Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Muscat: With defending champions Assarain seven down at 170 odd runs and Al Turki in a mood to go for the kill, in walks Naseem Khushi. Six overs later, moods change ... completely. Assarain in a mood to kill and Al Turki NMC not too sure if they can stop them.
And they didn’t, couldn’t ... after those six morale-sapping overs when somebody called ‘Raja Wasim’ not only changed the momentum, but fortunes too. Assarain win, Al Turki lose as Premier Division drama sees another exciting episode come to an end.
Assarain talisman Naseem Khushi, nicknamed ‘Raja Wasim’, not only brings his team luck but victories too. Batting low down the order at No. 8, Khushi uses his bat like a magic wand, turning things around in no time to not only lift his team’s morale but total too. His 16-ball 53 against a competent Al Turki side on Saturday was the highlight of a game that had little else that could be called sensational.
Assarain won by 51 runs without their three main pacemen doing any worthwhile damage. The damage was perhaps done in those six overs of the previous innings.
Brief scores: Assarain 243 all out in 50 overs (Shahan Akram 54, Naseem Khushi 53, Arun Poulose 44; Gopendra Bohara 2/34, Jay Oddedara 2/45) bt Al Turki NMC 192 for 8 in 50 overs (Twinkle Bhandari 64, Suraj Kumar 31; Vinukumar Gapalakrishnan 2/22, Shakeel Ahmed 2/25, Shahan Akram 2/34).
Zawawi rout EY
Zawawi Powertech Engineering thrashed Ernst & Young (EY) by 82 runs in a 30-over B Division clash at Muscat Municipality Ground 1 in Al Amerat on Friday.
Batting first, Zawawi was bowled out for 233 with 20 balls still to be bowled. Vonoth Kumar top-scored with 65 off 45. Prabhakaran Kannan (41) and Veerapan Karthikeyan (38) were the other notable scorers. Salman Khan and Vishak Jayakumar bagged three and two wickets respectively.
Ernst & Young failed to put up much of a fight and folded up for 151 in the 27 over. Rana Zeeshan (27) and Muhammed Attique (23) were the leading scorers.
Mohan Kumar caused the major damage with three wickets while Kalairasan Natarajan claimed two scalps.
Brief scores: Zawawi Powertech Engineering 233 all out in 26.2 overs (Vonoth Kumar 65, Prabhakaran Kannan 41, Veerapan Karthikeyan 38; Salman Khan 3/39, Vishak Jayakumar 2/54) bt Ernst & Young 151 all out in 26.3 overs (Rana Zeeshan 27, Muhammed Attique 23; Mohan Kumar 3/35, Kalairasan Natarajan 2/34).
Ranjith, Satham lift Al Fairuz
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A superb 54 not out by Ranjith Kumar Ranju and an impressive all-round show by Satham Hussain helped Al Fairuz CT to a 24-run victory against Rukun Al Yaqeen (RAY) in a D Division game at Muscat Municipality Ground 1.
Ranjith top-scored as Al Fairuz compiled 161 for eight in 20 overs. Saravanan Manickam (40) and Satham Hussain (30) batted well too. Mariraja Muniappan and Mohsin Javed took two wickets each.
RAY could not go the full distance and was bowled out for 137 with David Raj Antony (42) and Mohsin Javed (27) being the notable scorers. Satham claimed three wickets while Sajith Mohandas and Sreejith Sreeju bagged two wickets each.
Brief scores: Al Fairuz 161 for 8 in 20 overs (Ranjith Kumar Ranju 54 n.o., Saravanan Manickam 40, Satham Hussain 30; Mariraja Muniappan 2/24, Mohsin Javed 2/35) bt RAY 137 all out in 19.3 overs (David Raj Antony 42, Mohsin Javed 27; Satham Hussain 3/31, Sajith Mohandas 2/18, Sreejith Sreeju 2/23).
