MUSCAT : In the opening game of Day 5 of the D10 league, the Ruwi Rangers defeated the Khuwair Warriors by 79 runs.

Put to bat first after losing the toss, the Rangers posted a mammoth 169/4 at the end of their 10 overs. Hannan Rizwan and Mohammad Adeeb looked brilliant for their 38 and 32 respectively, but it was Khalid Kail’s 53-run demolition job that flattened the Warriors’ bowling attack. Syed Amir Ali was his side’s star with the ball, picking up two wickets in his solitary over.

In response, the side from Khuwair could only manage 90/6 at the end of the second innings. The asking rate was exorbitant and Warriors failed to cope. Opener Zeeshan Siddiqui and Adhitya Parag were the only batters to cross 20 runs. Mohit Patel was excellent with the ball for the Rangers, finishing with figures of 2/17 in his 2 overs.

In the day’s second game, the Qurum Thunders beat the Ghubrah Giants by 59 runs.

The Giants made the same error that the Warriors had made earlier in the day. They chose to field after winning the toss, but weren’t able to contain their opponents to a low score. The Thunders made 127/6 at the end of their 10 overs,
powered by the magnificent 57 and 41-run knocks of Suraj Kumar and Shoaib Khan. Ghazanfar Iqbal was the only bowler with more than 1 wicket to his name for the Giants.

The second innings saw opener Dean Foxcroft log in an unbeaten 24-ball 31, but he did not receive much in the way of support from the other end. The Giants fell well short in the end, making 68/5 after 10 overs. Samay Shrivatsava was the pick of the Thunders’ bowlers, claiming 2 important scalps in his 2 overs.

In keeping with the theme of the day, the Azaiba XI posted a massive first innings total in the next game and defeated the Darsait Titans by a 50+ margin.

The side from Azaiba won the toss and elected to bat first. Their 123-run innings was anchored by the consistent Arsalan Bashir who blitzed his way to a 26-ball Jibran Yousuf, Waseem Akhtar and Haythim Ali all chipped in with scores of19, 19 and 14 respectively. Ubaid Ullah was expensive for the Titans, but picked up 2 wickets.

In response, the Titans could only manage 70 runs at the end of their innings. The bowling and fielding on show from the Azaiba XI was sensational, especially Khalid Raheed’s efforts who picked up all three of his wickets in the same over. Imran Muhammad was the other bowler to match that tally.

In the day’s final contest, the Amerat Royals made it four wins out of four in the D10 league, recording a thrilling 4 wicket win over the Bousher Busters.

The Busters elected to bat after winning the toss but were unable to cross the 100-run mark, finishing on a still impressive 94/4 after 10 overs. Asif Khan led the scoring for his side with 39 runs.

In the second innings, after solid starts from openers Akshaykumar Patel and Pratik Athavale, the Royals fumbled, losing 4 wickets in the space of 8 balls. But Vinayak Shukla responded with a late match-winning knock of 34 runs which took the league leaders over the line. The run-chase was high on drama too, as with 7 runs needed off the final over, the first 5 deliveries yielded just 1. Shukla finished the job with a six in the final ball.

Rafi Ullah and Fawad Ali were their respective side’s most potent weapons with the ball, ending the day with figures of 2/15 and 3/19.

BRIEF SCORES:

Ruwi Rangers 169/4 in 10 overs (Khalid Kail 53(18) 3 x 4, 6 x 6 Hannan Rizwan 38(15) 3 x 4, 3 x 6 Mohammed Usmani 32(11) 2 x 4, 3 x 6 ; Syed Amir Ali 4/2) beat Khuwair Warriors 90/6 in 10 overs (Zeeshan Siddiqui 25(16) 3 x 4, 1 x 6 ;
Mohit Patel 17/2) by 79 runs.

Qurum Thunders 127/6 in 10 overs (Suraj Kumar Singh 57(21) 5 x 4, 4 x 6 Shoaib Khan 41(14) 4 x 4, 3 x 6 ; Ghazanfar Iqbal 19/2) beat Ghubrah Giants 68/5 in 10 overs (Dean Foxcroft 31(24) 2 x 4, 1 x 6 ; Samay Shrivatsava 11/2) by 59 runs.

Azaiba XI 123/4 in 10 overs (Arsalan Bashir 63(26) 3 x 4, 6 x 6 ; Ubaid Ullah 21/2) beat Darsait Titans 70/9 in 10 overs (Khawar Ali 13(7) ; Khalid Rasheed 10/3 Imran Muhammad 18/3) by 53 runs.

Bousher Busters 94/4 in 10 overs (Asif Khan 39(25) 2 x 4, 3 x 6 ; Rafi Ullah (15/2) lost to Amerat Royals 95/6 in 10 overs (Vinayak Shukla 34(19) ; Fawad Ali 19/3) by 4 wickets.