Oman, Kuwait declared joint winners as final ends in a tie

BANGKOK: Oman and Kuwait were declared joint champions of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Asia Division Two after a pulsating final ended in a tie in Bangkok yesterday.
The two unbeaten teams of the tournament turned a low-scoring final into an epic battle for supremacy going into the final over and then the final ball which resulted in the run out of Oman’s Jeel Tanna as the game ended in a stalemate. Requiring 8 runs to win in the final over, Oman could manage only 7 as Kuwait celebrated wildly for an improbable result after being dismissed for a paltry 131 by Oman’s ‘best bowling attack’.
Oman’s Kevin Stagy Kattokaran emerged as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 16 wickets from 6 games, followed closely by team-mate Sanjaya Ravindra who claimed 15. Amanpreet Singh Sirah was no less impressive throughout the tournament, taking his tally of wickets to 10.
Player of the match Hamoud Amanullah top-scored with 23 off 55 in Kuwait’s rare low score in the competition.
He was also instrumental in slowing down Oman’s progress with his magnificent bowling figures of 10-3-21-2. Kevin was once again Oman’s leading bowler, picking up 3 wickets for 20 runs in his 10-over spell while Adeel Abbas bowled superbly too for his match figures of 10-2-22-2.
Oman did not have a great start either and was reduced to 36 for 3. Wickets continued to fall and runs were hard to come by as Oman slumped to 81 for 6 before a 21-run seventh wicket partnership between captain Prathamesh Kumble and Amanpreet put them back in the fighting mode.
Unfortunately, both of them fell at 103. Yash Mehta and Jeel Tanna then added 28 runs for the 9th wicket before the latter was run out on the last ball of the final over when the scores were level.
Oman looked better placed to win the game at 94 for 6 in 39 overs, requiring only 38 off 66 balls. The next 11 overs saw Oman score only 37 runs, including only 2 fours, and lose 3 wickets. Opener Adeel Abbas, who, along with Neev Poojari scored a the highest 101 runs in the tournament, top scored with 19 runs while Amanpreet and Neev contributed 17 and 15 respectively.
Brief scores: Kuwait Under-19 131 all out in 49.2 overs (Hamoud Amanullah 23 – 1x4, Faez Qureshi 17 – 1x6. Kevin Stagy Kattokaran 3-20, Adeel Abbas 2-22) tied with Oman Under-19 131 for 9 in 50 overs (Adeel Abbas 19 – 1x4, 1x6, Amanpreet Singh Sirah 17 – 3x4, Neev Poojari 15 – 2x4, Yash Mehta 15 not out. Hamoud Amanulah 2-21, Faez Qureshi 2-23). Result: Match tied, trophy shared.