Assarain beat PTI in thriller, Enhance stun Al Turki
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Sami Ur Rehman and Sindo Michael spurred Assarain to a thrilling 10-run victory against Passage to India (PTI) in a Premier Division clash at Oman Cricket grassy ground 1 in Amerat on Saturday.
With this win, the defending champion Assarain continues to stay on top stretching its lead to 24 points from seven games, followed closely by PTI which has netted 20 points from equal number of games.
Opting to bat first, Assarain slumped to 51 for 4 in the 16th over but recovered to reach 240 all out in 50 overs. Opener Sami Ur Rehman and all-rounder Sindo Michael scored superb 70 each to drive their team to a fighting total. Bilal Khan and Ahmed Fayyaz Butt claimed three wickets each.
PTI got off to an equally poor start and was reduced to 37 for 3 in the 8th over. A see-saw battle ensued between the two most competitive sides as the game went as far as the penultimate over when Sindo dismissed Ahmed Fayyaz Butt to bring PTI’s run chase to an end, falling short by 10 runs with 9 balls to spare. Pruthvikumar was the main scorers with a patient 63 off 116 balls, followed by Butt who contributed 43. Sindo and Muhammed Nadeem picked up two wickets each.
Brief scores (Premier Division): Assarain 240 all out in 50 overs (Sami Ur Rehman 70 – 7x4, 2x6, Sindo Michael 70 – 7x4, 2x6. Bilal Khan 3-29, Ahmed Fayyaz Butt 3-75) beat PTI 230 all out in 48.3 overs (Pruthvikumar 63 – 3x4, Ahmed Fayyaz Butt 43 – 1x4, 2x6, Zeeshan Siddiqui 28 – 3x4, 1x6. Sindo Michael 2-33, Muhammed Nadeem 2-44) by 10 runs.
Mehran, Khurram shine
Enhance rose from the bottom of the Premier Division league to spring a surprise on thirdplaced Al Turki NMC, scoring a crushing 111-run win at OC ground 1 on Friday.
Khurram Khan and Mehran Khan slammed entertaining 87 and 77 respectively to propel Enhance to a big 301 for 9 in 50 overs. Captain Wasim Ali chipped in with a useful 38. Rohit Malik bagged three wickets while Azhar Mohammed took two.
Al Turki failed to match Enhance’s flair, folding up for only 190 in the 32nd over. Suraj Kumar (38) and Yogesh Patel (33) were its leading scorers. Nester Dhamba took three wickets while Mehran claimed two.
Brief scores: Enhance 301 for 9 in 50 overs (Khurram Khan 87 – 9x4, 2x6, Mehran Khan 77 – 9x4, 4x6, Wasim Ali 38 – 3x4, 1x6. Rohit Malik 3-53, Azhar Mohammed 2-52) thrashed Al Turki NMC 190 all out in 31.3 overs (Suraj Kumar 38 – 5x4, 1x6, Yogesh Patel 33 – 2x4, 2x6, Sankata Prasad 28 – 2x4, 1x6. Nester Dhamba 3-39, Mehran Khan 2-40) by 111 runs.