MUSCAT: In a display of formidable batting prowess and masterful spin bowling, Naseem Khushi and Aqib Ilyas propelled Oman to a commanding 63-run victory against Cambodia at the Oman Cricket Academy ground in a rain-shortened Group B match of the ACC Premier Cup at the Oman Cricket Academy ground on Sunday.
With back-to-back victories Oman, captained by Zeeshan Maqsood, are top of the table on better net run-rate (+2.129) than UAE (+1.642), who too have four points from two wins.
After two games each by the five teams in the group, Kuwait have two points while Bahrain and Cambodia have yet to open their accounts.
Despite a delayed start and a truncated game reduced to 11 overs per side due to inclement weather, Oman asserted their dominance early on.
Put to bat first after Cambodia won the toss, Oman posted a challenging total of 154/6, with Khushi leading the charge with a scintillating innings, supported by valuable contributions from Ayaan Khan, Khalid Kail, and Rafiullah.
In reply, Cambodia faced an uphill task chasing a target of 155 runs. Despite a promising start from their openers, they faltered against the spin of Aqib Ilyas, who claimed a mesmerising hat-trick and finished with figures of 4/17 to be adjudged the player of the match.
Skipper Luqman Butt fought a lone battle for Cambodia with an unbeaten 41, but lacked support from his team-mates as Oman's bowlers kept a tight rein on the scoring.
Cambodia openers, Uday Hathinjar and Ram Sharan, began well but Mehran Khan claimed his first of the two victims as he sent back Sharan. Butt and Hathinjar then steadied the ship but Mehran castled latter in the fifth over with Cambodia 41/2.
It was the next over that derailed the chase as Ilyas picked his hat-trick. Off the fourth delivery, he had Vimukthi Viraj caught by Kashyap Prajapati. The next ball, he clean bowled Etienne Beukes, and off the final ball also cleaned up Sharwan Godara to leave Cambodia reeling at 44/5 in the sixth over.
Maqsood then removed Lakshit Gupta in the next over as the team struggled and ended up at 91/7.
Earlier, opting to field first after winning the toss, Cambodia hoped to capitalise on the overcast conditions and made a perfect start as Oman opener Kashyap Prajapati was dismissed in the first over.
Khushi and No.1 batter Ilyas then stitched a first-wicket stand as Oman scored 40 in the powerplay (three overs).
Khushi led the charge with a scintillating innings, reaching his fifty off just 22 balls and equalling his career-best T20I score of 69 off just 27 deliveries in the process. His belligerent knock was peppered with six sixes and six boundaries.
Ayaan Khan (16 off 7 balls, 2x6), Khalid Kail (19* off 9 balls, 2x4, 1x6), and Rafiullah (23 off 8 balls, 2x4, 2x6), who played cameo innings, helped the hosts put up a challenging total.
Oman's next challenge awaits against UAE on Monday, with the victor poised to secure the group's top spot.
Meanwhile, Nepal leads Group A with four points from two matches.
Brief scores: Oman 154/7 in 11 overs (Naseem Khushi 69, Ayaan Khan 16, Khalid Kail 19*, Rafiullah 23; Sharwan Godara 2/25, Utkarsh Jain 2/26, Vimukthi Viraj 2/32) beat Cambodia 91/7 in 11 overs (Luqman Butt 41*; Aqib Ilyas 4/17, Mehran Khan 2/10).
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