Sharjah Cricket has launched one of the biggest junior cricket tournament programmes in the UAE. The CBFS Juniors 2022 for Under-12, Under-14 and Under-17 commenced at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, and are being held from May 16 till June 27, 2022. Twelve cricket academies will be playing in the Under-12, Under-14 and Under-17 categories divided into three pools. A total of 60 matches will be held in this tournament.
CBFS’s intense plans to lift the standard of domestic cricket through these tournaments is thus in full flow. This is a part of the CEO of Sharjah Cricket, Khalaf Bukhatir’s mission to spot talent and provide a platform for players to showcase their talent. This junior tournament commenced on the heels of the Sharjah Ramadan tournament that saw 86 matches being played between the ten over and twenty20 formats.
Arshil Husain’s century
Teams produced brilliant cricket right away with budding cricketers cracking centuries. Desert Cubs A team opener Arshil Husain cracked an unbeaten 100 off just 54 balls with 11 boundaries and four sixes against Legends Cricket Academy. His opening partner Sarang Anilkumar too scored 66 off 37 balls with seven boundaries and three sixes before being run out. Skipper Mohamed Nafees too scored an unbeaten 44 off just 17 balls with two boundaries and five sixes. Desert Cubs thus posted a whopping 246 for 1 in 20 overs.
Legends chased the target but could score only 127 for 7. Skipper Mohammad Ahmed Usman top scored with 33 but none of the other batsmen could get going. Arhaan Chopra led the bowling attack with two wickets for 12 backed by Nameer Palekar who also bagged two wickets for 18 runs.
Ahmed Khudadad’s ton
In the second Under-14 match, Victoria Cricket Academy defeated Tellicherry Cricket Academy by 79 runs. Victoria Cricket Academy opted to bat first and posted 165 for 4 in 20 overs through Ahmed Khudadad’s unbeaten 101 off 50 balls with 11 boundaries and four sixes. Opener Yadhukrishan Pillai too chipped in with 24.
Telllicherry Cricket Academy could muster only 86 for 8 in 20 overs mainly due to fine bowling from Yuvaraj Thiruvengateshwaran who bagged three wickets for 8 runs while Adwait Datta Sohani bagged two wickets for nine runs.
Yayin Kiran Rai allround show
Meanhile, BE Spartans scored an impressive seven wicket win over Desert Cubs B team in another Under-14 match. Desert Cubs posted 124 runs batting first. One-drop Priyansh Hemal Patel top scored with 25 runs before being run out. Aayaan Bhasin chipped in with 21 runs. The main wicket takers for BE Spartans were Nirvan Shetty and Yayin Kiran Rai who bagged two wickets each.
Chasing the score, Yayin Kiran Rai sparkled with the bat too scoring 19 runs after BE Spartan had lost their opener Parth Sarathy for 1. Opener Omar Tauqir hit an unbeaten 43 backed by Neeraj Dhumal (22) and Sailesh Sankaran hit an unbeaten 26. BE Spartans reached the target in 15.1 overs.
BE Spartans also defeated Simply Cricket Academy by 51 runs in another Under-14 match. After opting to bat first, BE Spartans posted 175 for 6 in 20 overs. Yayin Kiran Rai stole the thunder in this match too top scoring with 56 runs. His knock off 32 balls had six boundaries and three sixes. Opener Raizal Nadir too scored 51 off 35 balls with six boundaries and one six.
Simply Cricket Club were restricted to 124 for 6 in 20 overs. A captain’s unbeaten knock of 65 from Ayaan Misbah went in vain. His knock off 50 balls had eight boundaries. Opener Sachin Sooraj too scored 22 but could not take their team to the target.
Sarang Anilkumar shines
In another Under-14 event, Desert Cubs batted first and posted 174 for 6 in 20 overs. Openers Aryan Thapar and captain Mohamed Nafees put on 39 runs before Nafees got out for 29. One-drop Sarang Anilkumar and Thapar took the score to 80 before Thapar retired out for 18. Sarang Anilkumar went on to hit an unbeaten 74 off 48 balls with three boundaries and five sixes.
Chasing the big total, Victoria Cricket Academy got off to a bad start. Mohamed Nafees removed opener Yadhukrishna Pillai as well as one-drop Rohit Nair, each for a duck. Opener Vrundar Bhattad top scored with 29 while Neil Siddharth retired out at 17. Ahmed Khudadad got stumped by wicketkeeper Aryansh Dasani off Sarang Anilkumar for 20. In the end, Victoria Cricket Academy could muster only 117 runs.
Riding on Hrithik Haridas Hareesh Tellicherry Cricket Academy had scored an exciting seven runs win over Legends Cricket Academy. Hrithik Haridas’s knock of 54 helped Tellicherry post 129 for 5.
Chasing the target, Legends could score only 122 for 6 in 20 overs despite Ahmed Usman’s unbeaten 69. Hrithik Haridas struck with the ball too taking two wickets.
Fatthur Rahman’s breezy ton
In the Under-12 match too BE Spartans produced sterling performances. They defeated Sharjah Cricket Academy by 158 runs. BE Spartans were asked to bat first, and they posted 210 for 3 in 20 overs. The architect of this big score was their captain Fatthur Rahman who cracked 118 before retiring out. His knock came off 52 balls with 14 boundaries and six sixes. Kyron Wilhelm Hubert too hit an unbeaten 25.
Sharjah Cricket Academy could muster only 52 in 19 overs. Hiral Katyal and Al Maseera bagged three wickets each backed by Umran Ammar with two wickets.
Desert Cubs’ big win
Desert Cubs recorded an emphatic 10-wicket win over MS Cricket Academy in another Under-12 match. MS Cricket Academy opted to bat and posted 100 for 8 in the 20 overs against Desert Cubs. Except for opener Thaman Sai who hit 32, none of the others reached double figures. Sahana Seth and Parth Bhatt bowled brilliantly to take two wickets each.
Desert Cubs openers batted intelligently, maintaining the run flow. Navnit Gurnani remained unbeaten on 41 off 30 balls with four boundaries while Aarush Kajaria hit an unbeaten 36 off 32 balls with three boundaries. They steered their team to the target in 11.4 overs and recorded an emphatic 10-wicket win.
Hidayat Cricket Academy win
Another Under-12 match too was a ten-wicket win, but this was for Hidayat Cricket Academy over Victoria Cricket Academy. In this match too the losers batted first with Victoria being able to post only 86 for 7 in 20 overs. Except for opener Nabya Patel who scored 25 and retired out and Niteesh Suresh who scored 19 and did the same, the rest were unable to accelerate the run flow. Harini Doss Prakash stood out with two wickets while the others bowled tightly.
Hidayat Cricket Academy openers Degveer hit a run-a-ball 29 which included two boundaries and a six while skipper Janani Ta scored an unbeaten 26 off 29 balls with four boundaries.
Fatthur Rahman’s another show
Another Under-12 match saw Tellicherry Cricket Club, like the earlier matches, opting to bat first and losing to BE Spartans. Tellicherry had posted a challenging 124 for 3 through opener Nakul Rejoy who hit 50 off 49 balls with six boundaries. Yuv Kapoor and Hrithik Haridas Hareesh scored 20 and 21 runs respectively. All three retired out after their knocks.
BE Spartans opener Fatthur Rahman continued his form to hit a brilliant 77 off 53 balls with seven boundaries and four sixes before being bowled by Arafaat. Opener Umran Ammar too chipped in with an unbeaten 33 to ensure their victory.
Fatthur Rahman had also sparkled in BE Spartans’ nine-wicket win over Desert Cubs scoring an unbeaten 80. His knock helped BE Spartans win in 17.1 overs after Desert Cubs had posted 122 for 6 in 20 overs.
Spring Academy’s two nine-wicket victories
Spring Academy scored identical nine-wicket wins over Tellicherry Cricket Academy and Sharjah Cricket Academy.
Aarav Khandelwal led the bowling attack with two wickets to restrict Tellicherry to 100 for 7. Then Spring Academy raced to the target in 18 overs through Neev Jethwani (42n.o) and Shelina Laxmidas (24n.o).
Springs Sports Academy later restricted Sharjah Cricket Academy to 80 for 9 in 20 overs in another Under-12 match. Atharv Gupta, Kailash Parakkal Menon and Rinith R took two wickets each. Springs Sports Academy reached the target in 8.2 overs through Harshad Singh’s unbeaten 25.
Brief scores:
Under-12:
BE Spartans bt Sharjah Cricket Academy by 158 runs. BE Spartans 210 for 3 in 20 overs (Fatthur Rahman 118, Kyron Wilhelm Hubert 25n.o). Sharjah Cricket Academy 52 in 19 overs (Umran Ammar 2 for 9, Hiral Katyal 3 for 7, Al Maseera 3 for 3)
Player of the Match: Fatthur Rahman
Deserts Cubs bt MS Cricket Academy by 10 wkts. MS Cricket Academy 100 for 8 in 20 overs (Thaman Sai 32, Sahana Seth 2 for 12, Partg Bhatt 2 for 13) Desert Cubs 101 for no loss in 11.4 overs (Aarush Kajaria 36n.o, Navnit Gurnani 41n.o).
Player of the Match: Navnit Gurnani
BE Spartans bt Desert Cubs by 9 wkts. Desert Cubs 122 for 6 in 20 overs (Aarush Kajaria 36, Lokesh Reddy 22) BE Spartsans 126 for 1 in 17.1 overs (Fatthur Rahman 80n.o, Kyron Wilhelm Hubert 33n.o).
Player of the Match: Fatthur Rahman
Hidayat Cricket Academy bt Victoria Cricket Academy by 10 wkts. Victoria Cricket Academy 86 for 7 in 20 overs (Nabhya Patel 25, Harni Doss Prakash 2 for 10) Hidayat Cricket Academy 91 for no loss in 12.1 overs (Degveer 29n.o, Janani Ta 26n.o). Player of the Match: Degveer.
Be Spartans bt Telllicherry Cricket Academy by 8 wkts. Telllicherry Cricket Academy 124 for 3 in 20 overs (Nakul Rejoy 50, Yuv Kapoor 20, Hrithik Haridas Hareesh 21) Be Spartans 125 for 2 (Fatthur Rahman 77, Umran Ammar 33n.o).
Player of the Match: Fatthur Rahman.
Springs Sports Academy bt Tellicherry Cricket Academy by 9 wkts. Tellicherry Cricket Academy 100 for 7 in 20 overs (Aarav Khandelwal 2 for 14). Springs Sports Academy 102 for 1 in 18 overs (Neev Jethwani 42n.o, Shelina Laxmidas 24n.o) Player of the Match: Aarav Khandelwal
Springs Sports Academy bt Sharjah Cricket Academy by 9 wkts. Sharjah Cricket Academy 80 for 9 in 20 overs (Ahad Ahmed 23, Atharv Gupta 2 for 5, Kailash Parakkal Menon 2 for 15, Rinith R 2 for 17) Springs Sports Academy 81 for 1 in 8.2 overs (Harshad Singh 25n.o).
Player of the Match: Atharv Gupta
Under-14:
Desert Cubs A bt Legends Cricket Academy by 119 runs. Desert Cubs A 246 for 1 in 20 overs (Arshil Husain 100n.o, Sarang Anilkumar 66, Mohamed Nafees 44n.o). Legends Cricket Academy 127 for 7 in 20 overs (Mohd Ahmed Usman 33, Arhaan Chopra 2 for for 12, Nameer Palekar 2 for 18).
Player of the Match: Arshil Husain.
Victoria Cricket Academy bt Tellicherry Cricket Academy by 79 runs. Victoria Cricket Academy 165 for 4 in 20 overs (Yadhukrishna Pillai 24, Ahmed Khudadad 101n.o). Tellicherry Cricket Academy 86 for 8 in 20 overs (Yuvaraj Thiruvengateshwaran 3 for 8, Adwait Datta Sohani 2 for 9).
Player of the match: Ahmed Khudadad
BE Spartans bt Desert Cubs B by 7 wkts. Desert Cubs B 124 in 20 overs (Priyansh Hemal Patel 25, Aayaan Bhasin 21, Nirvan Shetty 2 for 11, Yayin Kiran Rai 2 for 10) BE Spartans 125 for 3 in 15.1 overs (Omar Tauqir 43n.o, Neeraj Dhumal 22, Sailesh Sankaran 26n.o)
Player of the Match: Yayin Kiran Rai
Be Spartans bt Simply Cricket Academy by 51 runs. Be Spartans 175 for 6 in 20 overs (Raizal Nadir 51, Yayin Kiran Rai 56, Swayam Basu 2 for 38) Simply Cricket Academy 124 for 6 in 20 overs (Sachin Sooraj 22, Ayaan Misbah 65n.o).
Player of the Match: Yayin Kiran Rai
Tellicherry Cricket Academy bt Legends Cricket Academy by 7 runs. Tellicherry Cricket Academy 129 for 5 in 20 overs (Hrithik Haridas Hareesh 54, Zayd S Ahmed 20) Legends Cricket Academy 122 for 6 in 20 overs (Mohd Ahmed Usman 69n.o, Hrithik Haridas Hareesh 2 for 24).
Player of the Match: Hrithik Haridas Hareesh
Desert Cubs A bt Victoria Cricket Academy by 57 runs. Desert Cubs A 174 for 6 in 20 overs (Mohammed Nafees 29, Sarang Anilkumar 74n.o) Victoria Cricket Academy 117 for 7 in 20 overs (Vrundar Bhattad 29, Ahmed Khudad 20, Mohammad Nafeez 2 for 2, Nameer Palekar 2 for 11)
Player of the Match: Sarang Anilkumar