In the tightest match of the series so far Oman have beaten the United States by 3 wickets to sweep the series 3-0 in a thrilling match at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Muscat.
Batting first the United States scored a highly competitive 222, having been under early pressure at 8/2, with both Syed Abdullah and Ibrahim Khaleel dismissed cheaply. Nisarg Patel however, who was opening the innings for the second straight game, made a hard fought 47, at that point the highest individual score of the tour for the US.
Not to be outdone, Roy Silva soon eclipsed the mark set by Patel with a rapid fire 51 off 47 balls, including 3 fours and 3 sixes. Having the final say however was Nisarg Patel’s club mate from Southern California, Timil Patel being the last man dismissed in the final over of the innings for 57. The USA’s 222 built around a number of decent partnerships through the middle of the innings, including 45 for the 5th wicket, and 57 for the 7th.
?️WATCH as Roy Silva played some wonderful shots during his quick-fire 50, that came off just 47 balls today. Oman are chasing USA’s total of 222 – LIVE: https://t.co/7bUAu8WRY2 #WeAreUSACricket #USAvOMA pic.twitter.com/vZBJgNwprJ
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) December 7, 2017
A new wicket was used for this match with US coach Pubudu Dassanayake generally pleased with the way his batters coped.
“… it was similar to the previous two surfaces and our guys responded well. Nisarg and Roy in particular were brilliant at the top.”
He still felt they were 30 runs short in the end, but it was a much improved performance overall with the bat.
Three big partnerships at the top of their innings effectively sealed-the-deal for Oman, with the US bowlers unable to take wickets in clumps to really apply pressure. Aaqib Illyas’s 65 from 65 balls, and Zeeshan Maqsood’s 38 from just 14 balls, swung the match massively in Oman’s favor.
Their partnership of 51 came from just 4.3 overs, with the score at 170 for 3 when Maqsood was finally dismissed. USA were always chasing the game from that point, but at 203 for 7 they dragged the game right back to leave it right up for grabs in the final overs of the series. In the end though Muhammed Nadeem and Sultan Ahmed steered things home for Oman with 3.2 overs to spare.
Roy Silva had a great all round day taking three wickets to go with his half century with the bat, whilst Nosthush Kenjige and Nisarg Patel bowled probing successful spells, but unfortunately it was not enough to help USA secure the ‘W’.
Thanks to Oman for being such wonderful hosts and for a great series of cricket that was played in the very best spirit by everyone.#SpiritofCricket #CricketFamily #CricketforAll #WeAreUSACricket pic.twitter.com/rmfhac3E4y
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) December 7, 2017
The series between the two sides was played in a wonderful spirit and both squads will have taken a huge amount from the matches going into their respective World Cricket League challenges in the future.
