Suraj, Mehran power Al Turki to big win
MUSCAT: Suraj Kumar’s vital 89 and Mehran Khan’s fantastic 4 for 13 powered Al Turki NMC to a comfortable 146-run victory against AER in a Premier Division 50-over League game at OC Turf 1 in Al Amerat on Friday.
Invited to bat first, Al Turki found the going tough, collapsing to 51 for 6 in 21 overs before Suraj put together 55 for the seventh wicket with Mehran (28 off 44). He found another dependable partner in Jitenkumar Ramanandi (65 off 51) and the duo added 86 for the eighth wicket before Suraj got out for 89 off 110. Al Turki was finally able to reach 227 for 9, a total it was able to defend rather comfortably thanks to a potent bowling attack.
Mehran was the pick of Al Turki bowlers, taking four wickets while Mohit Patel and Jay Odedara bagged two wickets each. Young opener Muzahir Raza topscored with a patient 23 off 90.
Brief Scores (Premier Division):
Al Turki NMC 227 for 9 in 50 overs (Suraj Kumar Singh 89 – 8x4, 1x6, Jitenkumar Ramanandi 65 – 5x4, 2x6, Rubella Abdus 3-48, Shoaib Muhammad 2-20) beat AER 81 all out in 38.3 overs (Muzahir Raza 23 – 4x4, Mehran Khan 4-13, Mohit Patel 2-21, Jay Odedara 2-15) by 146 runs.
Usman leads Basta to victory
Usman Haider struck a solid 79 to help Basta CT to an exciting 21-run win over Ernst & Young in a keenly contested A Division 50-over League match at OC Turf 2 on Friday.
Basta posted a healthy 252 for 7 on the board thanks to major contributions from Usman and Shahid Mehmood (41 off 50). Shrey Wilson claimed 3 for 31.
E&Y got off to a good start reaching 149 for 2 in 35 overs that included a superb 72 off 73 by Issa al Balushi before losing the plot and falling short by 21 runs due to too many dot balls. Shrey Wilson (44 off 98), Sultan Ahmed (42 off 60) and Omer Sarfraz (35 off 32) were the other main scorers.
Brief Scores (A Division): Basta CT 252 for 7 in 50 overs (Usman Haider 79 – 5x4, 1x6, Shahid Mehmood 41 – 3x4, 2x6, Shrey Wilson 3-31) beat Ernst & Young 231 for 9 in 50 overs (Issa al Balushi 72 – 6x4, 3x6, Shrey Wilson 44 – 1x4, Sultan Ahmed 42 – 2x4, Shamsudheen Shareef 3-30, Mohammed Abbas Naqvi 2-36) by 21 runs.
Mustansar Hussain’s brilliant all-round performance powered Zubair CT to a nail-biting win over LC Tech in a B Division 30-over League game at Muscat Municipality ground 2 on Friday.
Mustansar’s solid knock was the highlight of Zubair’s 197 all out in 29.1 overs as Abdul Rauf claimed 3 for 42 while Jaleel Mahamood and Shahil Mohammed took two wickets each.
LC Tech fought well reaching 146 for 4 in 24 overs before losing a couple of quick wickets and letting the run rate climb higher. In the end, it could manage only 188, falling short by 9 runs. Mifas Mohammed scored a fluent 55 off 42 while Rahul Rajeev contributed 32 off 36. Mustansar bowled well, taking 2 for 35 while Mubashar Iqbal bagged 2 for 53.
Brief Scores (B Division): Zubair 197 all out in 29.1 overs (Mustansar Hussain 70 – 8x4, Abdul Rauf 3-42, Jaleel Mahamood 2-26, Shahil Mohammed 2-26, Rajesh Shetty 2-49) beat LC Tech 188 for 8 in 30 overs (Mifas Mohammed 55 – 8x4, Rahul Rajeev 32 – 4x4, Mustansar Hussain 2-35, Mubashar Iqbal 2-53) by 9 runs.
Mohammed stars in OCT Ruwi victory
In another B Division game, top Omani all-rounder Mohammed Ali Akbar and Shuaib Ismail steered OCT Ruwi to an easy 7-wicket victory against PDO RC at Muscat Municipality ground 1.
Brief Scores (B Division): PDO RC 152 all out in 26 overs (Nadeem Ahmed 34 – 7x4, Taha Naqi 33 not out – 1x4, Mohammed Ali Akbar 3-22, Imran al Balushi 2-30, Zubair Ali Akbar 2-30, Shuaib Ismail 2-38) lost to Oct Ruwi 154 for 3 in 22.4 overs (Mohammed Ali Akbar 50 – 7x4, Shuaib Ismail 46 – 6x4)