For their part, USA bounced back on day two as their bowlers – led by Ali Khan with a five-fer – dramatically denied hosts Namibia in the final over to win by two runs.And Papua New Guinea also recorded a first victory of the campaign as they expertly chased down a target of 223 to beat Hong Kong by three wickets.
The top four teams at the end of the week in Namibia will earn ODI status and join the newly-formed ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 – where they will play 36 ODIs over a two-and-a-half year period – so while Oman are currently in pole position, there is plenty to play for in the next round of games on Tuesday.
Canada v Oman
After winning the toss, Canada’s decision to field at Affies Park backfired when Oman’s top order set about compiling a challenging total. Aqib Ilyas and skipper Zeeshan Maqsood put on 126 for the third wicket before Ilyas was caught and bowled for 86 by Navneet Dhaliwal. That did not slow Maqsood down however as he bludgeoned nine fours and four sixes in a brilliant knock of 109 from just 102 balls before eventually being dismissed by Romesh Eranga (3/57) with three balls left in the innings – remarkably becoming the fifth Omani batsman to be out caught and bowled. By that point, he had steered Oman to an intimidating total of 285/7 and their bowlers ensured Canada’s chase got off to the worst possible start as Ruvindu Gunasekera was caught behind off Bilal Khan from the second ball of the innings.
Number three Nitish Kumar (57) tried to hold the chase together but once Sandeep Goud (2/21) had him caught by Jatinder Singh to reduce Canada to 104 for four, the run-rate dropped considerably and the North Americans were eventually 186 all out after 43.2 overs – Fayyaz Butt (3/29) the pick of the bowlers in the 99-run triumph. Oman captain, Zeeshan Maqsood said “It is awesome, the feeling is great. I spoke with my coaches and players and today I made good runs, I am very happy. We are still looking for another 2 or 3 wins, but there is still more work to be done and we need to look ahead to the next matches.”
Scores in brief
* USA won by two runs at Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek
USA 250/7 in 50 overs (Aaron Jones 103 n.o., Hayden Walsh 57, Steven Taylor 44; JJ Smit 5/63)
Namibia 248 in 49.4 overs (Gerhard Erasmus 92, Jean Bredenkamp 55; Ali Khan 5/46, Saurabh Netravalkar 3/50)
* Oman won by 99 runs at Affies Park, Windhoek
Oman 285/7 in 50 overs (Zeeshan Maqsood 109, Aqib Ilyas 86; Romesh Eranga 3/57, Nitish Kumar 2/45)
Canada 186 in 43.2 overs (Nitish Kumar 57, Bhavindu Adhihetty 28; Fayyaz Butt 3/29, Mohammad Nadeem 2/13)
* Papua New Guinea won by three wickets at United CC Ground, Windhoek
Hong Kong 222/9 in 50 overs (Anshuman Rath 85, Ahsan Abbasi 37; Damien Ravu 2/35, Charles Amini 2/36)
Papua New Guinea 223/7 in 47.4 overs (Tony Ura 87, Jason Kila 36 n.o.; Ehsan Khan 4/36, Aizaz Khan 2/39).
