jayakumar 2-54) defeated Ernst & Young 151 all out in 26.3 overs (Rana Zeeshan 27 – 3x4, Muhammed Attique 23 – 3x4, 1x6. Mohan Kumar 3-35, Kalairasan Natarajan 2-34) by 82 runs. major while two
Ranjith, Satham spur Al Fairuz A superb 54 not out by Ranjith Kumar Ranju and an impressive allround show by Satham Hussain helped Al Fairuz CT to a 24-run victory against Rukun Al Yaqeen (RAY) in a D Division game at Muscat Municipality ground 1.
Ranjith topscored as Al Fairuz compiled 161 for 8 in 20 overs. Saravanan Manickam (40) and Satham Hussain (30) batted well too. Mariraja Muniappan and Mohsin Javed took two wickets each.
RAY could not go the full distance and was bowled out for 137 with David Raj Antony (42) and Mohsin Javed (27) being the notable scorers. Satham claimed three wickets while Sajith Mohandas and Sreejith Sreeju bagged two wickets each.
Brief scores: Al Fairuz 161 for 8 in 20 overs (Ranjith Kumar Ranju 54 not out – 6x4, Saravanan Manickam 40 – 5x4, Satham Hussain 30 – 3x4. Mariraja Muniappan 2-24, Mohsin Javed 2-35) beat RAY 137 all out in 19.3 overs (David Raj Antony 42 – 4x4, Mohsin Javed 27 – 5x4. Satham Hussain 3-31, Sajith Mohandas 2-18, Sreejith Sreeju 2-23) by 24 runs. PARIS: Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic dropped outside the ATP top 10 for the first time in years in the latest rankings released on Monday.
The 30-year-old Murray plummeted from third to 16th after not playing since July with a hip injury.
The Scot’s last appearance outside the top 10 was in October 2014. The three-time Grand Slam winner last appeared on court at Wimbledon, losing in the quarterfinals to American Sam Querrey.
Shortly after that he was nudged off the top of the world rankings by Rafael Nadal, who sealed the end-of-year top spot at the Paris Masters last week.
Murray is due to face world number two Roger Federer in a charity exhibition match in Glasgow on Tuesday before he starts his preparations for the Australian Open by playing in Brisbane.
Djokovic, struggling with an elbow injury, was also last seen in action in the Wimbledon quarterfinals when he retired against Tomas Berdych.
The 12-time Grand Slam winner ends the year in 12th, down five places, for his lowest ranking since March 2007.
Djokovic is hoping to make a comeback at the exhibition World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi next month.
American Jack Sock, who beat Filip Krajinovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in the Paris Masters final on Sunday, climbs 13 rungs to ninth in the ATP chart.
Sock’s exploit in the French capital earned him a ticket to the World Tour Finals next week.
Nadal’s participation in the season-ending tournament in London is in doubt after the world number one and 16-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of Paris before his quarterfinal with a knee injury. ATP rankings on November 6 1. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 10645 pts 2. Roger Federer (SUI) 9005 3. Alexander Zverev (GER) 4410 (+1) 4. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3815 (+2) 5. Marin Cilic (CRO) 3805 6. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 3650 (+2) 7. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 3150 (+2) 8. David Goffin (BEL) 2975 (+2) 9. Jack Sock (USA) 2765 (+13) 10. Pablo Carreno (ESP) 2615 (+1)