JOHNSON HITS TON AS CANADA EDGE OMAN BY 1 RUN
NADEEM’S UNBEATEN 77 GOES IN VAIN FOR THE HOSTS IN THE DESERT CUP T20I SERIES
MUSCAT: Aaron Johnson’s strokeful century helped Canada to maintain their unbeaten streak in the ongoing Desert Cup T20I Series as they recorded an exciting one-run win over hosts Oman at the Oman Cricket Academy grounds in Al Amerat on Wednesday night.
This was the third successive victory for Canada and they now top the four-nation table with six points at the halfway stage.
Bahrain are second on the table with four points as they beat Saudi Arabia by 53 runs on Wednesday to follow up their win
over Oman. The hosts have two points while Saudi Arabia are yet to open their account.
In a run-fest on Wednesday, Canada scored 191/2, after being put to bat first. Opener
Johnson hammered the Oman bowlers all around the park as he scored an unbeaten 109 off just 69 deliveries. His innings was studded with nine boundaries and eight maximums.
Johnson along with his opening partner, Srimantha Wijeyeratne, shared a dominating stand of 142 in 16.1 overs to set the platform for a formidable total.
Wijeyeratne contributed with a half-century, his 50 coming off 38 balls that comprised six fours and one six. Ravinderpal Singh’s 13-ball 23 ensured Canada set a competitive target for a strong Oman batting lineup.
Bilal Khan and Maqsood were the only Oman bowlers among the wickets.
Oman’s chase got off to a disappointing start as their
star opener Jatinder Singh was dismissed in the first over. Kashyap Prajapati (29, 19 balls) and Shoaib Khan (22, 17 balls) then went to share a 52-run stand in 6 overs to take the attack to the rival camp.
Skipper Zeeshan Maqsood looked good in his 20-ball stay but his exit in the 12th over left
Oman needing 87 to win.
Mohammed Nadeem and Ayaan Khan then counterattacked and shared a 78-run stand to put Oman on course for a successful chase.
The hosts required 11 to win in the last over with both the batters displaying strong intent.
Canada’s Ammar Khalid got the breakthrough off the second ball of the last over as Ayaan was castled for 22. New
batter Naseem Khushi took a single to let Nadeem have the strike. He hammered a four and took a single to leave Khushi with three to win.
Khushi connected well but was run out while attempting the second run that would have tied the score as Oman finished at 190/6.
Nadeem stayed unbeaten on 77 off 41 balls. He hit six sixes
and four boundaries in a fighting innings.
Pargat Singh and Ammar Khalid bagged two wickets each.
BAHRAIN BEAT SAUDI
In the other game, Bahrain’s Sohail Ahmed struck his second successive half-century as he made an unbeaten 78 in his
team’s total of 170/4 against Saudi Arabia. Imran Anwar scored 66.
Saudi Arabia were then restricted to 117/8 with Kashif Siddique top-scoring with 27.
The teams will play each other once again in the double roundrobin format with the final scheduled on November 21.