Indo Kiwi Juniors T 20 cricket 2018

India is extremely diverse but one great passion that unites Indians better than many other things is the passion for cricket! The excitement of spectators at a cricket match anywhere in India is unmatched by any other sport. The men in bLue are unabashedly adored by their cricket fans of all ages! Since the immensely popular Indian Premier League, cricket fever has assumed even has more vast horizons.

So even as the IPL season is gripping us all, it is just apt that we at The Indian School have one of our own!

On 25 April 2018, a joint cricket team of The Indian School and Gyan Bharati School played the LCC Cricket team from New Zealand in what we named the Indo Kiwi T20 cricket 2018. The 2 friendly matches played between the teams exhibited some fiery bowling and fierce batting.

The New Zealand team was led by coach Simon OConnor, Managing Partner for EY and also a member of the Board of the New Zealand boys primary school -Kings School. It was an Under- 13 series.

The event began with a welcome of our dignitaries that included Mr. Lal Raisinghani, Director of The Indian School, Mr. Gopal Ansal, Chairman, Gyan Bharati School, Mr. Gaurav Mohan Puri, Member of the Board of Governors, Gyan Bharati School and Ms. Nishi Manglik, Principal, Gyan Bharati School.

The flag hoisting was done by one of the members from the New Zealand team, Mr. Dean Hawkins and Mr. Lal Raisinghani, followed by the national anthems of both countries. It was indeed a moment of pride for both the sides!

After the balloon were released, Mr. Raisinghani declared the match open and then began the clash of the talents!

No efforts were spared by players from both the sides to make the audience believe they were actually witnessing an IPL match! With the Indian Team turned out in blue and the New Zealanders in white, the sight was nothing short of a spectacle!

The first match of the series had the New Zealand team batting first. It was an intense display of prowess on both sides. The New Zealand team put up a target of 176 runs for the Indian team to chase. A seemingly difficult target to achieve was taken in their stride by our young players, which was quite evident from the confidence they exuded on the field. Although they lost, they gave the opposition a tough fight and kept the audience glued to the edge of their seats with their charismatic batting and running between the wickets.

The second match, played in floodlight was equally exciting with the Indian team taking up batting first and giving the New Zealanders a target of 122 runs to chase in 20 overs. The target score was chased successfully by the New Zealand team. Needless to say that it was a nail biting finish with every ball being hit for single or double due to the tight field placement of the Indian team which gave great hope of winning to us, Indian supporters till the last ball of the last over was bowled!

In the first match, Josh Fenton of New Zealand was declared Best Batsman and Man of the Match while Kartikeya Shrotriya of The Indian School emerged Best Bowler after grabbing 3 wickets in one over!

The Man of the Match in the second match was James OConnor, with Piyush Kumar of Gyan Bharti School named Best Batsman and Anton Hawkins, Best Bowler.

Sports is not about only winning and losing but about the spirit of players, their endeavour, desire to succeed , improve and possibly the delight they take in each others successes.

Overall it was a fantastic experience for both the teams and will lend itself to several such opportunities in the near future.

Ms. Deepali Gupta.

Indo-Kiwi Juniors T-20 Cricket Match held on 25 April, 2018..result...click here...