Enhance Eagles crowned A-division champions again

Sports Saturday 09/March/2019 22:15 PM
By: Times News Service
Enhance Eagles crowned A-division champions again

Muscat: An amazing match-winning 218-run partnership between Sandeep Goud and Ayaan Khan powered Muscat CT to a massive 158-run victory over Enhance CT in a Premier Division clash at Oman Cricket’s grassy ground one in Amerat on Friday.
Teetering at 55 for 5 in 15 overs, Muscat fought back with a spectacular recovery led by the century makers Sandeep (117 off 105) and Ayaan (108 off 106), turning the game on its head by posting a big 286 for 7 on the board in 50 overs. Veteran Vaibhav Wategaonkar contributed run-a-ball 21. Sufyan Mahmood picked up 4 for 51.
Rocked by an explosive spell by Munis Ansari who picked up 3 for 17, Enhance slumped to 49 for 5 and then to 83 for 9 before a 45-run stand between Nestor Dhamba (22 not out) and Mazhar Alam (22) saw it to 128 before Ayaan dismissed Alam to seal a thumping win for Muscat. Baadal Singh and Ganesh Narsumaiyya bowled well too, taking two wickets each.
Brief scores (Premier Division): Muscat CT 286 for 7 in 50 overs (Sandeep Goud 117 – 9x4, 6x6, Ayaan Khan 108 not out – 8x4, 4x6. Sufyan Mahmood 4-51) trounced Enhance CT 128 all out in 32.5 overs (Khawar Ali 38 – 4x4, 2x6, Nestor Dhamba 22 not out – 4x4, Mazhar Alam 22 – 3x4. Munis Ansari 3-17, Baadal Singh 2-21, Ganesh Narsumaiyya 2-38) by 158 runs.
Eagles win A
Division title again
MDC Enhance Eagles defended its A Division title by winning it for the fourth time on Friday, defeating OCT Muscat by 2-wickets at OC grassy ground two yesterday.
Parameswaran Shankar’s sizzling 6 for 31 was the highlight of Eagles’ 7th victory out of 8 games it played this season, securing the highest 28 points, followed by Renaissance CT and IT Works on 24 points each. Renaissance seized the runner-up spot due to a better net run rate of +1.879 compared to IT Works’ +1.276.
Chasing OCT Muscat’s modest 134, Eagles were struggling at 29 for 4 in 6 overs before opener Ghazanfar Iqbal’s strokeful 53 off 32 helped it reach 90 in 14 overs.
Enhance lost some quick wickets after Ghazanfar’s departure, slumping to 102 for 8 before a 35-run partnership between young Adeel Abbas (13 not out) and Allan Gawdya (18 not out) saw it home, securing yet another A Division title win and stamping its domination of the second-best 50 over league in the country.
Brief scores (A Division): OCT Muscat 134 all out in 25.4 overs (Shoaib Ismail 42 – 7x4, 2x6, Zubair Akbar 26 not out – 3x4, 1x6, Majid Hussein 22 – 4x4. Parameswaran Shankar 6-31, Amanpreet Singh 2-26) lost to MDC Enhance Eagles 137 for 8 in 25.5 overs (Ghazanfar Iqbal 53 – 7x4, 3x6, Allan Gawdya 18 not out – 3x4. Shoaib Ismail 3-39, Akbar Al Balushi 2-15, Zubair Akbar 2-26) by 2 wickets.
Zawawi beats Ooredoo
Earlier, in another A Division game, Zawawi Powertech Engineering beat Ooredoo in an exciting 19-run victory at OC grassy ground Two on Friday.
Batting first, Zawawi scored 239 thanks to solid contributions by Arun Dev (60), Kalady Saidhalavi (27) and Suhil Kanagaraj (26). Muhammed waqas, Aaqib Javed and Tapan Viz claimed three
wickets each.
Ooredoo suffered early setbacks, losing five wickets for 73 runs but fought back to post 220 before being dismissed in the final over. Nidhin Mohan (67) and Melwin Mathew (48) were the only notable scorers. Suhil Kanagaraj was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 19 while Kalairasan natarajan bagged two wickets.