Desert Cubs impress on SA tour

The Desert Cubs Cricket Academy completed a successful South Africa tour. — Supplied photo

The first ever cricket tour to South Africa was under taken by the young cricketers of Desert Cubs Cricket Academy during March to April 2014.

The Under 13 and Under 15 teams took wing to Cape Town, South Africa and were engaged in seven matches against schools and academies. The Tour was organised for students to get an in depth knowledge and gain valuable experience, techniques and skills.

The students of DCCA performed admirably by winning most of the matches. Ashwin Balakrishnan’s consistency in the U-15 category was notable. He notched up the only century and was adjudged the Player of the Tour. Brandon Martis was also among the runs with a couple of fifties; he was adjudged as the Best Batsmen. Huzaifa Nadeem Chaudry bowled best to clinch the Best Bowler of the Tour. Umer Sabir, Akash Manoharan, Sudarsh Mohandas, Prashanth Perera, Mani Mathew, Aryan Kudav, Shalini Wanniarachchi chipped in with bowling and batting performances.

The Bellville Cricket Club was beaten by the DCCA U-15 team after two years, The Somerset Cricket Club, Michels Plain, Herzlia College, Penninsular Cricket Club, Sunningdale Cricket Club, Blue Bells Cricket Club were the other team who participated from Cape Town.

In the DCCA U-12 category, Panjika Piyasiri was the Player of the Tour. Nadil Kubukage won the Best Batsmen and Neil Hegde won the Best Bowler award. Mohamed Hashim turned in a good bowling feat with four wickets in two overs for no runs inclusive of a hat trick.

Hirusha Jayasundera, Kian De Wet, Sameep Singh, Mohamed Hashim bowled well, Vedant Matkar batted well and kept wickets admirably. Siddarth SV chipped in with an all-round performance on the Tour.

The South African cricket authorities have now extended their Invitation to DCCA to compete in a day night tournament next year. The tour was partly sponsored by Eiffel Lubricants who has been a great supporter for Desert Cubs kids cricket development programme for so many years.