(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Title-holder Assarain and Enhance posted contrasting victories over Passage to India and Al Turki NMC respectively in the Oman Cricket Premier Division matches in Al Amerat on Saturday.
Assarain squeezed to a narrow 27-run win while Enhance trounced Al Turki NMC in the other top-flight match, thanks to an unbeaten century by Mehran Khan.
With 12 points from four games, Assarain closed the gap on table-topper Muscat CT, who has yet to lose a match and leads the team standings with 13 points from three outings.
With its latest win, Enhance climbed to third place with nine points from four outings.
Al Turki is at fourth place with four points while winless PTI remains at the bottom.
Defending champion Assarain was put into a bother of spot by PTI bowlers as it was struggling at 71 for five in the 19th over. However, Assarain to put a sizable total with 269 for seven in 50 overs.
Batting at No 6, Muhammed Nadeem made a fighting 41 and was involved in a 77-run sixth-wicket partnership with Gustav Burger, who scored a half-century. Naseem Khushi's unbeaten 66 and Vinukumar Gopalakrishnan's (35) late onslaught saw Assarain score 54 off the last four overs.
PTI started off well with an opening wicket of 75 runs but was restricted to 242 in the 47th over. Skipper Zeeshan Maqsood led the bowling honours by taking three wickets. He was supported well by Vinukumar Gopalakrishnan and Sindo Michael who took two wickets each.
Brief scores: Assarain 269-7 in 50 overs (Khushi 66 n.o., Burger 50, Nadeem 41; Rana Muhammed Naeem 4-56,
Mohammed Bilal 2-43) beat PTI 242 all out in 46.3 overs (Rana Safeer Tariq 45, Muhammed Sajjad Ali 41, Zeeshan Siddiqui 39; Zeeshan Maqsood 3-54, Vinukumar Gopalakrishnan 2-21, Sindo Michael 2-33).
Mehran hammers unbeaten century
Mehran Khan's scintillating unbeaten knock of 121, which included ten sixes, lifted Enhance to 253 for five in 50 overs against Al Turki NMC.
Khurram Khan (42) was the other notable scorer for Enhance. Ajay Lalcheta bagged two wickets for 50 runs.
In reply, Al Turki was tottering as 68 for five at one stage and was bundled out for 130 in the 41st over. Gulam Shaikh scored a sedate 58 before he was retired out. Sufyan Mahmood and Ahmed Fayyaz Butt claimed three wickets each.
Brief scores: Enhance 253-5 in 50 overs (Mehran 121 n.o., Khurram 42 n.o.; Lalcheta 2-50) beat Al Turki NMC 130 all out in 40.4 overs (Shaikh 58 ; Butt 3-20, Sufyan 3-28).
Other result: B Division: Al Mada Engineering 202 all out in 29 overs (Suraj Rao 58, Shahil Mohammed 49, Ashok Patil 41; Shafeel Meethalakath 2-20, Shaidh K 2-22) beat FAP UTSC 164 all out in 24.4 overs (Mohammed Jafar Perumbala 45, Shaidj K 43; Shahil 3-15, Guru Prasad Kotian 3-21, Nishanth Menon 3-28).
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