Muscat, May 1 (Cricket News) India’s embassy in Muscat said on Sunday that it organised a cricket tournament that saw riveting cricketing action, drawing significant interest among Omani people and expatriates.
The 'Friendship Cup Cricket Tournament 2022' organised in cooperation with the Oman Cricket Association (OCA) was part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ which is being celebrated to mark 75 glorious years of India's independence, it said.
"This first-ever and unique cricket initiative in Oman saw the active participation of four teams from the embassies of India, the US and the UK as well as a team representing the Oman Cricket Association (OCA)," the Indian mission said in a statement.
The tournament was inaugurated on April 22 by ambassadors of India, the US, UK and the Vice Chairman of OCA. It was played in a league format with the two teams with maximum points reaching the final.
While the OCA team won all its league matches to book a seat in the final, the ambassador's XI of the Indian embassy beat the US and the UK teams comfortably.
The UK ambassador's XI lost all its matches, while the US team could win one league game, the embassy said.
The final was played on April 30 at the OCA cricket ground, the venue of the T-20 World Cup playoffs last year.
The final witnessed a tight and exciting encounter between the ambassador's XI of the Embassy of India and Chairman's XI of OCA.
The embassy team, led by Ambassador Amit Narang, posted a fighting total of 103 in 15 overs.
"Even though the OCA team featured some former players of the Oman National Cricket team, their chase was anything but easy. Embassy team gave the Oman team a tough fight leading to a nail-biting finish in the last over," the embassy said.
Oman's Chairman XI managed to win the match off the last ball of the match, thus taking the inaugural 'Friendship Cup' home, it said.
"This unique tournament saw riveting cricketing action, with amateur diplomat-cricketers from all three embassies showcasing impressive skills with both the ball and the bat," the embassy said.
"More importantly, it was a beautiful show of sportsmanship and camaraderie and also gave the families from respective countries a chance to come together and enjoy the sporting entertainment," it said.
The embassy said that the tournament not only helped in strengthening bonds of friendship but also generated interest in cricket among Omani citizens and expatriates.
"The tournament was well covered in the local media and also generated strong interest in the diplomatic community," it added.
Also Read : Ruturaj Gaikwad, Conway set up CSK's 13-run win over SRH
News Source : PTI
