By Grockle
October 17 2025

The last day of the event and the last couple of games that do little but determine the league standings of the sides.  Qualifying has been determined but not the order as both Oman and Nepal play today against Japan and Samoa.  It's been a long haulk but all these qualifying tournaments tend to be.  Oman play Japan at 10 this morning while Nepal take on Samoa at 2:30

Game 11 Super 6's - Oman v Japan @ Turf 1 Al Amerat Oman Friday 17 October 2025

The Japanese would probably like to leave Oman with 4 points instead of 2 and the Omanis would like to have 8 in the hope that the Samoans pull off a miracle and beat Nepal to put the two sides on an equal footing at the top of the table (though not really as the Nepalese have been head and shoulders above most of the other sides in this competition).  Whatever the motives this game certainly does not feel like a 'dead rubber' at the end of a long tournament.

The Omani side for this match is;

Oman win the toss in the first game and put Japan in first in a first ever game betwen the two countries I believe.  The normal opening bowling partnership of Shah Faisal and Shakeel Ahmed will do battle with Kendal Fleming and Lachlan Lake 

A Lake  four and a wide start the scoring off in the first over from Faisal and Fleming gets into the boundary act in the second over taking one from Shakeel.  However, things change at the start of the third when Faisal has Lake LBW for 6 and Japan are 11 for the loss of 1.  In comes Eesam Rahman whose first scoring shot is a boundary to move his side to 15 for 1.

Fleming extends that score with the first six of the game at the start of Shakeel's next over but the Omani bowler comes straight back at the opener and he is bowled the very next ball for 10 coming from his two boundary shots.  Japan are 21 for 2 and Charles Hinze becomes the next Japan bat in the middle.  He takes 10 off the last part of his first over with 2 boundary shots of his own and it is 31 for 2 at the end of the 4th.

First blood to Oman one would suggest but the two Japanese bats are now engaqed in re-establishing the base for the innings.  Faisal holds that n check in the 5th and Oman introduce Nadeem Khan in the sixth.  Although Rahman hits him for six early in their interaction, Khan gets the better of the over when he has the bat caught by sub Hassnain Shah for 12 with 2 boundaries.  Japan have slumped to 41 for 3 by the end of the 'Powerplay' overs.

The next man in is Reo Sakurano Thomas as Faisal takes the 7th.  This over sees a boundary from Hinze but he is out the next ball once again caught by Wasim Ali for 15 from 10 mostly from a four and 2 sixes.  At 45 for 4 the next man in is the wicketkeeper Alexander Patmore and the job he has in front of him keeps getting bigger.

Nadeem makes it even harder at the end of the next over by having Thomas caught once again by the sub Khan for a run a ball 9 which at least moved Japan past 50 to 55 for 5.  The change in bat is Wataru Miyauchi.  Oman also change the bowling, bringing Sefyan Memood into the attack.  This has almost immediate results as he bowls Patmore with his third delivery for 1 from 4.  Japan are still in a lot of trouble at 55 for 6 while still not at the halfway drinks interval.

New bat Declan Suzuki helps them get there but the score is only 60 thanks to the tight control of Nadeem and Sufyan over the scoring rates.

As we start the second half of the innings the Japanese must be hoping for more fortune in a game they are very much behind the 'Eight Ball' in.  Oman are very keen to keep them there and Mehmood helps ion this regard by removing Miyauchi with the first ball of the eleventh LBW for 1.  Takahashi replaces him but can only move the score on by 1 during the over. Nadeem does not make it any easier in the 12th and the Japanese can only move to 64.  It has moved to 65 when Sufyan takes his third, bowling Suzuki at 64 for 8 with only 6 to his name.  Takahashi is joined by Makoto Taniyama and Takahashi starts to hit out taking Mehmood  for a six off the last ball of his over.

With 7 overs of the innings to go at 72 for 8 the Japanese now face Wasim Ali for the first time.  He gives them very little as he only goes for 4 when the opposition would like that to be in double figures. Mehmood bowls out at the other end producing another excellent 4 over spell and finishing with 3 for 26 as the opposition move forward to 90 for 8 with a six and a four in the over - half the runs he conceded in his four over spell came in his last over.

5 overs to go and still in double figures with only 2 wickets left is not where the visitors wanted to be against the hosts.  However, it is the position they have to work with Ali taking the 16th (going for 5) and Jiten Ramanandi being introduced in the 17th holding them to only 3 including a wide. Unfotunately it also sees the end of Ibrahim Tkahashi who is caught by Faisal and goes back with 29 from 20 with 1 four and 2 sixes. Abdul Samad comes out as Ali continues with the next over where a misfiled gets Japan to 100 but 32 balls into the 19th and only 3 runs further on Taniyama is LBW to Ramanandi and that is all she wrote for Japan at 103.

Oman need 104 for their 8 point tournament haul.

Kaleem and Mirza start the quest for those points against a slightly different Japanese bowling attack Reo Thomas opens the attack from the Pavilion end.  Kaleem sends the 'loosener' to the boundary and there is also a wide in there so there is 7 on the board by the start of the second.  That is bowled by Abdul Samad who came into the side in the last game. His left arm spin is n the money from ball one and he produces ne of the rare maidens in this whole tournament to keep the score at 7

Eesam Rahman takes the thirdand should do better than the 3 wides he produce and the boundary that goes with it.  Oman say 'thank you', add two more of their own and mover to 16 after 3.

By the end of the 5th (bowled by Takahashi) the Omanis have passed 30 with both bats in double figures and Mirza slightly ahead. Samad looks to be being bowled through as he continues with the 6th and Ibrahim seems to be his present bowling partner.

One of the strange aspects of this tournament is that the outfielder's main objectivfe seems to be to stop the ball crossing the boundary.  They do not attack balls hit into the outfield in the way you see in other parts of the world.  A number of shots would have been outfield catches ingames but here they are singles as the fielder comes in but lets the ball bounce rather than attempt a forward diving catch that he may miss and allow the ball through.  He does not seem to be trained to take that risk.  It is not unusual to see outfielders on the rope almost in starting blocks before the ball is bowled ready to spring in to cut down the runs being scored rather than 1o yeards in from the rope for the skied shot over the infield.  Verty strange and something noticed when Oman moved to grass.  When the games were played on stoney scrub, fielders stayed on the boundary and waited for the ball to bounce because that bounce was so unpredictable that attacking the ball was a dangerous thing to do. It seems it has become a cultural thing for the Middle East sides especially.

Taniyama takes the 8th and the Omani openers move into the 40's during this spell.  Suzuki comes on at the Pavilion to change the partnership and the Omani 50 arrives with a ball of the 10 th to come and that is where they finish the first half of the reply.  Aamir Kaleem has 24 from 26 and Hameed Mirza has 23 from 34. Oman need 54 from 60 balls with 10 wickets in hand.

Hinze starts the second half and Kaleem sweeps his third ball for four.  This makes him a little over confident and he is up the wicket to the next but gets on top of it and is caught by Rehman in the deep to go for 28 at 55 for 1.  Wasim Ali walks out to the middle and is off the mark with a single.

Again they sem to find chasing small totals a problem  as they have only moved to 60 2 overs later.  Then just tospite my analysis, they move to 70 in that over alone.  After 14 they need 33 from 36 balls as Mirza takes on the lead role moving to 40 with a majestic six and shifting the 'ask' down into the 20s with a four from the next ball from Hinze. 

With 5 to go Oman have 83 for 1 as Samad bowls out. Ali smashes a six to move the RR into the low teens.  He tries again and is dropped on the boundary though the fielder probably had his feet on the rope at the time.  They take a single and it is 11 needed from 24 balls.

Thomas takes the 17th at 93 for 1.  There are 2 off his first delivery.  A dot is followed by and Ali six and a dropped single results in a change of ends and 2 needed. Mirza takes a daft single to tie the game and somehow makes it with the fielder literally in the popping crease.  So Ali hits the straight four to win the game at 107 for 1. a win by 9 wickets and 8 points for the home side in the Super 6's.  If Nepal lose to Samoa they share the top spot.  most likely this will give Oman the runner's up position.  A good effort nonetheless when the objective was World Cup qualification and that was done with some ease.

Man of the Match - Sufyan Mehmood

Game 12 Super 6's - Nepal v Samoa @ Turf1 Al Amerat Oman Friday 17 October 2025

The last game of the tournament between the most definite winners and the last placed side who have still been a joy to watch.  Samoa won the toss and put Nepal in first so Bhurtle and Asif Sheik open the batting against the bowling of Daniel Burgess who has been injured and has played a couple of games but has struggled at other times.  He did not play the last game.

The second over is taken by Solomon Nash but the Nepalese are pretty keen to get this score going. After 3 fom the first over, Sheik looks to go after the second bowler and has added 13 from the second.  Bhurtle then takes 11 off Burgess in the third including a six and a four.

This brings Caleb Jasmat into the bowling attack and Sheik takes 15 off him to move the score to 42 after and Fatu Tiai brings his right arm legbreaks into the game for the 5th which sees Nepal break the 50 barrier with a four from the 5th ball.The 'Powerplay' overs end with Solomon Nash returning but the onslaught continues with 11 from the over mostly from the bat of Sheik.

Samoa finally get some success when Tiai bowls Bhurtle for an uncharacteristic 17 from 15 (2 fours and 1 six) at 65 for 1.  This brings in Dipendra Singh Airee.  Darius Visser takes the 8th and they only add 1 but Airee takes 7 from Tiai in the 9th.  The drinks break arrives after 10 with Nepal pushing the score to 88 with the main man being Sheikh who has 61 of them from a mere 33 balls at a phenomenal strike rate.

Noah Mead (a new name in this side) is called back for the eleventh but the scoring continues and Nepal close in on 100 as the 12th comes to an end.  I arrives with a six which is almost a very good catch but the momentum carries the fielder over the rop so the score moves to 105 for 1.

Asif Sheik goes caught  by Darius Visser for 69 from 47 at 110 for 2 maybe that will give Samoa a breather.  Arif Sheik replaces (his brother?) as 111 arrives at the end of the 13th

Visser is the bowler for the 14th and he sends the second Sheik on his way LBW at 120 for 3 at the end of the 14th.  Even he takes 2 fours off the attack with 9 runs from 7 balls faced.

Paudel comes in and Tiai takes over the bowling duties and finishes his spell with 1 for 31 as with 5 to go it is 132 for 3 with Airee taking over the lead batting role.

Visser bowls out in the 16th and Jasmat nearly plucks a catch out of the air but it goes for six, one of two that Airee produces in this over.  Visser completes his 4 overs with 1 for 43 - not figures he'll be all that happy with.

The 150 arrives with a single from Airee at the end of the over.  He goes to a personal half century with a six from the first ball of the next Burgess over (52 from 31).  Nepal must be looking at a score over 200 at this rate as they pass 160 in the 17th.  However, Burgess has Airee caught by Sola before the end of the 17th for 53 at 160 for 4

Lokesh Bam comes to the middle and with the re-introduction of Nash he gets right to work taking 19 of his first over in front of the Samoan bowler.  The 200 definitely looks on at 181 for 4 with 2 overs to go.

Mead has the 19th and the Nepal skipper takes 9 fromhim while the newly installed Bam seems to have the correct name as another six take him to 26 runs from 8 balls faced.  With 6 balls to go the almost deifinite champions of this event are four runs from a 200 score.

Not surprisingly, they reach it off the last Ben Mialata over in front of an ecstatic and very large crowd of fans.  This is Mailata's first over surprisingly and it is not a job any bowler would appreciate.  Paudel takes 2 from him while a boundary from Bam brings up the double hundred.  However the explosive Nepal bat adds another 9 as well to finish unbeaten on 39 from from 12 with his captain on 21 from the same number of balls.  Nepal complete the 20 overs with 211 for 4 as they take the 20th over for 15.

Samoa need 212 to gain their first points while Nepal need to restrict them or take 10 wickets for the maximum points they and their almost rabid crowd deserve.

Darius Visser and Sean Solia walk out to start the last Samoan innings of this competition against the initial over of Karan (not sure we've seen him before but with 20 games in 8 days it can't be completely certain).  Solia is off the mark with a single and produces the first boundary while a leg bye takes the first over score to 6.

Dipndra Singh Airee a significant force in this Nepalese team performance takes the second and Visser is off the mark with his first boundary, the only scoring shot of the over.  In the third KC Karan strikes as he has Visser LBW for the 4 runs and Samoa lose their first at 11 for 1.  This brings a significant player for the Samoans to the crease as Ben Mailata strides out.  He faces the whole of Nandan Yadav's 4th over and moves the score on to 21 for 1 with 2 fours in it Taking Yadav for 9 in total.

Karan takes the 5th and Rajbanshi is introduced for the sixth and he dismisses Mailata caught and bowled for 11 from 14.  Solomon Nash is the next Samoan to the middle at 25 for 2 where the score remains into the 7th bowled by Sandeep Lamichhane.

Samoa moves to 31 for 2 before Rajbanshi strikes again in his next over bowling Nash for 3. At  33 for 3 with the completion of the 8th over it seems pretty clear to all present that the South Sea Islanders are NOT going to reach the over 200 set by their opponents and that this is just a pride exercise in making as many runs as possible for the loss of as few wickets as possible.

After a second over from Lamichhane and another from Airee the drink break interval at 10 see the score move on to 41 for 3 with Sean Solia, who has been there since the start of the innings on 15 from (18) and the new man Samson Sola on 6 from 8.  Confusing bat names but no doubt about the end of this game with a victory from Samoa.  The crowd are also aware and EVERYTHING their side does is cheered to the rafters by the whole supporters stand.  Even though a brave contingent of Samoan supporters and family have been at every game and are thanked after every one by the team and coaches as a whole. Bhurtle significant as a bat first bowls the 11th and Singh bowls the 12th where a single from Sola brings up the Samoan 50.

In the 13th Lamichhane has Sola LBW for 9 and we see the Samoan captain Jasmat come to the crease at 52 for 4. He helps negotiate the rest of that over and the one bowled by his opposite number Rohit Paudel next and when Rajbanshi is re-introduced for the next, Solia shows defiance by hitting him for a rare six in the second half of this game.  Samoa finish the 15th at 67 for four needing over 150 from 5 overs - an impossible task.

They don't shirk the job though and Paudel can get no success in the 16th as they add 6 to the total. Lamichhane only goes for 1 in the next to finish his four overs with a very frugal 1 for 10 but no more wickets go down as we start the 18th. 

Caleb Jasmat's series ends here when he is caught by the sub Jora for 9 from 20 off the bowling of the Nepal skipper and Fereti Sululoto takes his place.  Solia's long defence of his wicket is not rewarded with a 'not out' as he departs for 40 from 37 caught Lamichhane bowled Rajbanshi 11 balls from the end of the game.

At 80 for 6, Burgess and Sululoto start the last over of the tournament facing KC Karan. In defiant mood, Sululoto hits his second ball for a massive six but he is run out off the last ball and Samoa finish the game 87 for 7 with Daniel Burgess not out on 2 and Samuel Franch facing 1 ball for 0.  Karan finishes his 4 over spell with 1 for 18 and Nepal take the last 2 points to move their total to a maximum of 10 with a victory by 124 runs.  The man of the match was quite obviously Aasif Sheikh and the team of the tournament by quite a margin were the men of Nepal as their crowd ttell everyone who will listen for more than an hour after the end of the game.

Man of the Match - Aasif Sheikh

The Final standings are;

First (qualified) NEPAL 10 POINTS

Second (qualified) OMAN 8 POINTS

Third (qualified) UAQ 6 POINTS

Fourth QATAR 4 POINTS

Fifth JAPAN 2 POINTS

Sixth SAMOA 0 POINTS