Oman Cricket: OCT Muscat, MCCC, PSD record victories

Sports Saturday 21/October/2017 19:40 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman Cricket: OCT Muscat, MCCC, PSD record victories

Muscat: Mohammed Ali Akbar Al Balushi bowled and batted with authority to enable OCT Muscat defeat IT Works by two wickets in a thrilling A Division match at Ministry of Sports Affairs Ground II in Al Amerat on Friday.
Mohammed bowled beautifully in his 10-over spell, including three maiden overs, taking two wickets for just 29 runs as OCT Muscat bowled out IT Works for 186 in the 48th over. Wasim Ismail Al Balushi led the bowling honours with three wickets to his credit while Zubair Akbar Al Balushi took two wickets.
Struggling at 78 for six, IT Works recovered to post a reasonable total thanks to fighting knocks of 47 and 44 not out by Hassan M and Mehtab Hussain respectively.
Mohammed Ali Akbar led OCT Muscat chase with a wonderful 67 and a vital 68-run second-wicket partnership with Rafeeq Mohammed Al Balushi, who scored 36 runs. Following a middle order collapse it was left to Abdul Aziz Qadar Bakhsh Al Balushi to see his side home with a strokeful 48. OCT Muscat reached the target in the 35th over, scoring 190 for eight. Shahid Naseem, Saeed Muhammed and Waseem Akhtar claimed two wickets a piece.
Brief scores: IT Works 186 all out in 47.1 overs (Hassan M 47, Mehtab Hussain 44 n.o., Jibran Yousuf 21; Wasim Ismail Al Balushi 3/27, Mohammed Ali Akbar Al Balushi 2/29, Zubair Akbar Al Balushi 2/30) lost to OCT Muscat 190 for 8 in 34.1 overs (Mohammed Ali Akbar Al Balushi 67, Abdul Aziz Qadar Bakhsh Al Balushi 48, Rafeeq Mohammed Al Balushi 36).
Samir stars for MCCC
Mohammed Samir’s all-round prowess propelled MCCC to a well-deserved 30-run win over Muscat Cricket Sports (MCS) in a B Division game at Muscat Municipality Ground I.
Samir played a key role in MCCC reaching a respectable total of 202 for eight in 30 overs, contributing a solid 56 runs. Saif Ullah once again top-scored with a fluent 57 off 42 balls. Mohsin Nazir, Bharat Barmeda and Muhammed Umar took two wickets apiece.
Star MCS all-rounder Mohsin Nazir led the chase with a fighting 80 off 78 balls but did not get much support from the rest of the team as they were all out for 172 in the 26th over. Ahmed Khan chipped in with a useful 38 off 22. Girkar and Rajan Berry bagged three wickets each while Mohammed Samir took two wickets.
Brief scores: MCCC 202 for 8 in 30 overs (Saif Ullah 57, Mohammed Samir 56; Mohsin Nazir 2/28, Bharat Barmeda 2/28, Muhammed Umar 2/34) bt MCS 172 all out in 25.4 overs (Mohsin Nazir 80, Ahmed Khan 38; Girkar 3/15, Rajan Berry 3/36, Mohammed Samir 2/38).
Aftab, Imran shine
Platinum Services Diamond (PSD) continued their winning run in B Division by beating Ernst & Young (EY) by seven wickets at Muscat Municipality Ground I.
Batting first, EY were bowled out for just 140 in the 26th over, Muhammed Attique top-scoring with 48 off 32 balls while fellow opener Kiran Joshi hit 24 off 19. Aftab Ahmed was the main wicket-taker with figures of four for 25. Muhammed Umar Zaman and Chadith Lakmal claimed three and two wickets respectively.
Imran Rijvi led the chase with 56 off 35 as PSD raced to the target in just 18 overs, losing only three wickets in the process. Mahbub Alam chipped in with a fluent 32. Pankaj Gupta bagged two wickets.
Brief scores: EY 140 all out in 25.1 overs (Muhammed Attique 48, Kiran Joshi 24; Aftab Ahmed 4/25, Muhammed Umar Zaman 3/23, Chadith Lakmal 2/12) lost to PSD 141 for 3 in 18 overs (Imran Rijvi 56, Mahbub Alam 32; Pankaj Gupta 2/30).