Monank Patel scored his first T20I fifty since his Player of the Match performance in the T20 World Cup win over Pakistan last year to help USA clinch a T20I series win over Oman. 

File photo credit: Peter Della Penna

By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
USA captain Monank Patel scored his first T20I half-century since his Player of the Match performance in his side’s famous T20 World Cup win over Pakistan last year, guiding USA to a four-wicket win over Oman on Friday night at Al Amerat Cricket Ground. Monank scored an unbeaten 73 off 53 balls, securing the winning runs in USA’s chase of an Oman first innings total of 141 for 9 with a deftly guided boundary between the keeper and short third off fast bowler Muhammed Imran with three balls remaining to secure a 2-0 series lead with one match still to play on Sunday. 
 
The win was set up by a disciplined bowling performance as USA’s pace and spin combo frustrated the hosts in equal measure. It was a win that also highlighted USA’s depth as regular starters Nosthush Kenjige and Harmeet Singh were rested in favor of handing debuts to left-arm spinning allrounder Ali Sheikh and left-arm pacer Stephen Wiig. 
 
A day after leaking 0 for 42, fast bowling spearhead put in a vintage display of hostile bowling to claim 3 for 23 off four overs to set the tone in the field. Brought on as the fourth bowler for USA on the day, Khan started off his haul getting Aamir Kaleem in the sixth over for 27 after Kaleem’s attempt to flick a full delivery into the leg side resulted in a leading edge to Milind Kumar at cover to make it 48 for 1. 
 
Debutant allrounder Sheikh struck next in the 12^th over, getting Mujibur Ali for 9 when his slog sweep resulted in a top edge to point where sub fielder Kenjige to make it 90 for 2 after 12. Oman captain Jatinder Singh was Sheikh’s second victim two balls into his next over when a slog sweep picked out Milind at deep midwicket for 57 to make it 98 for 3 in the 14^th.
 
After Jatinder’s departure, the rest of the Oman lineup struggled to capitalize on the solid platform he gave them. Khan bounced out Hammad Mirza for 5 in the 15^th after top-edging a hook that Khan claimed himself at short midwicket to make it 108 for 4. 
 
Sanjay Krishnamurthi nearly struck off his second ball when Wasim Ali slog swept a chance to sub fielder Kenjige at deep square leg, but a straightforward opportunity was spilled over the rope for four. Kenjige redeemed himself two balls later when Wasim sent another far more difficult chance his way, this time holding onto a diving effort after charging in 20 yards off the rope to give Krishnamurthi a wicket and send Wasim back to the dugout for 11 to make it 114 for 5. Jiten Ramanandi became Khan’s third victim in the following over as a trademark yorker cleaned him up for 1 to make it 119 for 6. 
 
Krishnamurthi claimed his second in the 18^th, getting Vinayak Shukla to drive to Sheikh at long-on for 7 to make it 124 for 7. Fast bowler Juanoy Drysdale struck twice in the final over, first getting Shakeel Ahmed to heave a catch to Krishnamurthi at deep midwicket for 7 before Monank pulled off a stunning one-handed catch leaping to his right to claim a slashed edge by Siddharth Bukkapatnam off the penultimate ball of the innings for 5. 
 
Aside from Khan’s team-best figures, Drysdale claimed 2 for 23 off three overs. The left-arm spin tandem of Sheikh and Krisnamurthi claimed 2 for 22 in four overs and 2 for 13 in two overs respectively. Steven Taylor was economical in four overs of offspin that conceded just 24 runs while Wiig ended his USA debut as USA’s most expensive bowler on the day, giving away 34 runs off three overs. 
 
Monank’s innings was made all the more impressive by the wretched start USA got off to in their chase. Taylor fell for a second-ball duck when he dragged an inside edge onto his stumps off left-arm spinner Shakeel in the opening over. Sai Mukkamalla, who steered USA to victory with an unbeaten century 24 hours earlier, fell for 2 in the second over when he top-edged a pull off Imran to give a tame catch to mid-off. Milind Kumar became Shakeel’s second victim, done in by a quicker arm ball that skidded past his forward prod to pin him on the back pad in front of the stumps for a simple lbw decision to make it 7 for 3 in the third over. 
 
Krishnamurthi teamed with Monank for a 45-run stand in which the 21-year-old turned momentum back toward USA with his counterattacking approach. He slog swept Shakeel for six in the fifth over before yanking a half-tracker from Kaleem over the leg side rope two overs later. Monank himself had a slice of luck in the eighth over when on 12. Charging down the wicket to Ramanandi’s pace and the keeper standing back, Monank missed a drive after which Oman keeper Shukla underhanded toward the stumps with Monank several yards down the pitch but the shy missed the stumps by inches and allowed Monank to continue. He rubbed salt into the missed opportunity by driving Ramanandi’s next ball for six over extra cover. The stand ended in the following over when Krishnamurthi drilled a full delivery straight back to medium pacer Sufyan Mehmood, who took a stunning reflex catch at thigh height to dismiss Krishnamurthi for 23 as USA stood at 52 for 4 in nine overs. 
 
Aaron Jones arrived and built a 73-run stand with Monank to whittle away any hope Oman had of defending their total. Monank brought up his half-century off 40 balls during the stand, again with a bit of fortune after a leg side flick off Bukkapatnam was midjudged by the deep midwicket fielder and went over the rope for a one-bounce four. With the target down to 17 off 15 balls, Jones fell when he reached out to try to drive a ball that most likely would have been called a wide, slicing a catch off pace bowler Imran to Wasim at deep point for 35 to make it 125 for 5. 
 
Sheikh made 3 in his debut innings before he fell at the start of the final over trying to end the match with a six but instead skied a catch to Wasim at deep cover for Imran’s third wicket. Wiig entered and took a single to put Monank back on strike before Monank cleverly iced the match with his seventh four to go along with two sixes. 
 
Imran returned 3 for 23 in 3.3 overs to lead Oman’s attack. Shakeel took very impressive figures of 2 for 15 bowling left-arm spin with the new ball. Mehmood finished with 1 for 27 in four overs. Kaleem and fellow spinner Mujibur Ali conceded 11 each off their lone over while Ramanandi returned 0 for 39 off four overs to be Oman’s most expensive bowler on the day.
 
The two sides have a rest day on Saturday before returning to Al Amerat Cricket Ground for the final match to round off USA’s tour.