Cricket: Oman bounce back to humble Hong Kong in Desert T20

Sports Monday 16/January/2017 21:53 PM
By: Times News Service
Cricket: Oman bounce back to humble Hong Kong in Desert T20

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. Swashbuckling knock In reply, Oman lost Arun Poulose early giving a faint hope for Hong Kong to defend their small target. But it remained just that -- hope -- as Aaqib Ilyas combined well with opening batsman Zeeshan Maqsood to power Oman to victory. Zeeshan Maqsood (15), himself a hard-hitting batsman, played second fiddle to young Aaqib as the latter blasted his way to a 30-ball unbeaten 56. Aaqib completed his half century smashing first three deliveries of the 11th over bowled by Ehsan Khan to the boundary before completing the formalities with another four off the final ball of the same over. Aaqib’s swashbuckling knock included 10 fours and a six. Khurram Khan remained not out on five while Khawar Ali had earlier contributed 13 valuable runs. Oman play their final Group B match against Scotland on Thursday. The top two from two four-team groups qualify for the last four stage. The semifinals and final will be played on January 20. SCOREBOARD HONG KONG Nizakat Khan b Bilal Khan 1 Aizaz Khan c Aqib Ilyas b Mohammad Nadeem 19 Babar Hayat lbw Bilal Khan 5 Anshuman Rath c Sultan Ahmed b Bilal Khan 8 Waqas Khan lbw Zeeshan Maqsood 7 Shahid Wasif run out 3 Ehsan Khan lbw Kaleemullah 10 C. Carter c Poulose b Khawar Ali 17 Ehsan Nawaz c Sultan Ahmed b Kaleemullah 0 Nadeem Ahmed b Khawar Ali 7 Tanveer Ahmed (not out) 7 Extras (lb-1, w-2) 3 Total (all out, 18.3 overs) 87 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-21, 3-29, 4-37, 5-40, 6-46, 7-56, 8-56, 9-72. Bowling: Bilal Khan 4-0-18-3 (w-2); Kaleemullah 4-1-23-2; Mohammad Nadeem 3-0-19-1; Zeeshan Maqsood 4-0-14-1; Khawar Ali 3.3-0-12-2. OMAN Zeeshan Maqsood c Carter b Aizaz Khan 15 Arun Poulose b Nadeem Ahmed 0 Aqib Ilyas (not out) 56 Khawar Ali c Anshuman Rath b Ehsan Khan 13 Khurram Nawaz (not out) 5 Total (3 wkts, 11 overs) 89 Did not bat: Sultan Ahmed, Mehran Khan, Naseem Khushi, Mohammad Nadeem, Bilal Khan, Kaleemullah Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-31, 3-60. Bowling: Nadeem Ahmed 4-0-29-1; Aizaz Khan 3-0-18-1; Ehsan Nawaz 1-0-11-0; Ehsan Khan 2-0-20-1; Tanveer Ahmed 1-0-11-0.