(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) It was a hot Saturday but, playing at home, those conditions did notbother the hosts much as Oman notched up its second successive win in the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division Three in Amerat.
A day after crushing Kenya in its tournament opener on Friday, Duleep Mendis' men defeated Singapore by four wickets to go top of the six-nation table with four points.
Oman won the toss and then proved that its decision to field first was correct. Fast bowler Bilal Khan continued his good spell from Friday as he claimed three for 31 while skipper Zeeshan Maqsood (2-18) and Khawar Ali's (2-34) spin restricted Singapore to 185 for nine in 50 overs. Aritra Dutta with 38 led Singapore's scoring while captain Chetan Suryawanshi (37) and Anish Param (33) were the other main run-getters.
Monank Patel of the US celebrates after his ton against Uganda on Saturday
Chasing a modest target, Oman lost its opening batsman Aqib Ilyas (11) cheaply and when Khawar Ali (16) and Suraj Kumar (0) fell in the same over of Janak Prakash, the hosts seemed to be in a spot of bother at 59 for three in 11th over. Mohammad Nadeem's departure had Oman in trouble with 75 for four in 17 overs. Jatinder Singh's patient 62-ball 41 knock came to an end in the 21st over and it was left to Maqsood (43 not out) and Mehran Khan to stage the recovery with a 59-run sixth wicket stand to take the team closer to the target. Mehran's
18-ball 23 that included two huge sixes and, later, an unbeaten 26 from Fayyaz Butt, saw the team romp home in the 37.4 overs.
Earlier on Friday, Oman trounced Kenya by five wickets to get off its campaign in style.
Oman bowled out Kenya for paltry 164 with lanky Kaleemullah claiming four for 26 while Bilal Khan took two for 31.
Oman's chase got off to a blazing start as Aqib Ilyas stroked five boundaries in his 22 off 20 balls. Fellow opener Jatinder grinded out 33 off 49 balls before he was dismissed, leaving Maqsood to steer the rest of the chase.
Despite needing just 31 more to win over the final 18 overs and six wickets in hand, Oman took a cautious approach in a format where the net run-rate (NRR) tie-breaker could play a crucial role by the final day. Oman took 43 overs to win but not before Maqsood brought up his half-century (53) off 93 balls.
In another game on Saturday, Uganda suffered a 54-run rout at the hands of US. Fancied US posted a tough target of 253 to win for Uganda, which was then restricted to 198 for nine.
The hero of US win was opener Monank Patel, who hammered 107 off 137 balls.
According to ESPNcricinfo, the win was shrouded in controversy as Uganda's allrounder Irfan Afridi was taken out of the attack after one over because captain Roger Mukasa was allegedly told by the on-field umpires that Afridi would be no-balled for a suspect action if he continued his spell.
Brief scores: Singapore 185-9 in 50 overs (Dutta 38, Suryawanshi 37; Bilal 3-31, Maqsood 2-18, Ali 2-34, Jay Odedara 1-33, Fayyaz Butt 1-38) lost to Oman 186-6 in 37.4 overs (Jatinder 41, Maqsood 43 n.o.; Prakash 3-16).
US 252-6 in 50 overs (Monank 107, Hayden Walsh 47; Henry Ssenyondo 2-44) beat Uganda 198-9 in 50 overs (Arnold Otwani 52, Deusdedit Muhumuza 43 n.o; Timil Patel 3-28, Walsh 2-33, Saurabh Netravalkar 2-33).
Friday's matches: Kenya 164 all out in 49.2 overs (Rakep Patel 36; Kaleemullah 4-26, Bilal 2-31, Jay Odedara 2-25) lost to Oman 166-5 in 42.5 overs (Maqsood 53 n.o.; Jatinder Singh 33; Dhiren Gondaria 2-31).
Denmark 165 all out in 44.4 overs (Mads Henriksen 43, Hamid Shah 31; Charles Waiswa 4-25, Riazat Ali Shah 2-24, Henry Ssenyondo 2-26) lost to Uganda 167-5 in 36.2 overs (Arnold Otwani 88; Saif Ahmed 2-33).
'We are going to be better as tournament progresses'
Despite recording its second consecutive win, Oman coach Duleep Mendis expressed his concern over his team's slow pace in finishing the games.
Speaking after his team's nervy four-wicket win over Singapore on Saturday, Mendis said, 'I would have expected my boys to finish the games in a better way. We lost too many wickets on a good track.
'I believe we should have chased these targets a bit more comfortably.'
However, the former Sri Lankan great said that the two back-to-back wins will give his boys a lot of confidence ahead of tougher matches against Denmark, US and Uganda.
'Each win is important and it is adding to the team's confidence. We are looking forward to the next games,' said the coach.
'I am sure we are going to be a better side as the tournament progresses,' he added.
Oman will now have two-day break before it meets Denmark in its third game on Tuesday. 'We have a two-day break. The boys can have some rest and work on their game and step out in a better frame of mind against Denmark,' said Mendis.
Captain Maqsood, who was adjudged Man of the Match on Saturday, said his knock against Singapore was as per the team management's plan.
'With wickets falling, I knew I had to stay out in the middle and play the role my coach has assigned me. He wants me to bat in the middle order and anchor the innings to the very end. I am glad I was able to do it,' said Maqsood.
The captain added, 'We have won two out of two but we know we have tougher games ahead and we must perform better to strengthen our chances of winning this tournament.'
Oman captain said that his team had suffered due to poor net run-rate (NRR) in previous tournaments and he was aware of it. 'We want to win all our games but we have to keep an eye on the net run-rate, which may prove crucial in the end. We need to do better in our next games with an eye to improve over NRR,' he said.
After two games, Oman has a NRR of +0.883 while US, which is second in the standings has a NRR of +1.08 after winning its first game against Uganda on Saturday.
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