Dubai: Delhi Private School (DPS), Sharjah, scored an emphatic 62-runs victory over Our Own High School, Al Warqaa, to lift the Max Talent Inter-School Boys' Under-17 Acer Cup.
In the final, held at the Zabeel Park cricket ground, DPS Sharjah recorded a challenging 142 for 4 and bowled out Our Own School for 80 runs.
DPS skipper Sandeep won the toss for the fourth consecutive time in the tournament and elected to bat. At the score on 24, they lost their consistent opening batsman Saurabh Gir for 11. His partner Shahz Ahmad showed the way through an elegant 61 runs. He had scored 261 runs in the tournament to bag the best batsman award.
Ahmad got good support from Akarsh Malhotra, who hit 26. Together they put on 72 runs and set the stage for a good total. Sahil Dudi too chipped in with a quick 24 runs.
Our Own School began their chase badly. They had reached the final through their prolific scoring opening pair of Satya and Sai. Unfortunately for Our Own School, Satya fell for 17 at the score of 33. Sai too did not stay long and returned to the pavilion for 11 runs.
None of the batsmen who followed stayed long at the wicket.
DPS went for the kill with spinner Sandeep bowling a tight spell. He picked three wickets for 13 runs.
DPS also fielded brilliantly with Akarsh Malhotra taking three brilliant catches at deep mid-on. His splendid performance with the bat and also on the field won him the man of the match award as well as the best fielder award. He had taken a total of six catches in the tournament.
Medium pacers Shahz Ahmad and Saurabh Gir also bowled well to take two wickets each and Our Own were bowled out for 62 in 19 overs.
Gir had scored 186 runs and bagged eight wickets to bag the player of tournament award.
Brief scores:
DPS Sharjah beat Our Own High School AL Warqaa by 62 runs. DPS Sharjah: 142 for 4 in 25 overs (Shahz Ahmad 61, Akash 26, Sahil 24) Our Own High School Al Warqa 80 in 19 overs (Satya 17, Girish 14, Sandeep 3 for 13, Saurabh 2 for 10 , Shahz Ahmad 2 for 17). Player of the Final: Akarsh Malhotra of DPS Sharjah. Individual awards: Best Bowler: Aman Handa. Best Batsman: Shahaz Ahmed. Best Fielder: Akarsh Malhotra. Player of the Tournament: Saurabh Gir.
