Merryland complete inter-school trophy double

Merryland International clinched a nine-run thriller over Abu Dhabi Indian School in the ADCB Abu Dhabi inter-school U-14 final to clinch a trophy double for 2013/2014.

Coming off a successful campaign in the U-16 tournament, the U-14 side produced a superb all-round effort to get the better of the defending champions at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket stadium.

Nasir Abdullah hit an enterprising unbeaten 49 off 33 deliveries and opener Ammad Zia stroked a 60-ball knock 49 not out for Merryland to put up 154 for two.

Abdullah smashed seven fours and a six, sharing an unbroken 81-run partnership for the third wicket.
 
Merryland lost opener Huzaifah Khan (11) to an excellent catch from Ayan Ahmed at short cover off Sohail Halim when the score was 39 and Jasim Anwar (14) departed at 73, stumped by Akhilesh Ramesh off Ishmeet Singh.

ADIS were given a flying start by Jonathan Figy, who stroked 41 off 33 balls.

The left handed opener dispatched the first three deliveries from Abdullah to the boundary and featured in a couple of valuable partnerships.

He dominated a 49-run opening stand in 33 balls with Sahil Hariani (11) and added a run-a-ball 44 for the second wicket with Ramesh, the top scorer for ADIS, with 43 from 37 deliveries.

ADIS were 93 for two in 12.4 overs when Huzaifah Khan produced a magical moment by taking two wickets from two balls that became the turning point of the match.

The left arm seamer bowled a peach of a delivery that nipped in to knock out Figy’s off-stump and then held on to a brilliant return catch, diving in front, to dismiss the ADIS captain Abhishek Prakash in the very next ball.

The double strike sent the panic button ringing in the ADIS camp with Ramesh, Mohammed Azzan (11) and Vijay Sashank (0) running themselves out.

The competitions were conducted by the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council for three different age groups. U-19 was won by The Cambridge High School for the third year in-a-row, and both the U-16 and U-14 titls were won by Merryland.

The tournament was sponsored by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and co-sponsored by UAE Exchange Centre.

The champion Merryland International School: Roshen Mendis (Captain), Huzaifah Khan, Ammad Zia, Nasir Abdullah, Jasim Anwar, Imaadh Fareez, Roshan Srivastava, Taimoor Khan, Anas Qadeer, Abdul Moezz, Mishaal Fareez, Abdullah Arif, Akmal Fareez, Akshay Sriram, Fouad Khan, Stephen Rajesh (master in charge and coach).

Scores in brief:

Merryland International School 154 for 2 in 20 overs (Ammad Zia 49 not out, Nasir Abdullah 49 not out) bt Abu Dhabi Indian School 145 for 8 in 20 overs (Akhilesh Ramesh 43, Jonathan Figy 41, Huzaifah Khan 2-25).

Man of the Tournament - Nasir Abdullah of Merryland International.
Best Batsman – Sahil Hariani of Abu Dhabi Indian School.
Best Bowler – Jonathan Figy of Abu Dhabi Indian School.
Man of the match final - Ammad Zia of Merryland Internatonal.
Dilawar Mani Spirit of Cricket Award – Abu Dhabi Indian School.