Saturday 07 / September / 2024
Muscat: Oman's Ajay Lalcheta held his nerve in the final over to get rid of threatening Babar Hayat of Hong Kong and clinch the thrilling Asia Cup qualifying opener match by five runs at Fatullah Stadium (Bangladesh) on Friday.
The match, which followed the upset win for United Arab Emirates (UAE) over Afghanistan, turned out to be a nail-biter, according to information received here.
The win has put Oman on top of the table with 2 points and UAE are second with same number of points.
However, full credit must be given to Hong Kong's Babar Hayat, who almost took the match away from Oman single handedly and when he was caught by Jatinder Singh off Ajay Lalcheta in the final his contribution read a masterly 122 (9 fours and 7 sixes).
Hong Kong, chasing 181 to win, needed just 15 runs off Lalcheta's final over, but could manage only 10 at the cost of Hayat's wicket and there by losing by five runs.
Hong Kong looked desperate with three overs to go and Hayat smashed four sixes in the 18th over bowled by the Zeeshan Maqsood to close in on the target.
However, Bilal Khan's penultimate over cost only three runs and Lalcheta did the rest.
Earlier, Oman batsmen came into terms with cool-headed Jatinder Singh opening with Zeeshan Maqsood. There were no early hiccups as both batted with élan laying a good foundation for the rest to take on.
Jatinder (42 off 35 balls) added 34 with Zeeshan and 41 with Vaibhav Wategaonkar to take Oman to 75 for 1 at the 10-over mark.
Later, Adnan Ilyas (23) and Aamir Kaleem (19) added useful runs, before Mehran Khan (28 not out off 16 balls) and Amir Ali (32 not out off 13 balls) provided a late flourish.
In a message from the stadium, Oman Cricket Chairman Kanak Khimji lauded Oman's win. "It was a great effort by the boys. The last over was crucial," he said.
Meanwhile, assistant coach Mazhar Saleem thanked Oman fans and praised the determination shown by the team.
"We will do better in the next two games," he said.
UAE win
Earlier, Rohan Mustafa’s all-round performance helped the UAE beat Afghanistan by 16 runs. Mustafa scored 77 runs with bat and bowled 2.5 overs for three wickets.
Chasing a target of 177 runs, Afghanistan finished at 160 for all in 19.5 overs.
Karim Sadiq gave hopes with 72 off 48 balls, including eight boundaries and one six, but was out to Mohammed Naveed. The other contributors for Afghanistan were Mohammed Nabi (23 off 18b; 2x6) and Najibullah Zadran (21 off 14b; 1x6).
OMAN
Z. Maqsood c N. Khan b H. Amjad 17
J. Singh c T. Afzal b N. Ahmed 42
V. Wategaonkar c B. Hayat b N. Ahmed 14
A. Ilyas lbw b N. Ahmed 23
A. Kaleem b Chapman 19
M. Khan not out 28
A. Ali not out 32
Extras (lb-4, w-1) 5
Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 180
Did not bat: Sultan Ahmed, Munis Ansari, Bilal Khan, A. Lalcheta
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-75, 3-76, 4-114, 5-130
Bowling: Nadeem Ahmed 4-0-27-3; Tanwir Afzal 4-0-33-0; Haseeb Amjad 4-0-38-1; Aizaz Khan 4-0-35-0; Anshuman Rath 3-0- 33-0; MS Chapman 1-0-10-1
HONG KONG
A. Rath st S. Ahmed b A. Ali 11
KD. Shah c S. Ahmed b B. Khan 0
B. Hayat c J. Singh b Lalcheta 122
MS Chapman run out (Aamir Kaleem) 8
N. Khan st S. Ahmed b Z. Maqsood 0
T. Afzal c A. Kaleem b Ansari 10
A. Khan run out (Ansari) 15
W. Khan not out 4
H. Amjad not out 4
Extras (lb-1) 1
Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 175
Did not bat: C. Carter, Nadeem Ahmed
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-63, 3-77, 4-77, 5-104, 6-133, 7-170
Bowling: Bilal Khan 4-0-28-1; A. Lalcheta 4-0-29-1; M. Ansari 4-0-30-1; Zeeshan Maqsood 4-0-54-1; Aamir Kaleem 3-0-27-0; Amir Ali 1-0-6-1
Toss: Oman, who chose to bat
Points: Oman 2, Hong Kong 0
T20I debut: V. Wategaonkar (Oman)
Umpires: Enamul Haque and BB Pradhan (Nepal)
Match referee: RB Richardson (West Indies)
Reserve umpire: Anisur Rahman
