Oman complete perfect run, Dutch find a consolation win at Muscat

Hosts Oman claimed the series title in front of their home crowd at Al Aamerat on Tuesday (October 10) capping off an unbeaten run in the T20I Pentangular series with a convincing six wicket win over Nepal. Veteran left-arm spinner again was the star claiming Oman's first ever T20I five-wicket haul as Nepal were bundled out 64 in just 11 overs.

Hong Kong finished the series winless as Netherlands claimed victory in the de facto wooded spoon play-off in the morning match. The Dutch will hope the win marks a turnaround ahead of next week's crucial T20 World Cup Qualifier, after a horrendous run of form that had seen them lose nine of their ten previous T20Is.

At the very least opener Tobias Visee broke a run of poor personal form, looking back to his belligerent best as he racked up 68 off 43 to set his side on course for a more-than-competitive total of 185-4, before Brendan Glover's four wickets combined with an economical effort from the Dutch spin attack saw them to a 37-run win.

Visee had looked rather cautious early in the innings as he played out a maiden opening over to Hong Kong skipper Kinchit Shah, but rediscovered his old fluency in the fourth as he took Kyle Christie for four boundaries in the over, racing to 36 off 25 by the end of the powerplay despite the loss of partner Max O'Dowd. By the time he fell victim to some rather lazy running and a direct hit from Waqas Barqat in the 11th he had amassed 68 off 43 including 9 fours and 3 sixes, and abetted by Roelof van der Merwe - newly promoted to first drop - had taken the Dutch to within three runs of the hundred-mark. Van der Merwe completed his own half century by the close, and though a second run-out did for Colin Ackermann and skipper Pieter Seelaar was caught off Raag Kapur, both for single-figure scores, keeper Scott Edwards ramped up the scoring rate at the death with a 21-ball cameo that yielded 42 runs.

The Hong Kong reply started with some promise as Nizakat Khan took Glover for three fours in three legal deliveries in the third over, but Glover had his revenge on the final ball as a miscued drive failed to clear van der Merwe on the cover boundary. Glover knocked over Raag Kapur's off stump in his next over, and the chase never really recovered. Seelaar took a wicket in each of his first two overs, cleaning up Waqas Barqat cheaply before removing his opposite number Shah with the first ball of the 9th to leave Hong Kong on the ropes at 47-4.

Haroon Arshad once again played a defiant hand, top-scoring with a 40-ball 68 from number five, but found little support from others as the asking rate climbed. Scott McKechnie fell victim to the undoubted catch-of-the-series as Visee plucked a reverse slog-sweep off Ackermann out of the sky back-handed at at third man, and Arshad himself was dismissed at the death as Glover bagged two more in the final over to cap off a convincing win for the Dutch.

At the other end of the table, Nepal still had a theoretical chance of overhauling Oman in the afternoon game, though at two points behind and facing a net run rate deficit of over 2 per over it would have taken a monumental trouncing to pull it off. Any prospect of such an upset was put to bed by Kaleem as Nepal collapsed to 64 all out in 11 overs, arithmetically assuring Oman of the title by the innings break. Left-arm seamer Bilal Khan had done the early damage, striking with the final balls of the first and third overs to remove Nepal's openers, before Dipendra Singh Airee failed to convince Aarif Sheikh on the question of a second run and was duly run out in the next.

Kaleem's introduction for the fifth over saw Nepal's woes compounded as Bhandari swiped across the line at one that kept low and skidded on into the stumps, whereas Sundeep Jora watched a wide down leg before skying the next to extra cover. With Sheikh caught behind off Mohammad Nadeem in the next over Nepal had contrived to lose six wickets in the powerplay for 46 runs. His 20 off 13 balls proved to be the best effort mustered by a Nepali bat as the tail subsided, Kaleem bagging three more scalps to claim a place in Omani cricket history.

To their credit, Nepal looked determined to have a go at defending their meager total as Sandeep Lamichanne struck with his third delivery to remove Aaqib Ilyas in the first over, and Karan KC having Kaleem caught in the deep whilst a fighting effort in the field kept the run rate down. With just 23 runs coming in the power play Nepal had kept a fingerhold on the game, and when Khawar Ali and Naseem Kushi fell for single digits to Sompal Kami and Karan respectively Nepal might just have begun to hope, with Oman looking under pressure at 28-4 at the end of the eight over. Suraj Kumar and Sandeep Goud kept their nerve, however, and Nepal's concentration seemed to evaporate in the 11th over. Lamichanne was denied the wicket of Kumar on consecutive balls as he cleared fielders who had inexplicably drifted in off the boundary.

Kumar put the game to bed in the next over, hitting Karan for consecutive sixes over towards the leg side with Oman cruising home with 49 balls to spare to complete an unbeaten run in the series. The "Red Brigade" will head on to the UAE on a high as they, together with Hong Kong, Ireland and the Netherlands fly out for the T20 World Cup Qualifier which begins in Abu Dhabi and Dubai next week.