(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Two days after Oman was granted associate membership status by the ICC, the national team suffered a blow, getting relegated to Division Five of the ICC's World Cricket League (WCL) following a pedestrian show in a Division Four event in Singapore.
Oman settled for a lowly fifth-place in the six-nation event in Singapore after securing a 36-run win in a playoff against Jersey on Saturday. Meanwhile, Malaysia clinched the Division Four title following a 57-run demolition of hosts Singapore in the final, while Denmark took the third place after beating Italy by 35 runs in a playoff. On Friday, Malaysia defeated Oman by six wickets to earn promotion to Division Three along with Singapore.Jersey, too, slumped to Division Five along with Oman. In Saturday's match at the Indian Association Ground, Nat Watkins (3-43) and Charles Perchard (3-34) helped Jersey, which elected to field, to bowl Oman out for 246 in 49 overs. However, Jersey's batsmen couldn't capitalise on the good work as they were dismissed for 210 in 45.3 overs to finish sixth in the competition.Oman's No 3 batsman Jatinder Singh starred with the bat, making a 110-ball 90. He walked in with his team on 23 for one in 3.4 overs and hung around for the larger part of the Oman innings. He was run out in the 46th over, and by then, he had taken Oman well past the 200-run mark. Oman skipper and stumper Sultan Ahmed (29) and Syed Amir Ali (26) chipped in with useful knocks.In reply, Jersey got off to a strong start as Edward Farley (55) and Peter Gough (50) put on 87 for the opening wicket in 17.5 overs. On 147 for two in 31 overs, Jersey's chase appeared on track, but Oman's left-arm spinner Ajay Lalcheta (3-30) triggered a mid-innings batting collapse and Jersey quickly lost eight wickets for just 63 runs to fall short of the 247-run target.Munis Ansari (3-44) and Zeeshan Maqsood (2-36) took useful wickets and contributed to Oman's turnaround win. Lalcheta was Oman's lone bright spot at the tournament, emerging as the second highest wicket-taker with 12 scalps, behind Malaysia's Shahrulnizam Yusof with 16 strikes.Brief scores: Fifth-place playoff: Oman 246 in 49 overs (Singh 90, Ahmed 29; Watkins 3-43, Perchard 3-34) beat Jersey 210 in 45.3 overs (Farley 55, Gough 50; Lalcheta 3-30, Ansari 3-44, Maqsood 2-36).
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