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#NSL360: Modern Heros' Swabhanu Khosla shines and DPS Falcons are flying high
There were some strong individual and team performances as the second edition of the ADIB National School League got off to an exciting start in Dubai on Saturday.
Twelve teams began their quest for glory at 7he Sevens Cricket Grounds and despite the scorching heat, the stars of tomorrow showed glimpses of their potential with both bat and ball.
With Under-15 champions DPS Sharjah not competing, there will be new winners and DPS Falcons sent out a strong message with a comfortable seven-wicket victory over JC Heat, while Winchester Cobras defeated DESC Diamonds by eight wickets.
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It didn’t take long for the first half-century of the new season to arrive as Swabhanu Khosla hit an unbeaten 68 as Modern Heros beat Repton Royals by 95 runs.
Having finished fourth in the overall batting standings with 258 runs in the Under-13 category last season, Khosla showcased his continued improvement with a superb innings.
After his side lost two early wickets, Khosla remained composed at the crease but gradually upped the tempo, hitting seven boundaries and one maximum in his 44-ball knock. His effort helped Heros post a competitive 181-5 in their 20 overs, with valuable contributions from Daksh Ramani (34) and Varun Nayanar (31).
Set a daunting target, Royals never got going with the bat, posting 89-5 with Govind Verma and Rajvir Paul each taking three wickets for Heros.
It was no surprise Khosla was named man of the match, but the 13-year-old paid tribute to the bowlers after an excellent display.
He said: “Our bowlers did really well and they have to take most of the plaudits for this victory. Repton Royals are a good side but our bowlers bowled really tightly so it was difficult for them to score the runs.”
Repton Royals captain Kareem Jafree praised Khosla but insists there’s still plenty of positives to take from the game.
“Khosla was really good and we played him when he was on top of his game,” he said. “We fielded reasonably well but the heat affected us as we ran out of energy during the game. If we can improve on our fielding and just tighten our bowling and batting, then we should do well in the remaining games.”
It was an NSL debut to remember for Winchester Cobras’ Dhyan Shah as his four-wicket haul sealed an eight-wicket victory over DESC Diamonds. The spinner was in top form, finishing with 4-7 as Diamonds were all out for 39.
Prithvi Venkat then top-scored with 13 as Cobras reached their target in the fifth over.
“It’s a match that I will remember for a long time,” said 14-year-old Shah. “I just stuck to my strengths and that did the damage and I am happy that we won the game.”
Last season’s Under-13 Most Valuable Player Aryan Lakra made an early case for achieving the same feat in the older age group with a strong performance as DPS Falcons recorded a big victory over JC Heat.
Set a target of 93, the 13-year-old captain led from the front with an unbeaten 38, including seven boundaries, as he and Rishab Mukherjee (2) saw Falcons home in the 14th over.
“It feels really good to win the opening game of the NSL and carry on from where I ended last season,” said the all-rounder. “It was quite a challenging game because of the heat and luckily we played to our strengths and got the victory.”
