Ruthless bowling from Mohammed Owais Sajid and Shasreek Datta helped DPS Sharjah decimate Abu Dhabi Indian School’s batting line-up for a 66-run win in the NSL’s Under-15 final.
Sajid lit up the occasion with a brilliant hat-trick while Datta finished with figures of 4-7 as DPS Sharjah proved to be too strong for ADIS at Dubai’s ICC Academy.
DPS Sharjah’s early morning practice sessions from 05:30 to 07:00 before school paid off as their total of 113-8 was too much for the ADIS, who were all out for 47 in the 16th over. Sajid, in particular, was red hot, dismissing their top three.
The victory will be even more special to DPS Sharjah given its extra incentives. Next month they will receive coaching tips from former and current England internationals Paul Collingwood and Ben Stokes at the Emirates Airline Twenty20 at 7he Sevens.
And they can put those tips into practice when they take on international schools in the Emirates Airline Under-16 ARCH Cup in March and April.
Triumphant captain Sparsh Hegde said: “We stuck to our basics and batted well, our bowling was too good and we did extremely well to finish them off.
“We put in a lot of hard work in training and we listened to our coach. Our bowling was fantastic.”
Proud coach Vikram Dutt heaped praise on his players.
“I told my boys that if we play as a team we can definitely win, and if you play individually, you will never win a game,” he beamed.
His team recovered from 44-2 to post 113-8 in their 20 overs thanks to 30 extras. Captain Hegde top-scored with an unbeaten 29, which included two boundaries with Menon Devnath and Abhinav Dhawan hitting 14 runs each.
With Jonathan Figy in top-form with the bat, ADIS would’ve fancied their chances on chasing the target. However, Sajid was the difference, dismissing Figy (8), Sahil Haniani (8) and Abhishek Prakash (0) in successive balls with the score at 18-3 in the fifth over.
ADIS coach SB Dey said: “We couldn’t cope with the pressure and once our star batsman Jonathan Figy was out, we lost regular wickets. The burden was on the new batsmen and they couldn’t cope with that pressure. Plus we gave too many wides and that was the difference. To lose that many runs is disappointing.”
Man of the Match
Mohammed Owais Sajid
DPS Sharjah
Modest with the bat after a run-a-ball knock of just 7, but came to life with a magnificent hat-trick to removing Abu Dhabi Indian School’s dangerous batsmen, including Jonathan Figy, in the fifth over.
