19 August 2006

BAHRAIN SLIP BY OMAN

Bahrain v Oman at Bayuemas Oval

BAHRAIN WON BY 19 RUNS

Bahrain clinched a thriller against Oman by 19 runs at Bayuemas to give themselves a strong chance of reaching the quarter-finals of the ACC Trophy. They play the Maldives on the 19th in a match which will decide who joins Singapore in the next round.

Bahrain played smartly when they batted, the run-rate mounting steadily over after over. Whenever wickets fell to the persevering Omani attack, the incoming batsmen invariably played positively and a feature of the innings was the way in which the middle-order put together some significant partnerships. Oman are no mugs with the ball, but they kept finding anything less than their best deliveries pushed around for runs.

Sultan Ahmed encouraging Hemin Desai Farhan Khan

Muhammad Yaqoob set the standard with an imperious 55 at No.3. Strong off front and back foot, nothing that even Hemin Desai could do fazed him and it took a sharply spinning delivery from Hemal Mehta to dislodge him. He shared a stand of 78 with Azeem-ul Haque Mirza, Mirza going on to make 91 until he was run out by the ever-sprightly Desai. It was the stand of 62 in 7.1 overs for the sixth wicket between Mirza and Mohammed Akmal which really gave the innings impetus and set up a run-a-ball finish in the last ten overs.

Bahrain finished on 283 and though Oman's line-up is packed with batsmen, they fancied themselves to win.

It was closer than they would have lked though. The big wicket of Hemin Desai fell to Gayan de Silva, playing on, and though the rest of the batsmen all made decent scores, none could really impose themselves on the attack and tghe run-rate mounted. When Oman's captain Jitendra Redkar fell for 54 (66 deliveries) at the end of the 39th over, Oman needed more than 10 runs an over. Things did interesting when Farhan Khan and Sultan Ahmed came together, but as Bahrain's coach Haroon Rashid said, "It was lusty hitting and not indisciplined bowling or fielding that brought Oman the runs. We kept our calm and all supported each other."

Farhan Khan (32 off 17 deliveries) fell to a smart catch at midwicket with 40 balls left and 55 wanted, and though the runs kept coming in the next few overs, it was never quite enough. Oman's wicket-keeper Sultan Ahmed was last man out, scrambling to retain the strike, only to find himself short of the crease.

GROUP B
Bahrain v Oman at Bayuemas Oval
Toss: Bahrain
BAHRAIN WON BY 19 RUNS
Bahrain: 283 all out in 48.5 overs
(M. Yaqoob 55, A. Mirza 91, M. Akmal 32, Q. Saeed 34; H. Desai 3-37, H. Mehta 3-53))
Oman: 264 for 8 in 50 overs
(A.Khan 54, J. Redkar 64, F. Khan 32, S. Ahmed 38; Q. Saeed 4-58)
Man of the Match: Azeem-ul-Haque Mirza (Bahrain)