D'Souza pathing her way to UAE side on the back of stunning century

Denzil Pinto 09:20 19/05/2016
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  • D'Souza (third left) receives award at MGS Vision Cup.

    For any cricketer to score a century is always a remarkable feat in whatever competition or level it is. You only have to look at the emotions when a professional celebrates reaching triple figures.

    For Namita D’Souza, it’s no different. In fact, while players often reach the milestone in T20, 50-overs and five-day games, the 13-year-old all-rounder celebrated her ton in a 15-over encounter during the Maxtalent Global Sports Vision Cup final.

    Representing Winchester School, Jebel Ali, D’Souza was on fire with the bat, smashing 113 runs (14 fours and three sixes) from just 33 balls. It was a masterclass that would have left big-hitters Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli feeling proud. It was even more special for the youngster as not only was it her first-ever century in 50-plus games, but it came in the Under-17 age group and saw her team triumph.

    “I was quite nervous for the first four or five balls because I didn’t know how the ball was going to come to me so I was scared as to what type of shot I should hit,” she said.

    “But this has to go down as one of my special knocks. I’ve waited three years for this opportunity and it’s a

    dream to finally end this wait.

    “To score this total against older players was even more special and this will give me a lot of confidence going forward.”

    A high-flyer in her studies, she knows her dream would not have become a reality without her school.

    Back in 2013, Winchester held trials for aspiring female cricketers for the school team. Having followed cricket on television as well as excelling in athletics, basketball, and football, D’Souza tried her luck.

    “I said to myself ‘why not try it?’,” she said. “When I first started, I preferred bowling because I had good pace. My teachers – Asha Chandran and Neijin Pathrose saw my potential and Chandran showed me how to swing and pitch the ball, while she also taught me how to play each shot when batting.

    “I then joined the ICC Academy and by training two hours every week, it has really helped me. If it wasn’t for Chandran and the rest of the coaches, I wouldn’t have had a successful cricket career to date.”

    With plenty of years still in front of her, D’Souza is hopeful she can reach the milestone again.

    “It would be great to score more runs, but hopefully I can score a few more centuries,” she said.

    If she carries on and maintains her form, it would be hard for UAE coach Mohammad Hyder to overlook the talented teenager.

    “Now I want to be a consistent member in the UAE team. I will continue to play my best but I know it will not be easy,” she said.

    “I hope I’ve proved a point that girls can play cricket. Some boys at my school said that girls can’t play cricket but when they saw us in the final, we proved them wrong.”

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