MUSCAT : The first round of the D10 league concluded successfully at the Oman Cricket Academy on March 20, 2022. Amerat Royals, Qurum Thunders, Ruwi Rangers and Bousher Busters were the teams to advance to the next round.

Proceedings on Day 8 – the final day of Round 1, began with a nail-biting 1-run victory for the Amerat Royals over the Qurum Thunders.

Put to bat first after losing the toss, the Amerat Royals made 115/3 after 10 overs. Akshaykumar Patel continued his scintillating form with the bat and top scored for the Royals with an unbeaten 50. Pratik Athavale, Karan Sonavale and Mehran Khan were the others with sizable contributions.

Chasing, the Qurum Thunders fell agonisingly short. They needed 2 runs off the final delivery but Utkarsh Sahu, who had been very expensive for the Royals until then, kept his cool to bowl a dot and turned match-winner. Suraj Kumar Singh led the scoring in the second innings with a well-made 26. Bilal Khan, Hemalkumar Tandel and Rafi Ullah picked up 2 wickets apiece for the Royals.

In the day’s second game, the Khuwair Warriors recorded a 23-run victory over the Darsait Titans, saving themselves the ignominy of losing all 7 games of the first round, while condemning their opposition to that exact fate in the process.

Electing to bat first, the Warriors made an excellent 129/3 at the end of their innings. Their top order looked in fine form, with all of Zeeshan Siddiqui, Azam Ali and Aamir Kaleem crossing the 25-run mark. Aamir finished on a 24-ball half-century.

In response, the Titans could only muster 106 runs after their 10 overs. Khawar Ali and Zeeshan Maqsood looked dangerous for the duration of their stints at the crease but ultimately, the asking rate proved too high and the rest of the batters, bar Ubaid Ullah, folded for single digit scores. Sajeed Ahmed was the star of the second innings with the ball. He ended the day with figures of 2/6.

The Ghubrah Giants eased their way to a 9-wicket win over the Bousher Busters in the day’s third contest.

Electing to bat first, the Busters posted a first innings total of 88/7. With 33 runs, Adnan Sulehri was the pick of their batting unit. The Busters never really recovered after losing him in the 4th over. Asif Khan and Fawad Ali were the others to reach double digits. Kashif Ali was brilliant with the ball for the Giants, picking up 2 wickets in his 2 overs.

The Giants made light work of their task at hand, wrapping up the victory with 16 balls to spare. A 16-ball 43-run blitz from Dean Foxcroft, alongside unbeaten 28 and 17 run contributions from Ghazanfar Iqbal and Kashif Ali secured them the win.

In the final game of the day, table-toppers Ruwi Rangers beat the Azaiba XI by 8 wickets.

Put to bat first after losing the toss, the Azaiba XI made their way to 106/6 after 10 overs. Arsalan Bashir cemented his place at the top of the D10 first round scoring charts with an elegant 20-ball 38. Rao Waqar, Haythim Bahar Ali and Usman Haider were the others to chip in with valuable tallies. Mujibur Ali was the pick of the bowlers for the Rangers, picking up 3 wickets in his 2 overs.

With two dismissals in the very first over courtesy Nasir Ali, the second innings saw the Rangers get off to a shaky start. However, no further damage was done and a destructive 109-run partnership between Wasim Ali and Hannan Rizwan sealed their well-deserved victory.

BRIEF SCORES:

Amerat Royals 115/3 in 10 overs (Akshaykumar Patel 50(26) 4 x 4, 3 x 6 ; Samay Shrivastava 16/1) beat Qurum Thunders 114/7 in 10 overs (Suraj Kumar Singh 26(13) 5 x 4 ; Bilal Khan 12/2) by 1 run.

Khuwair Warriors 129/3 in 10 overs (Amir Kaleem 50(24) 3 x 4, 4 x 6 Zeeshan Siddiqui 31(16) 1 x 4, 3 x 6 ; Amanpreet Singh 10/1) beat Darsait Titans 106/7 in 10 overs (Khawar Ali 26(14) 3 x 4, 1 x 6 ; Sajeed Ahmed 6/2) by 23 runs.

Bousher Busters 88/7 in 10 overs (Adnan Sulehri 33(14) 5 x 4, 1 x 6 ; Kashif Ali 11/2) lost to Ghubrah Giants 94/1 in 7.2 overs (Dean Foxcroft 43(16) 5 x 4, 3 x 6 ; Mahmood Sufyan 7/1) by 9 wickets.

Azaiba XI 106/6 in 10 overs (Arsalan Bashir 38(20) 3 x 4, 3 x 6 ; Jitinkumar Ramanandi 10/1)
lost to Ruwi Rangers 111/2 in 7.3 overs (Wasim Ali 64(23) 1 x 4, 8 x 6 ; Hannan Rizwan 33(20)
1 x 4, 3 x 6 ; Nasir Ali 17/2) by 8 wickets.