#NSL360: Indian High School Knights seize the moment to beat Delhi Private School Falcons U15s

Ajit Vijaykumar 10:35 02/11/2014
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  • Unbeaten knock: IHS Knights' Gandnar Joshi remained not out on 33.

    Indian High School held their nerves to carve out what was eventually a comfortable nine-wicket win in their Sport360° National School League Under-15 clash against DPS Falcons at the 7he Seven Stadium in Dubai yesterday.

    Batting first, DPS managed a below par total of 122 for four with all batters getting starts but none able to convert it into a big score.

    Vivek Lakkoju topscored with 20 and four other batsmen reached double figures, but that was never going to be enough. Had it not been for the 34 extras bowled by the IHS Knights, their total would have been ever lower.

    For IHS, left arm bowler Elred Rego was the pick of the bowlers as he took two wickets for 16 runs from his four overs. Off spinner Gandhar Joshi gave him good support with figures of 1-27 from his quota of four overs. Joshi later starred with the bat to cap a memorable day where he also affected a run out.

    A target of 123 seemed well below par but IHS openers struggled a bit with Olan Pinto and Joshi being cautious. After Pinto was stumped off the bowling of Milind Dogre with the total on 25 in 5.4 overs, Aryan Kudav was sent in to up the scoring.

    And he did just that, hitting four fours in his enterprising knock of 45 not out from 43 deliveries. Joshi rotated the strike from the other end to end up on 33 not out as his team reached the target with four balls to spare. After the win, IHS coach Sunil Kumar said he was pleased with the way his boys stood up to the challenge.

    “It was a good effort by the batsmen. Our bowlers did well to restrict them to that total. And even though the openers had difficulty scoring, they kept their cool and did the job,” Kumar said.

    “Aryan batted very well and attacked at the right moment. And Gandhar had a very good game too, with the bat and ball.” Kudav said he was glad he was able to follow his coach’s instructions.

    “The openers really didn’t get going so the coach told me to go in and play a few shots. “I enjoyed my knock and even though things got a bit close in the end, we didn’t let the pressure affect us.”

    Star performer Joshi said the pressure did build up towards the end of the chase but the extras bowled by DPS – 38 in all – made the job that much easier. “I am very pleased with my performance. I took the confidence from my bowling into my batting. We didn’t get a great start but I knew we just needed to stay at the crease,” Gandhar said.

    “Aryan came in and played a few big shots which took the pressure off us. Their spinners were bowling well but in the end, the wides that they bowled really helped us.” DPS coach Prosanta Chanda said though his team lost it was a good outing overall.

    “Our players tried hard. They tried to make a match out of it. I think we bowled too many wides and that cost us the match in the end.

    “I am happy about the fact that a lot of our team members are actually under-13 players and this was a great exposure for them. This is how they will improve and I am sure they will be much better cricketers by the next year,” Chanda said.

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