Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket

By Peter Della Penna in Dubai (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

Senior players Sushil Nadkarni and Usman Shuja turned in their best batting and bowling performances of the tournament respectively to lead USA to a 30-run win over Oman on Sunday at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai. Nadkarni scored 59 off 47 balls to open up the match and Shuja stifled Oman to start the second innings with a four over spell of 1 for 9 to claim Man of the Match honors. USA comes away with their first win of the tournament to go to 0-4 while Oman remains winless at 0-5.

“We’ve been under pressure this tournament because it’s never easy to go with losses in the tournament knowing full well there are a lot of people back home who have some high expectations for the team,” said Nadkarni after the win. “Coming into this game, We were pretty pumped up because we knew Oman was in the same boat as us and I really didn’t want to be the 15th or 16th spot in this tournament. Now we’ve given ourselves a chance because moving forward we still have Kenya and Scotland and if we can win those games we can at least be looking for a higher ranking in this tournament.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat first with Asif Khan and Nauman Mustafa coming out of the XI from the previous match in favor of Ryan Corns, whose groin injury rapidly improved to the point where he was cleared to play after initially being ruled out of the tournament, and Japen Patel who flew in on Friday night from Atlanta after being approved by the ICC Technical Committee as an injury replacement for Gowkaran Roopnarine.

Nadkarni opened with Steven Taylor and it was the teenager who was the aggressor in their opening stand while Nadkarni eased his way back into form after three consecutive ducks. Taylor smacked three fours – over cover, over midwicket and through point – before top-edging a pull to deep midwicket for 15 to give Awal Khan his first wicket and make the score 20 for 1 in the fifth over.

Image (right) - Usman Shuja receives his Man of the Match award for his performance in a win over Oman. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian Jacobs]

Aditya Mishra came out and struggled to turn over the strike but Nadkarni did the heavy lifting whenever he did take guard, dominating a 49-run stand between the two. Nadkarni hit a six over midwicket to end the ninth over then struck another over long off as part of a 12-run 10th to get the scoring rate moving.

Mishra was finally run out for 8 when a direct hit from midwicket to the keeper’s end found him short responding to Nadkarni’s call for a single. Orlando Baker was out first ball in the next over playing across to a full length delivery from Amir Ali and was trapped in front to make it 76 for 3 in the 13th.

Nadkarni brought up his 50 in 41 balls with a six over square leg, then followed it up in the 14th over with another big hit over the midwicket rope. He tried to repeat the shot against the left-arm spin of Hemal Mehta but mistimed a full delivery toward long on and was caught just inside the rope for USA’s highest individual score on the week to make it 86 for 4 in the 14th.

Wickets continued to tumble as Oman clawed their way back. Elmore Hutchinson was caught at long on for 4 trying to muscle leg-spinner Zeeshan Siddiqui over the ropes. Adil Bhatti was stumped for 19 overbalancing after missing a slog against Siddiqui as USA looked like they would struggle to post a defendable total at 109 for 6 with 15 balls to go in the innings.

It was left to Abhimanyu Rajp to boost USA with some lusty hitting at number eight. He got off the mark first ball with a six back over Siddiqi’s head, then followed it up with another straight drive for four. In the 19th he benefitted from a misjudged chance on the long on rope to get another six before getting out for 20 with two balls to go in the innings, but not before taking USA to 138. Three runs were taken off the last two balls faced by Patel and USA ended much more comfortably on 141 for 7.

Rajeshkumar Ranpura bowled a solid spell to take 1 for 21 with a maiden in four overs while Awal Khan took 1 for 11 in three with 13 dot balls in his 18 deliveries. Siddiqi finished with Oman’s best figures of 2 for 19 in two.

Oman’s chase never gained any traction after Shuja put the clamps on their top order. In the first over he bowled a wicket maiden, claiming Siddiqui via Corns at point. In his next over, he conceded a wide, but nothing off the bat. Eight singles came off his final two overs, but Adnan Ilyas and Vaibhav Watagaonkar struggled to get him away as Oman ended the seventh over at 25 for 1, with 116 needed to win in 13 overs, an asking rate that was too difficult in the end.

The partnership between Ilyas and Watagaonkar was good for 54, but it took 10.2 overs to accomplish. It finally ended when Patel beat Ilyas for pace and the batsman top-edged a pull to Mishra at cover to go for 24. Four balls later, Watagaonkar was stumped for 30 by Taylor off Rajp. With both set batsmen out, the chase meandered along to an inevitable conclusion.

Patel struck twice more in the 15th when Farhan Khan was caught inside the cover boundary by Bhatti for 8. Three balls later, Ali got out for 4 when Nadkarni took a swirling top edge at midwicket to make it 78 for 5. Awal Khan was the second victim of the day and team high seventh in the tournament for Rajp when he top edged a slog to Ghous at mid on for 13. The last wicket to fall happened in the 19th when Sultan Ahmed top edged a pull to Patel at cover to give Ghous his only wicket, making the score 105 for 7. Oman eventually ended their innings on 111 for 7.

While Shuja was named Man of the Match for his tone-setting spell, Patel took the best figures in the innings with 3 for 29 in four overs of medium pace. Rajp finished with 2 for 23 in three.

USA’s next match is against Kenya, who lost to Namibia by seven wickets after being bowled out for 108. Kenya is 2-3 in the tournament and a win for USA, combined with a Uganda loss to Ireland, could see USA move into a tie for fifth place. USA’s net run rate is good enough that they’d probably be placed above either of the other two sides if they wind up with the same record.. Live coverage of USA’s match vs. Kenya in Abu Dhabi begins Monday at 1:45 a.m. EST on DreamCricket. DreamCricket.com’s tournament coverage is made possible in part by the New Inning Foundation.

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary