SHARJAH // Delhi Private School and Emirates English Speaking School both had comfortable wins yesterday to move into the semi-finals of the Inter-School Under 16 tournament at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Delhi Private School, Sharjah, were inspired by fine batting performances from Siddharth Sekar and Dhruwa Praveen to beat Our Own English School by 65 runs while Emirates English Speaking School, Dubai, defeated Sheikh Rashid School, Dubai, by eight wickets, aided by a fine all-round performance by Kuldeep Kumar.
Delhi Private School did well to post a challenging 163 for four in the allotted 20 overs, with Sekar scoring a solid 44 and Praveen an unbeaten 38. Akash Malhotra (25) was the other scorer. Atik was the most successful Our Own English School bowler, claiming two for 33. In their reply Our Own English School were bowled out for 98 in the 19th over despite an innings of 47 by Sai Pranav. Yash Shodhan picked up two wickets for 23 runs while Siddarth and Aagan Shah took one each to unsettle the Our Own English School batting.
In the other quarter-final match, Ibrahim Sharfuddin and Kumar shared five wickets to help Emirates English Speaking School bowl out Sheikh Rashid School for a modest 104. Abu Baker (36) and Ehsan (25) added some respectability to the innings with some fine batting. Emirates English Speaking School wasted no time in achieving the victory target in just 12.2 overs. Pratik Shetty led their batting charge while Kumar followed his three-wicket haul with a useful knock of 26 to seal victory.
* Agency
