Thursday 13 / March / 2025
Muscat: A day after clinching their berth in the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division 3, Oman came up short in the final of the WCL Division 4 final, going down by 13 runs to hosts the U.S. in Las Angeles on Friday.
The Sultanate squad went into the summit clash on the back of a confident showing against Denmark, which sealed their promotion to Division 3 to be organised in Uganda next year, hoping to put an icing on the cake of their latest achievement with a title triumph.
Duleep Mendis-coached Oman squad came close to achieving that too. But unfortunately after having reduced their opponents to three for five runs and then to five for 79 runs, Oman loosened the grip, letting the U.S. team score 208 all out in 49.4 overs.
The hosts, who too booked their berth in the Uganda tournament, then went on to restrict Oman to 195 for nine in 50 overs.
According to news posted on the International Cricket Council (ICC) website, the U.S. despite losing their top three batsmen early, recovered through a 73-ball 50 from Alex Amsterdam and a handy 45 in 32 balls from Timroy Allen, the No. 8 batsman.
Medium pacers Rajeshkumar Ranpura, Mohammed Nadeem and left-arm spinner Zeeshan Maqsood bagged two wickets each, as Jasdeep remained unbeaten on 37 from 52 balls.
In reply, Oman started steadily, but once the first two wickets — of Arun Pulose and Khawar Ali — went down, the floodgates opened, and Jasdeep and Timil wreaked havoc. Zeeshan Siddiqui waged a lone battle with a 75-ball 58, but in the end that was not enough for Oman to go over the line.
Bermuda beat Denmark
Denmark beat Bermuda by 44 runs after choosing to bat at Wright Cricket Field in Woodley Park. Denmark posted 269 for eight, and in response, Bermuda could only get to 225 for eight in thier 50 overs.
Taranjit Bharaj, the No. 6 batsman, hit an unbeaten 68 in 88 balls after Aftab Ahmed (32 in 30) and Anders Bulow (45 in 49) gave Denmark a solid platform to build on.
Bermuda did pick up regular wickets, with Jordan Smith, the off-spinner, and Brian Hall, the medium pacer, bagging two wickets each, but despite restricting Denmark to a moderate total, they faltered in the reply.
Kamau Laverock, who hit 137 against Jersey on Wednesday, was dismissed for 24 in the tenth over, and Delray Rawlins, his opening partner, followed suit soon after for the same score. Both fell to Amjad Khan, the medium pacer, who then dismissed Dion Stovell, the captain, to cripple the top order.
From then on, Bermuda’s chase never looked to threaten Denmark. Though Jordan De Silva, batting at No. 8, made a valiant 44-ball 52, it was only a matter of time before Denmark went through. Amjad (three for 14) and Aftab (two for 32) were the most successful of the Denmark bowlers.
Jersey better Italy
Jersey beat Italy by 42 runs after its top-order put up a strong show to post 250 for six in 50 overs before coming back to restrict the reply to 208 in 46.4 overs, riding on the four for 22 from Charles Perchard.
Choosing to bat, Jersey got a great start courtesy Peter Gough, the opener, who hit 65 off 80 balls, with nine boundaries. Harrison Carlyon (32 in 64), William Harris (30 in 60) and Jonty Jenner (21 in 25) got starts, but fell before being able to convert those to big scores. Corey Bisson’s unbeaten 47-ball 63 added the much-needed final sting to Jersey’s total, and despite using as many as seven bowlers, Italy failed to keep the target in check.
When Italy batted, Perchard and Elliot Miles (three for 45), the medium pacer, didn’t allow the batsmen to get going at all, picking up regular wickets to put the brakes on the scoring rate.
Damian Crowley, the Italy captain, hit 39 in 50 balls, while Alessandro Bonora hit 38 in 59. But them apart, none of the batsmen could handle Jersey’s bowling attack and Italy finished with its fourth loss.
SCOREBOARD
USA
Fahad Babar lbw Ajay Lalcheta 1
Abdullah Syed lbw Rajesh Ranpura 0
R. Timbawala run out 0
A. Amsterdam c Ajay Lalcheta b Zeeshan Maqsood 50
S. Taylor c Khawar Ali b Rajesh Ranpura 7
A. Dodson c&b Khawar Ali 22
T. Patel run out 20
T. Allen c Khawar Ali b Mohammad Nadeem 45
E. Hutchinson c Khawar Ali b Zeeshan Maqsood 7
Jasdeep Singh (not out) 37
P. Nair c Zeeshan Maqsood b Mohammad Nadeem 1
Extras (lb-1, w-17) 18
Total (all out; 49.4 overs) 208
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-5, 3-5, 4-31, 5-79, 6-103, 7-121, 8-141, 9-182.
Bowling: Rajesh Ranpura 10-2-34-2 (w-1); Ajay Lalcheta 9-1-32-1 (w-1); Amir Ali 7-1-25-0; Mohammad Nadeem 6.4-1-29-2 (w-3); Khawar Ali 10-0-54-1 (w-3); Zeeshan Maqsood 7-0-33-2.
OMAN
Khawar Ali c Dodson b Hutchinson 22
Arun Poulose b Jasdeep Singh 4
Zeeshan Maqsood lbw Nair 15
Swapnil Khadye c Allen b Patel 22
Zeeshan Siddiqui st Dodson b Patel 58
Ajay Lalcheta lbw Patel 6
Mohammad Nadeem c Amsterdam b Jasdeep 28
Jatinder Singh c Timbawala b Jasdeep 8
Amir Ali run out 0
Rajesh Ranpura (not out) 12
Sufyan Mehmood (not out) 3
Extras (lb-6, w-10, nb-1) 17
Total (9 wkts; 50 overs) 195
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-43, 3-51, 4-102, 5-115, 6-154, 7-173, 8-174, 9-178.
Bowling: T. Allen 8-1-36-0 (w-4); Jasdeep Singh 7-0-29-3 (w-2); P. Nair 10-0-37-1 (w-1); E. Hutchinson 10-1-29-1 (w-1); T. Patel 10-0-38-3 (w-1); S. Taylor 5-0-20-0 (nb-1).
Player of the match: Jasdeep Singh (USA)
Player of the series: Khawar Ali (Oman)
