NSL: Noronha knock inspires Titans victory

Denzil Pinto 09:30 11/10/2015
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  • Noronha with his man of the match award.

    It was a day to remember for IHS Knights as both their U-13 and U-15 sides enjoyed comfortable victories in the ADIB NSL, while Macneil Noronha fell just six runs short of registering the first century of the season.

    Last weekend’s opening round of the Dubai pool saw some stellar individual and team displays and Saturday’s action followed suit.

    Noronha stole the show, however, during TMS Titans’ U-15 match against DC Sixers. He began slowly but as soon as he found his rhythm at the crease, he didn’t disappoint.

    The 14-year-old, who trained in the UK and Australia over the summer, was in fine form with the bat, hitting 10 fours and four sixes in his 94-run knock from just 55 balls.

    His team-mates could not give him much support but Titans still posted an impressive 163-4 in their 20 overs.

    In reply, DC Sixers battled hard with Ross Vintcent hitting an unbeaten 54, but Kunal Banarjee and Aashish Pradeep combined to take four wickets and clinch a 39-run win.

    It was no surprise to see Noronha claim the man-of-the-match award, but he said: “It was disappointing (not to reach a century) as I couldn’t connect the ball properly as much as I would have liked.

    “I hope I can get that century but I know I need to hit the ball cleanly and with power. There’s still some group games remaining so hopefully I can build on that.”

    TMS Titans were denied a double celebration as Yash Giyanani stole the show, finishing with figures of 7-5 as Deira Daredevils won their Under-13 game by eight wickets. But IHS Knights did achieve that feat with a double victory over WIS Wizards.

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    Kushal Chiluka put in a superb all-round performance to give the Knights a comfortable 63-run win over WIS Wizards. He set the tone with an opening 72-run stand with C. Sowrabh Satish (25) before the latter was bowled by Dhruv Parashar.

    Sashan Chandrasekera took two early wickets, but Chiluka stood firm, finding seven boundaries in his 47-run knock as IHS finished on 130-3.

    Chiluka then showed his potential with the ball, taking three wickets, conceding just seven runs as Wizards were all out for 67.

    The Under-15s then picked up where they left off. After Saahil Menon (34) helped Wizards post 110-6, Sagar Chaturvedi hit an unbeaten 51 (10 fours) to help Knights win by nine wickets.

    In the other Under-15 fixture, DIA Wolves got their campaign off to a winning start as they overcame the spirited AUS Stallions. Kumail Hassan was on fire, hitting 48 off 39 balls, including four fours and three sixes as Stallions posted an impressive 123-6.

    But it took just 10.3 overs for DIA Wolves to reach the target, inspired by an unbeaten 31 by Harshit Raj. The top-order batsman, who also took two wickets, put on a 61-run stand with Rishi Abichandani (34) and took advantage of AUS Stallions bowling which conceded 56 extras.

    #TMSTitans ready for their 1st #NSL match against #DC at sevens ground @Sport360 pic.twitter.com/rxm5IaX1nb

    — Rajesh Tiwari (@tiwarirajesh) October 10, 2015

    Raj said: “I hadn’t been clicking well at all for the last month so it feels good to have scored here and I want to continue from this.”

    In the Under-13s, JSSIS Super Kings finally tasted victory in the NSL after a winless campaign in last season’s edition. It seemed they would have to wait for an extra week after Yazid Hashim’s unbeaten 29 set JSSIS Super Kings a target of 109.

    But their extra training sessions paid off as Siddhant Agarwal notched a patient 27 from 35 balls to top-score as they won by nine wickets.

    “You know it really feels good and the players fully deserve this,” said coach Aneesh Chandran. Elsewhere, in Friday’s Under-13 group, DPS Falcons got their season up and running with a closely-fought 20-run win over Winchester Cobras.

    Nadith Dulanjan was the stand-out bowler with 3-17 as Falcons were restricted to 68-9. But Aditya Shetty put on a show, taking 5-13 as Cobras were all out for 48.

    It was business as usual for defending champions Modern Heros as Sidharth Tugnait set the ball rolling with 36, before taking three wickets in his side’s 87-run victory over Repton Royals.

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