Taylorian

Sport

Cricket 2023

However, wins against Reading Blue Coat, MTP, Haileybury and Durston House showed that their hard work in training was beginning to pay off. The half term finished with a narrow loss against Middlesex CCC, but there were plenty of positives. Dhruv Bhanushali and Aadi Bose struck up a good opening partnership and were our outstanding bowling talents in the first half of term, while Aditya Shingala and Sehaj Sekhon performed well with the bat. Memorably, Aditya scored a fine 106 against Durston House and Sehaj led the team to victory against Haileybury with a brilliant 60*. Special mentions must be made for Rishi Mehta, Rayaan Alibhai and Rishane Wijeratne, who have stepped up brilliantly from the U12s on occasion and showcased Squad: A. Shingala (Capt.), S. Patel, A. Hofmeyr, S. Sekhon, A. Kalaria (W), N. Kerr, A. Bose, S. Vaghjiani, D. Bhanushali, A. Rane, S. Malli, V. Rathod, R. Alibhai, R. Mehta, E. Chauhan, N. Phethean, R. Wijeratne. U13B The U13Bs enjoyed a fine first half of the season. We had a tough start against strong opponents in Whitgift and Hampton, but were competitive, especially against Whitgift and particularly with our bowling, which boded well for the season. Later fixtures saw us grow in confidence and strength and we have had some resounding wins, notably against Haileybury and Durston House. The highlight of the season without a doubt was Tariq Ahmed’s hat-trick against Haileybury, his spin bamboozling the opposition middle-order. Taran Dhadwal also wrought havoc with his fast bowling in that match. Kayan Joshi captained the side well before getting injured; Raffi Shaikh and Noah Phethean have both skippered since then. Saumit Dhorda has probably been the pick of our batters; Dev Agarwal has taken the best catches. Dr R. B. C. B. Hesketh their individual skills. Mr S. de Weymarn

Squad: D. Agarwal, T. Ahmed, A. Akshikar, B. Arora, K. Bhatt, T. Dhadwal, S. Dhorda, K. Halai, A. Janahan, K. Joshi, L. Li, N. Phethean (W), R. Shaikh, S. Vaghjiani. U13C In a season which saw no shortage of enthusiasm and plenty of development among the squad, the boys can be proud of their achievements both in training as well as in match play. Hampton, in our first match, proved a sharp learning curve with both bat and ball, although Kabir Bhatt clean-bowled one of the opening pair with a peach of a delivery. It was the following weekend, on a warm Saturday afternoon, that the U13Cs really laid down a marker against Whitgift, one of the most established cricket schools in the country. It was to be an intense affair. Taran Dhadwal and Shay Gera opened the bowling for MTS and set the tone for a strong start in the field, limiting Whitgift to 112 runs after 20 overs. In response, man of the match Dev Agarwal found the boundary more than once, and was well supported at the crease by Ashaan Janahan, Harry Prashad, Rahas Vadher and captain, Aarav Shah. Communication between batters was especially strong, who managed to get MTS within touching distance of victory. Although just falling short at the end, the boys took pride in a close-fought first encounter. It came as no surprise, therefore, that come the start of May the boys were eager for their first win. This came in the form of a comfortable victory over Reading Blue Coat School. MTS made the sensible choice to bowl first, and once the opposition opening batters had been dismissed taking the remaining wickets became a straightforward matter. Rahas Vadher enjoyed a full day out, taking two wickets at the expense of only four runs, taking two catches and playing a key part in two runouts. Lucas Li and Anish Chatterjee also impressed, taking a wicket a-piece. After the break, runs flowed between Dev Agarwal and the seemingly omnipresent Rahas Vadher, who clinched a comprehensive win by nine wickets. Not everything went their way, however, and, despite an impressive 26 runs by

opening batter Kasper Saihan, the team were well-beaten the following week by Hailebury and their strong batting line up. More decisive running and sharper awareness in the field were the lessons to be taken away for the rest of the season. Further honourable mentions must go to the likes of Boyao Xie and Noah Lopez Salzedo for their enthusiasm keeping wicket; to George Davies who is bowling a good line and length; and to Manas Mapara, Nischal Vaidya, Kaspar Saihan, Taran Dhadwal and Raffi Shaikh for the way their all-round game is developing. The U13Cs have a good team spirit, and credit to them for their honest reflections after each match and the subsequent hard work they put back into training the next week. Mr M. G. Hilton-Dennis Squad: G. Davies, R. Vadher, A. Janahan, S. Gera (Capt.), T. Dhadwal, D. Agarwal, A. Shah (Vice-Capt.), K. Bhatt, H. Prashad, L. Li, M. Mapara, N. Vaidya, K. Fevzi, K. Saihan, N. Lopez-Salzedo, R. Shaikh, A. Chatterjee. U12A Hampton (won by 10 wickets) was a good match to start the season. While it would, in retrospect, have been good to have batted first, it was still a convincing win over a school with greater numbers at Year 7. Whitgift (lost by 4 wickets) was a huge match, and it was a privilege to play on the 1st XI square with two neutral umpires. We batted first and faded away after a brilliant start. In reply, Whitgift looked strong until two direct hits to the stumps ran out two of the opposition batsmen. The game went to the penultimate over but in truth we did not bowl or bat well enough. Reading Blue Coat (won by 51 runs) was a much easier match; Samar Sekhon (48*) and Salar Minhas (3-0-13-3) both played significant parts in the win. Haileybury (won by 7 runs) was an odd game, dominated by an extremely talented opposition player. Rayaan Alibhai (50 ret) and Rishi Mehta (89*) – who was in exceptional form all match as batsman, bowler and captain – got us off to a magnificent start despite facing some hostile bowling. Even though Haileybury got within touching distance,

93

Taylorian 2023