Another tough day at the office has seen the United States go down to Oman in the first game of their three match series by 117 runs.
USA skipper Ibrahim Khaleel won the toss and elected to put the opposition in to bat, not unsurprisingly given the matches in Abu Dhabi saw the chasing team come out victorious on each occasion.
Oman managed to post 225 from 49.5 overs, with Vaibhav Wategaonkar top scoring with 72, sharing in 49 and 53 run partnerships with Sultan Ahmed and Ajay Lalcheta respectively. The US bowlers shared the wickets around, with Roy Silva finishing with the best figures of 3 for 36 from his 10.
Roy Silva is a man in the thick of the action so far today for #TeamUSA! Wickets helping the USA ?? cause as they restrict Oman ??
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) December 4, 2017
LIVE?: https://t.co/7bUAu8WRY2 #WeAreUSACricket #USAvOMA pic.twitter.com/w56Tc4Uov6
In response the US batsmen struggled to put together a meaningful partnership of their own, and lost regular wickets from the third over onwards. Skipper Ibrahim Khaleel was the last man dismissed with the score at 108 in the 31st over, top scoring with 37 runs. The Oman medium pacer Jayesh Odedra finished with 3 for 29 from 8 overs, with 3 other bowlers taking 2 wickets each.
Oman ??go 1-0 up over #TeamUSA?? with a 117 run win in Muscat after a superb bowling performance by the hosts.
— USA Cricket (@usacricket) December 4, 2017
Game 2 in the series tomorrow under floodlights starts at 2pm local time
Full Scorecard ?: https://t.co/7bUAu8WRY2 #USAvOMA #WeAreUSACricket pic.twitter.com/HuKvzdaRFO
USA skipper Ibrahim Khaleel won the toss and elected to put the opposition in to bat, not unsurprisingly given the matches in Abu Dhabi saw the chasing team come out victorious on each occasion. Having said that the characteristics of the pitch in Muscat were vastly different to the one in Abu Dhabi, with Khaleel hoping the wicket would dry out later in the day and become easier for batting.
“The wicket was slightly moist in the morning… (the pitch) played well and got a little slower as the day progressed, but was still a good wicket compared to the one in UAE.”
The 2nd match of the series is a Day/Night affair under floodlights tomorrow, with the US looking to bounce back after a couple of disappointing results in a row. The start time is 2pm local and the venue will again be the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Muscat.
