Assarain pound PTI to stretch lead
the stumps, went on to be unbeaten on 83 at the close. Astle went for 49 in the final over after the pair had put on a whirlwind 130 for the sixth wicket.
George Worker and Colin Munro gave New Zealand a flying start, reaching 50 off 40 deliveries before Sheldon Cottrell removed Munro (30) and his replacement Neil Broom (six) in quick succession.
Worker and Ross Taylor kept the run rate at better than a run-a-ball in a 58-run partnership until Worker, MUSCAT: Assarain inched closer to another coveted crown with an emphatic 8-wicket victory against Passage to India (PTI) in a Muscat Pharmacy-sponsored Premier Division game at Ministry of Sports (MoS) grassy ground 1 in Al Amerat on Friday.
It has now established a clear lead at the top of the team standings with 27 points from 8 games followed by Muscat CT in the second spot and Enhance third.
The low-scoring contest was not without drama now associated with all Premier Division games this season. Throw in a hat-trick, a few spectacular catches, shades of strokeplay spectators come to watch and here it was, a typical Assarainstyle victory that happens quicker than planned on its day.
Opting to bowl first, Assarain put PTI in deep trouble, reducing it to 47 for 5 by the 13th over. Recovery was almost ruled out when opener Arbaz Qureshi was run out after scoring a fighting 58 off 85 balls in the 26th over. With Assarain tails up, PTI’s resistance didn’t last long as it folded up for a meagre 126 in the 38th over. Raished bowls FAP UTSC to big Jaymin Taylor was the other notable win scorer with 21 off 42 balls. FAP UTSC rode on Raished
Sindo Michael led the bowling Parambath’s superb 4-wicket spell honours, claiming three wickets off to hand Platinum Services Diamond three successive balls to register a (PSD) a 9-wicket thrashing in the Al hat-trick against his name. Zeeshan Ansari Group-sponsored B Division Maqsood and Shahan Akram were match at Muscat Municipality brilliant with the ball, bagging two ground 1. wickets each. Batting first, FAP UTSC posted
Facing a small total, Assarain an imposing total of 216 for 8 in 30 overhauled the target quickly, scoring overs. Sheriff Muhammed topscored 129 for 2 in the 24th over. Opener with 55 off 49 while Ali Mohammed G Worker c Powell b Beaton --------- 58 Sami Ur Rehman scored a solid 55 slammed an unbeaten 49 off 36 balls. C Munro c Mohammed b Cottrell 30
off 63 balls while Arun Poulose and Jaleel Mahamood batted well too for N Broom c Holder b Cottrell ----------- 6 R Taylor c Hope b Holder --------------57 Shahan Akram contributed 32 and his fluent 38 off 33. T Latham c Hope b Holder ------------20
30 respectively. Gustav Berger, who PSD captain Ahammad Karim H Nicholls (not out) ---------------------- 83
had held some brilliant catches, bowled well to claim four wickets T Astle b Cottrell --------------------------- 49 D Bracewell (not out) ---------------------- 5 remained unbeaten on 11 off 5. while Chadith Lakmal took two. Extras (LB-3, W-14) ---------------------- 17
Brief scores: PTI 126 all out in Facing a big target, PSD suffered Total (for 6 wkts, 50 overs) --- 325 Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-66, 3-124, 4-169, 37.3 overs (Arbaz Qureshi 58 – 8x4, a total collapse, slumping to 23 for 5 5-186, 6-316. 1x6, Jaymin Taylor 21 – 1x4. Sindo and later 70 for 9 before despite an Bowling: Cottrell 10-0-62-3, Holder 10-0
Michael 3-26, Zeeshan Maqsood unbeaten 60 off 69 by Parashamit 52-2, Beaton 8-0-60-1, Gabriel 10-0-75-0, Nurse 10-0-45-0, Powell 2-0-28-0. 2-08, Shahan Akram 2-17) lost to Barua. It was finally dismissed WEST INDIES Assarain 129 for 2 in 23.1 overs for a meagre 125 in the 29th over E Lewis c Bracewell b Boult ---------- 10
(Sami Ur Rehman 55 – 6x4, 2x6, due largely to brilliant bowling by K Hope b Boult ------------------------------- 4 who had been dropped on seven, was S Hope c Latham b Boult --------------23 Arun Poulose 32 – 4x4, Shahan Raished who bagged four wickets for
S Hetmyer c Worker b Boult ----------- 2 removed by Ronsford Beaton for 58. Akram 30 - 4x4, 1x6) by 8 wickets. 33 while Jaleel Mahamood claimed
J Mohammed c&b Ferguson --------18 West Indies captain Jason two.Holder
J Holder c Munro b Ferguson -------13 reduced New Zealand to 186 for R Powell b Ferguson ---------------------- 0 Omkar powers Eagles to victory Brief scores: FAP UTSC 216 for
A Nurse c Worker b Boult ------------- 27 five when he removed Tom Latham A dazzling all-round show by 8 in 30 overs (Sheriff Muhammed
S Cottrell c Latham b Boult ------------- 8 and Taylor in the space of 11 balls, R Beaton (not out) ------------------------ 12 Omkar Pramod Ozardek led MDC 55 – 8x4, Ali Mohammed 49 not out leaving Nicholls and Astle to build the S Gabriel b Boult ---------------------------- 0 Enhance eagles to an exciting – 7x4, Jaleel Mohammed 38 – 6x4.
Extras (LB-1, W-2, NB-1) ---------------- 4 formidable target. 4-wicket win over IT Works in a Ahammad Karim 4-45, Chadith
Total (for out; 28 overs) -------- 121 Nicholls’ 83 came off 62 balls and Fall: 1-10, 2-15, 3-21, 4-52, 5-70, 6-70, Khimji Ramdas-sponsored 50-over Lakmal 2-31) defeated PSD 125 all included two sixes and seven fours, 7-86, 8-100, 9-121. A Division match at MoS grassy out in 28.3 over (Parashamit Barua
Bowling: M Henry 7-0-36-0, T Boult 10-3while Astle faced 45 deliveries for his ground 2. 60 not out – 5x4, 1x6. Raished
34-7, Bracewell 5-0-19-0, Ferguson 4-0-1749 but only reached the boundary 3, Astle 2-0-14-0. Asked to bat first, IT Works Parambath 4-33, Jaleel Mahamood three times. suffered early setbacks and could 2-17) by 91 runs. never really recover from being five down at 105 and was bundled out for a paltry 135 in the 40th over. Waseem Akhtar (27 off 44) and Shahid Naseem (24 off 57) were the main scorers. Omkar Pramod and Flourry George claimed three wickets each while Pradeep Kumar bagged two.
Enhance had its own share of nerves after it was reduced to 57 for 4 and then to 72 for 5. However old fox Ikhtiar Kazmi changed the game’s tempo with a flurry of sixes as Enhance surpassed the total in the 31st over, scoring 136 for 6. Pramod slammed an unbeaten 34 off 43 while Parth Trivedi scored a slow 36 off 67. Ihtesham Muhammed and Farhan Afzal took two wickets each.
Brief scores: IT Works 135 all out in 39.2 overs (Waseem Akhtar 27 – 3x4, Shahid Naseem 24 – 2x4. Flourry George 3-03, Omkar Pramod 3-43, Pradeep Kumar 2-27) lost to MDC Enhance 136 for 6 in 30.5 overs (Ikhtiar Kazmi 37 – 2x4, 3x6, Parth Trivedi 36 – 4x4, Omkar Pramod 34 – 5x4) by 4 wickets.