Monday 29 / April / 2024
The inaugural edition of Oman Cricket’s Oman D50 concluded recently. The 14 day extravaganza of top-quality cricket played between top 5 premier division teams saw Qurum Thunders beat Ruwi Rangers by 31 runs to lift the coveted trophy at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground.
The Qurum Thunders , co-owned by Khimji Ramdas LLC , won the title finishing second in the league stage below ruwi rangers winning 4 out of 4 in the league. The tournament was played in a single round-robin format followed by Qualifiers and an Eliminator for the Final.
Winning the toss and playing to their strengths , Qurun Thunders batted first. Kaleemullah swept through the Thunders top-order with overcast conditions as they were five-down in the powerplay. Shoaib Khan’s resilient 60 of 95 balls and Samay Shrivastava’s gritty 51 of 111 balls not out helped Qurum Thunders reach to 156 in 50 overs. Kaleemullah ended with 4 wickets while Umair Shakeel and Mohammed Nadeem picked 2 wickets each. In response, Khalid Kail’s 78 of 94 gave Ruwi Rangers a seamless start however fell prey to Samay Shrivastava’s 4-wicket haul to bundle down for a mere 125. Ayaan Khan and Afreidh KT picked 2 wickets each to restrict the Ruwi Rangers chase.
Mr. Madhu Jesrani, Director, Muscat Cricket Team reflecting on the team’s performance said, “We did not start this season on an up, failing to qualify for D20 and D10. The boys were not looking switched on initially, however as the season progressed, we peaked at the right moments and started showing character at crucial stages of the matches which helped us gain momentum as well as gave confidence to the boys. We availed missing services of our Muscat CT backbone, Jatinder Singh in the latter half of our season which boosted the team morale gave us the right combination into the games. I also commend Samay Shrivastava’s outright performance this year to carry Muscat CT along his shoulder when the team needed him. We congratulate each and every member involved with Muscat CT backed by Khimji Ramdas to win the inaugural edition of the Oman D50 claiming the title of the Premier Division 2023-24”.
In the closing ceremony, Samay Shrivastava was handed the Player of the Match while Mohammed Adeeb Usmani was adjudged Player of the Tournament for his 348 runs and 5 wickets in 5 matches handed by Mr. Maqbool Moosa Al Lawati, Board Member – Oman Cricket. Mohammed Nadeem, skipper of the Ruwi Rangers collected the Runners Up trophy and Sandeep Goud, skipper of Qurum Thunders collected the Champions trophy from H.E Pankaj Khimji, Chairman – Oman Cricket.
Brief Scores: Muscat CT 156/9 in 50 overs (Shoaib Khan 60(95), Samay Shrivastava 51(111); Kaleemullah 4/12) beat Ruwi Rangers 125/10 in 30 overs (Khalid Kail 78(94); Samay Shrivastava 4/25)
