Enhance stun leaders Assarain; Gitac, TR Engineering in semis
MUSCAT: Left-arm paceman Mazhar Alam picked up 6 for 23 as bottom-placed Enhance came from nowhere to stun Premier Division leaders Assarain in a sensational 5-wicket victory at Oman Cricket’s grassy ground one in Amerat on Saturday.
Enhance, who had lost 7 out of 9 matches prior to this game, rode on Alam’s superb spell to cause an upset that may prove to be crucial in deciding the final team standings as only 8 points separate Assarain (28 points from 9 games) and secondplaced Passage to India (20 points from 8). The 12-match league is now expected to see closer contests as the teams make the final push to wrest the Premier Division trophy from Assarain. Only PTI stands a real chance of doing so if they win their remaining four games and Assarain lose another match or two.
Enhance failed to shine with the bat and was bundled out for 156 in the 47th over. Parth Trivedi was the only notable scorer with 46 off 49 balls. Spinners Sanuth Ebrahim and Shakeel Ahmad claimed three wickets each. Hoping for an easy win, Assarain was jolted by Mazhar’s early strikes, reducing it to 51 for 5 by the 17th over before a 61-run 6th wicket partnership between Ramkumar Pandarathil (43) and Sindo Michael (43) put its chase back on track. Alam came back to dismiss Ramkumar and with his departure the game started to turn in Enhance’s favour again as Assarain fell short by 5 runs, getting bowled out for 151. Sufyan Mahmood bowled well too, taking 2 for 34. ARIF POWERS GITAC
Magnificent all-round performance by Arif Hussain powered Gitac into the Intermediate Division Knockout semifinals with a massive 9-wicket victory against OUA Travels in the quarterfinal match at Muscat Municipality ground 2 on Friday.
Arif first claimed four wickets for only 16 runs to restrict OUA Travels to only 115 for 8 in 20 overs and then smashed a 28-ball 54 not out to win the game for Gitac in the 10th over. Awais Munir batted well too, scoring 47 off 24. TR ENGINEERING IN SEMIS In another Intermediate quarterfinal, TR Engineering defeated Jotun by 4 wickets to book a berth in the semifinals. Chasing Jotun’s modest 137 for 7 in 20 overs, TR Engineering surpassed the target in the 19th over, scoring 138 for 6 thanks to main contributions from Javed Shaikh (34) and Asjad Shah (20).