Abu Dhabi: Justin D’Souza’s match-winning knock of 73 helped Abu Dhabi Indian School (ADIS) score a 25-run win over The Cambridge High School to lift the under-16 title in the Abu Dhabi Inter School Cricket tournament on Monday.
D’Souza scored 73 to help his school reach 138 and then grabbed one wicket to restrict Cambridge High School to 113 in 21.1 overs
D’Souza, who represents his school in all three divisions – Under-14, Under-16 and Under-19 – will play in Tuesday’s under-14 final against Merryland School.
“I went in at five for two and decided to stay at the wicket,” said the man of match, who stood tall while wickets kept falling at the other end.
Apart from Ayman Gundru’s 17 none of his teammates even reached double figure while D’Souza slammed seven boundaries in his 62-ball knock.
Anson Quadros struck twice and D’Souza once to leave Cambridge on 12 for 3 from which they could not recover. Aashish Menon, who picked up two ADIS wickets did well with the bat to score 30 while Mohammad Sahal also scored 34 but that was not enough for the Cambridge boys. Mohammad Israfil and Sreeradhar picked up two wickets each. Cambridge, who were 113 for 7 lost the remaining three wickets without adding to that total to go down by 25 runs with 23 balls left.
D’Souza, who has scored two centuries and four fifties in the schools event, will lead his team in today’s under 14 final. “It will be a tough match,” said the 13-year-old Grade 8 student, who is a member of the Zayed Cricket Academy and is trained by former UAE player Nasir Siddique.
