Indian High School Dubai (IHS Knights) had a day to remember after their under-13 and under-15 teams got off to a winning start in the inaugural Sport360° National School League yesterday.
Organised by Sport360° and backed by the Emirates Cricket Board, children wearing one-make kits were excited to be taking part in the first round, presented by OMO and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB).
Both of Knights’ victories were over Repton School (Repton Royals), who put on a spirited display.
Knights’ under-13s restricted Royals to 84-3 with Vihan Tripathi claiming 3-8. VVV Ramprajwal (45) and Muhammad Azzam (21) guided the Knights home with nine wickets to spare in 12.4 overs.
Ramprajwal, 11, said: “It feels really good to score in a good manner. Obviously, to score 40 runs for the team was even better.”
He added: “We feel really fortunate to be part of the competition.”
The under-15 side followed suit, with Ghandhar Joshi starring with the bat and ball. They chased down Royals’ target of 96 with six wickets to spare.
Joshi, 14, finished with 1-6, and scored 16 runs, despite the efforts of Royals’ Armeen Waheed, who finished with two wickets.
Man-of-the-match Joshi said: “It feels great to receive this award. I really enjoyed playing on this wicket and the team played really well.”
And his captain, Olan Pinto, praised his team-mate. He said: “Ghandhar did really well today and so did everyone else on the team. There’s still some improvements to be made but we can start working on those issues at training.”
Meanwhile, Dubai International Academy (DIA Wolves) under-15s were reduced to 9-5, before Hritik Bhatia struck an unbeaten 77 to help his team post a competitive score of 164-7 in their 20 overs against Dubai College (DC Sixers).
The all-rounder hit eight boundaries in the 15-run win.
In reply, DC Sixers put on a spirited display through openers Sahil Mordani (58, 2×4) and Devansh Popley (68, 5×4), but fell short of the target. For Bhatia, it was a first half-century in three years and he was pleased it came yesterday.
He said: “It’s a dream come true, especially as my innings played a huge part in winning the match.”
While DC Sixers’ Mordani’s innings went in vain, he was satisfied with his overall performance.
Mordani said: “Despite the loss, I’m quite happy with my performance. And now I want to go one better and help the team go as far as we can.”
In the other under-13 match, GEMS Modern Academy beat JSS Private School (JSS Blitz) by 64 runs. GEMS posted 121-7 as Carlin Joy top-scored with 27. In reply, JSS Blitz finished on 57-9 as Siddarth Tugnait claimed 3-12.
The 11-year-old man-of-the-match, said: “It feels great to win this match and be given this award. We got off to a slow start but got back into the game and everyone on the team played really well.”
