Oman settle for 6th spot

Oman ended up sixth in the Asian Cricket Council Trophy Elite 2012 after losing their classification match against Hong Kong at the Al Dhaid Cricket Village. The man who stood out in the match was Hong Kong's Tanwir Afzal, who sent the Oman bowlers on a leather hunt to notch a swashbuckling century (106: 78 balls, 9 fours, 8 sixes) and later claimed three wickets to rattle Oman's backone. Tanwir's knock took Hong Kong's total to respectability as they put on 213 all out in 48.5 overs. In fact, Hong Kong were struggling at 59 for 7 in the 21st over before Tanwir and M. Hussain (43) boosted their total. Form Oman, Khalid Rasheed (4 for 31) was the pick of the bowlers. But in reply Oman stuttered in their run chase as only Jatinder Singh (43) and Aamir Kaleem (63 not out) helped them to 206 in 48.5 overs. Ranpura's (22) late burst did not help much and Aamir, who retired hurt earlier, returned to witness the last wicket falling. As usual Oman's handicap in this tournament was the absence of young talents and no proper preparations due to lack of a permanent coach. Duleep Mendis was appointed as coach on a short-term basis and the Sri Lankan legend could do little with the team. On Tuesday, Oman had lost the opportunity to qualify for the semifinals despite beating Maldives in the their final group match. Two half-tons, from Zeeshan Maqsood and Amir Ali, followed by a four-wicket haul by Khalid Rasheed, saw Oman claiming a 123-run win over Maldives in their Group A match. Oman won the toss and the efforts of Maldives skipper Moosa Kaleem (3 for 19) went in vain, as the team posted a sizeable final total of 225 by the end of 50 overs. Opener Zeeshan Siddiqui was unable to contribute anything beyond 9 runs, but Zeeshan Maqsood (50) set up a 44-run opening stand with him, and after the dismissal of Siddiqui off Ismail Nihad, joined forces with Vaibhav Wategaonkar (27) for a 41-run stand. Maqsood and Wategaonkar were both sent packing by Moosa Kaleem, while Jatinder Singh (5) and Adnan Ilyas (7) remained ineffective. Aamir Kaleem (3) was similarly lacklustre, but a mammoth unbeaten 104-run stand between wicketkeeper batsman Sultan Ahmed (43 not out) and Amir Ali (54 not out) saw Oman post a substantial final total of 225 by the end of 50 overs, with just six wickets down. Oman then followed up their batting with a concentrated bowling attack, led by Khalid Rasheed (4 for 34), Zeeshan Siddiqui (3 for 12) and Aamir Kaleem (2 for 19) all of whom ensured that Maldives were restricted to 102 all out. Shock of the tourney Meanwhile, hosts the United Arab Emirates provided the shock of the tournament, when they outwitted top favourites Afghanistan in the semifinals. They will now take on Nepal, who beat Malaysian, in the final. Left-arm spinners Ahmad Raza and Shadeep Silva bowled the UAE to an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan. In a surprisingly one-sided semifinal at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Global Cricket Academy ground yesterday, hosts UAE bowled out Afghanistan (who had played in Twenty20 World Cup recently) for a paltry 70 runs in 30.4 overs. UAE then raced to victory in just 23.4 overs losing two wickets with 158 balls to spare. Raza celebrated his 24th birthday with figures of 5-1-6-3, supported ably by Silva with three wickets for just 16 runs from his 10 overs. The final will be held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium tomorrow. Times Of Oman