Bilal and Aaqib shine as Oman drub Hong Kong
Bilal Khan claimed three wickets and Aaqib Ilyas smashed an unbeaten 56 as Oman eased to a seven-wicket victory over Hong Kong
MUSCAT: Left-arm pace bowler Bilal Khan and young batsman Aaqib Ilyas played stellar roles as Oman put their campaign back on track with a seven-wicket victory over Hong Kong in the Desert T20 International tournament in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Duleep Mendis-coached Sultanate squad, showing no signs of lethargy that led to five-wicket defeat to the Netherlands in their opening Group B match on Sunday, bowled out Hong Kong for a paltry score of 87 in 18.3 overs before racing to victory in just 11 overs, scoring 89 for the loss of three wickets.
It was Bilal Khan’s pace and precision -- as in the opening match against the Netherlands when he struck twice in the very first over -- that rattled the Hong Kong top order reducing them to three for 29 in just 4.1 overs. Big man Bilal, in fact, struck in each of the first three overs he bowled. First he clean bowled Hong Kong opener Nizakat Khan (1) in his and the innings fourth delivery.
Bilal then trapped dangerous Babar Hayat (5) in front in his second over before having Anshuman Rath (8) caught behind by skipper Sultan Ahmed in his third over.
All that the rest of Oman bowlers needed to do from that point was to maintain good line and length, and the fact that only three Hong Kong batsmen succeeded in entering the double figures shows that Oman bowlers struck to their task admirably.
For the record, Aizaz Khan with 19 runs was the top scorer for Hong Kong while Christopher Carter (17) and Ehsan Khan (10) were the other two to enter the double figures.
While Bilal Khan returned with figures of three for 18 from four overs, Kaleemullah and Khawar Ali claimed two wickets each and Mohammed Nadeem and Zeeshan Maqsood bagged one a piece.