MUSCAT: A dominating performance by Oman boys was capped with a spectacular victory in the final of the ICC Men’s U19 Asia Division 2 Qualifier as they routed Hong Kong, China by 100 runs at the TERDThai Cricket ground in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday.
Both Oman and Hong Kong, China, had already qualified for the ICC Men’s U19 Asia Division 1 ahead of the final. Tuesday’s victory for Rahil Habibulla-led Oman meant that the boys kept a clean slate in the tournament, winning a total of five games on the trot.
In the final, Oman’s Saumya Sampat stood out with his all-round performance as he missed a half-century (48 off 80 balls) in the team’s total of 249/5 in the allotted 50 overs.
Saumya then excelled with the ball as he picked up three wickets for 25 to be deservingly named the player of the final as Hong Kong, China, were restricted to 149/9.
Opting to bat first, Oman, coached by Syed Aamir Kaleem, rode on two century partnerships to set up a total to defend.
First, it was a 108-run second-wicket stand between Jeet Shah (50, 99 balls) and Saumya and then it was the unbroken 104-run sixth-wicket partnership between Nitish Nadendla (51 n.o., 35balls) and Rohan Ramachandran (49 n.o., 53 balls) that saw Oman post a total of 249/5.
Both Rohan and Nitish took over the run-charge after the fall of Rahil in the 37th over and slammed more than 100 runs in the next 13 overs with ten boundaries and a six.
Harry Hodgson and Arya Panjwani claimed two wickets each for Hong Kong.
Chasing a tough target, Hong Kong stumbled early on as they were down to 17/2 in the fourth over. Two quick wickets by the tenth over had Hong Kong reeling at 45/4 with Saumya, Varshieth Dinesh, Puladith Ralalage and Prathiesh Ramesh among wickets.
Mathew Clayton fought a lone battle with a half-century (50) as Oman bowlers picked wickets at regular intervals to restrict their rivals to 149/9 in 50 overs.
Aarez Dar (28), Arya Panjwani (15), and Rishan Shah (18) were the only other batters to get to double digits.
Oman tried out as many as eight bowlers and seven of them were successful with Saumya taking three. Varshieth, Puladith, Arya Sampat, Prathiesh, Gaurav Dinesh and Rohan Ramachandran claimed a wicket apiece.
Earlier, Oman had topped Group B with three straight wins as they beat Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, China and Bhutan to make it to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, Oman got the better of Malaysia before coming up with yet another stellar display to keep their winning streak.
Oman’s Nitish Nadendla was adjudged Player of the Tournament for scoring 164 runs in 5 innings.
Brief scores: Oman 249/5 in 50 overs (Jeet Shah 50, Saumya Sampat 48, Rohan Ramachandran 49 n.o., Nitish Nadendla 51 n.o.; Harry Hodgson 2/45, Arya Panjwani 2/51) beat Hong Kong, China 149/9 in 50 overs (Aarez Dar 28, Mathew Clayton 50; Saumya Sampat 3/25).
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
