Muscat – Qurum Thunders defeated Ruwi Rangers by 31 runs to lift the trophy at the inaugural edition of Oman Cricket’s Oman D50 at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground recently.

The 14-day tournament featuring the top 5 premier division teams, was played in a single round-robin format followed by qualifiers and an eliminator for the final. 

Qurum Thunders, co-owned by Khimji Ramdas LLC, delivered when it mattered the most after finishing second in the league stage behind Ruwi Rangers who won all their league matches,

Batting first after winning the toss, Qurun Thunders were five down in the powerplay as Kaleemullah proved lethal in overcast conditions.

But Shoaib Khan’s resilient 60 of 95 balls and Samay Shrivastava’s unbeaten 51 of 111 balls helped Qurum Thunders reach to 156 in 50 overs. Kaleemullah finished with four wickets while Umair Shakeel and Mohammed Nadeem picked two each.

In response, Khalid Kail’s 78 off 94 balls gave Ruwi Rangers a strong start. However, they fell prey to Samay Shrivastava’s four-wicket haul and were bundled out for 125. Ayaan Khan and Afreidh KT picked two wickets each. 

Madhu Jesrani of Qurum Thunders 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 moment and started showing character at crucial stages of the matches which helped us gain momentum and gave confidence to the boys.

We availed the missing services of our backbone, Jatinder Singh in the latter half of our season which boosted the team morale and gave us the right combination in the games. I commend Samay Shrivastava’s outright performance this year in carrying the team on his shoulder when the team needed him.  We congratulate every member involved with the team 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 award while Mohammed Adeeb Usmani was the player of the tournament for his 348 runs and five wickets in as many matches. He received the award from 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 HE Pankaj Khimji, Chairman – Oman Cricket. 

Brief scores: Qurum Thunders 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)