Muscat – Oman bounced back from the defeat against hosts Nepal in style as they hammered Malaysia by eight wickets in a Group A match of the ACC Men’s Premier Cup at Mulpani Cricket Ground in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Oman rode on a sparkling unbeaten ton (101) from Jatinder Singh and his century opening-wicket partnership with Kashyap Prajapati (66), coupled with an all-round performance by skipper Zeeshan Maqsood (52 n.o. and 4/35) to register a dominant victory and stay on the path for a semi-final spot.

Oman are second in the group behind hosts with four points and will conclude their league engagement against Saudi Arabia on April 26, Wednesday. A top-two finish will assure Oman a place in the semi-finals. Nepal lead Group A with four points and better net run-rate (1.726) and have also played a game less than Oman.

After suffering an 84-run loss at the hands of hosts Nepal on Friday, the determination to come back strongly was evident in the Oman side as they excelled in all departments of the game.

Having restricted Malaysia to 227/9 in 50 overs after sending them to bat, Oman openers, Jatinder and Kashyap sent the rival bowlers on a leather hunt as they smashed the attack to all parts of the park. Kashyap’s 69-ball 66 was laced with nine boundaries and a six and their 123-run stand came off in 22.3 overs. Kashyap was the first to depart and though Shoaib Khan got out early to leave Oman at 128/2 in 25 overs, they never looked uncomfortable in their chase.

Maqsood joined Jatinder and then shared an unbroken 100-run third wicket stand to steer the team home in 42nd over.

Jatinder’s reached his milestone in style as he hit two consecutive fours to race from 92 to 100. His knock came in 111 balls and was studded with 12 boundaries and a six. Maqsood’s 58-ball 52 had ten hits to the fence as Oman boosted their net run-rate too.

Earlier, Malaysia’s Virandeep Singh missed his century by six runs as he top-scored with 94 while Muhamad Syahadat’s 55 was the only other notable contribution as the batters failed to tackle the Oman bowling attack.

Pacer Bilal Khan claimed two wickets while Ayaan Khan scalped two in one over. But it was Maqsood who ran through the middle order and claimed the prize wicket of Virandeep as Malaysia was restricted to 227/9. Maqsood was ably supported by another spinner, Jay Odedra, who was not among wickets but his neat and tight spell of 2-22 in eight overs, including two maidens, put a lot of pressure on the Malaysian batters.