ACC U15 CHALLENGE CUP, Bhutan Lost to Oman

Day 2: BHUTAN'S BUBBLE BURSTS

Oman's Suneet Fernandes Oman's Abu Saud Haroon

A dazzling performance by Oman's spinners took their team to victory over Bhutan by 50 runs at the Gymkhana ground in Chiang Mai.

Dewy conditions made it a good toss to win and Bhutan, boosted by their win against Maldives the day before, took the field with more confidence than any Bhutanese team had probably ever done.

A breakthrough in the very first over justified their decision as Luveen Alva nicked the ball straight into the hands of the wicket-keeper, Kencho Norbu. Playing and missing and finding that even when they middled the ball firmly, the ball slowed down significantly in the outfield because of the dew, the batsmen really found conditions difficult. Being exposed to these alien conditions - turf, swing, seam, humidity - really challenged the Omani batsmen and for all their struggles, their coach Rajinder Singh was pleased that his team had this opportunity to test themselves.

Oman were reeling at 6-2 after four overs and Thinley Jamisho (3-20) gave Bhutan team more reason to cheer when Norbu took a sensational, full-length diving catch behind the stumps to dismiss Kumail Haider. Bhutan's pacemen were all over the Omanis.

Oman eventually managed to find the boundary in the ninth over and with the ball softening, the bowlers tiring and conditions easing Suneet Fernandes (21) and Gaurav Honnavar (23) put on a 36-run partnership in seven overs. It ended when Fernandes fell to yet another brilliant catch, this time in the slips by Anand Chettri.

Oman lost another wicket soon after but then, surprisingly, Bhutan lost concentration and dropped two sitters as well as committing several fielding errors that resulted in boundaries. Doshambe and Honnavar rebuilt the Omani innings until Anand Chettri, fresh off his three-wicket haul against Maldives, picked Honnavar with his second ball of the day. Norbu's third catch for the day now had Oman at 86-7.

Oman were eventually all out for 106 after 22.1 overs. Something to defend at least, but Bhutan going into the innings break would have felt that that the game and first place in the group was theirs for the taking.

Oman have pacemen of their own and they too made the batsmen suffer, having the Bhutanese ducking and diving. A brilliant delivery by Taha Shah, fast, jagging and lifting, was edged on the rise by Sanjeevan Gurung for wicket-keeper Pratik Shettigar to take the simplest of catches.

Bhutan's Kencho Norbu sniffs the leather

It was here that Oman's greater game sense and matchplay in comparison to Bhutan started paying off. Bhutan seemed in no rush and made only 12 runs in the following seven overs and they let Oman dictate terms to them.

Oman made another breakthrough just before lunch and at 33-2, the game was suddenly wide open.

On resuming after the break, Bhutan's batsmen never looked settled and fell for the addition of just 23 more runs. Spinners Suneet Fernandes (5-17) and Abu Saud Haroon (3-1) too were on hat-tricks at various times as they absolutely dismembered the Bhutanese batting. Bhutan might have a strategy for pace - block, duck and weave - but against crafty, flighted fizz they were struggling for answers. Bhutan were all out for 56 after 22.2 overs handing Oman a victory by 50 runs.

For his outstanding bowling, the Man of the Match award was awarded to Suneet Fernandes.

Oman's Suneet Fernandes with Match Referee Richard Bartholemew

Bhutan v Oman, Chiang Mai Gymkhana
OMAN WON BY 50 RUNS
Bhutan won the toss and elected to field
Oman: 106 after 22.1 overs (T. Jamisho 3-20, D. Subba 3-12)
Bhutan: 56 after 22.2 overs (S. Fernandes 5-17, A. Haroon 3-1)

Man of the Match: Suneet Fernandes (Oman)

ACC Under-15 Challenge Cup 2006
Match Report

Match: Bhutan Vs. Oman
Played At: Chiengmai Gymkhana Club
Date: 15 December 2006
Captains: Jigme Singye (Bhutan), Luvieen Alva (Oman)
Toss won by:Bhutan
Elected to: Field

Umpires: Mr. Sujit Ghosh, Mr. Ahmed Hussain
Scorers: Miss Hamidah Pamlan

Result: Oman won by 50 runs

Man of the Match:Suneet Fernandez (Oman)

INNINGS OF: Oman (SIDE BATTING FIRST)

No.	Batsman	How Out	Bowler	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
1	Kumail Firoz Haider	CT KENCHO NORBU	THINLEY JAMTSHO	6	18	-	-
2	Luvieen Nirmal Alva	CT KENCHO NORBU	THINLEY JAMTSHO	0	5	-	-
3	Akhilesh Iyer	bowled	DILIP SUBBA	0	6	-	-
4	Suneet Russell Fernandes	ct ANAND CHHETRI	LAKSHMI PRASAD GAJMER	21	29	2	-
5	Gaurav Vinayak Honavar	ct KENCHO NORBU	ANAND CHHETRI	23	27	3	-
6	Shah Taha	ct jigme singye	LAKSHMI PRASAD GAJMER	2	9	-	-
7	Majeed hussain doshambe	bowled	Nar Bahadur Burathoki Mongar	8	11	-	-
8	isra rahim baksh	bowled	DILIP SUBBA	6	12	1	-
9	Abu Saud	not out		9	14	1	-
10	Pratik Niranjan Shettigar	bowled	DILIP SUBBA	0	1	-	-
11	Karthik Balasubramaniam	bowled	THINLEY JAMTSHO	1	2	-	-
Extras: NB - 1/ Wides-24 / Byes - 4/ L.Byes - 1 / Penalties -				30
Provisional Score for Innings ....				76
Penaliteis Awarded in Other Innings ....				-
Final Score for 10 Wkts				106	134	7	-

Fall of Wickets	1/1	2/6	3/16	4/52	5/62	6/85	7/86	8/102	9/102	10/106
Batsman No.	2	3	1	4	6	7	5	8	10	11
Overs	0.6	8.2	6.2	11.4	13.3	16.6	18.2	21.1	21.3	22.1

BOWLING ANALYSIS

No.	Bowler	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	N.B.
1	THINLEY JAMTSHO	5.1	-	20	3	3	-
2	DILIP SUBBA	6	1	12	3	0	1
3	PEMA THINLEY	2	-	21	0	9	-
4	LAKSHMI PRASAD GAJMER	2	-	13	2	1	-
5	Nar Bahadur Burathoki Mongar	2	-	12	1	-	-
6	JIGME SINGYE	3	-	14	0	1	-
7	ANAND CHHETRI	2	-	9	1	1	-
8

INNINGS STARTED AT: 10.00 AM, CLOSED AT: 11.51 AM

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INNINGS OF: Bhutan (SIDE BATTING SECOND)

No.	Batsman	How Out	Bowler	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
1	SANJEEVAN RAJ GURUNG	CT Pratik Niranjan Shettigar	Shah Taha	9	19	1	-
2	KINLEY WANGCHUK	CT & B	Karthik Balasubramaniam	2	23	-	-
3	KENCHO NORBU	CT & B	Suneet Russell Fernandes	7	31	-	-
4	JIGME SINGYE	bowled	Suneet Russell Fernandes	18	34	2	-
5	THINLEY JAMTSHO	bowled	Suneet Russell Fernandes	1	6	-	-
6	ANAND CHHETRI	ct Luvieen Nirmal Alva	Suneet Russell Fernandes	0	5	-	-
7	PEMA THINLEY	bowled	Suneet Russell Fernandes	0	1	-	-
8	DILIP SUBBA	lbw	Abu Saud	0	6	-	-
9	BISHNU PRASAD SHARMA	bowled	Abu Saud	0	1	-	-
10	Nar Bahadur Burathoki Mongar	bowled	Abu Saud	1	7	-	-
11	LAKSHMI PRASAD GAJMER	not out		0	1	-	-
Extras: NB - 0 / Wides- 13 / Byes - 4 / L.Byes -1 / Penalties -				18
Provisional Score for Innings ....				38
Penaliteis Awarded in Other Innings ....				-
Final Score for 10 Wkts				56	134	3	-

Fall of Wickets	1/15	2/27	3/36	4/41	5/43	6/43	7/44	8/44	9/56	10/57
Batsman No.	1	2	3	5	6	7	8	9	10	4
Overs	3.4	10.1	14.2	16.4	18.3	18.4	19.4	19.5	21.5	22.5

Bowling Analysis

No.	Bowler	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	N.B.
1	Karthik Balasubramaniam	6	1	10	1	2	-
2	Shah Taha	8	-	23	1	9	-
3	Suneet Russell Fernandes	5.2	-	17	5	2	-
4	Abu Saud	3	2	1	3	-	-
5
6
7
8

INNINGS STARTED AT: 12.04 PM, CLOSED AT: 2.05 PM