Coach Dutt lauds DPS character for title triumph

SHARJAH // Vikram Dutt, the coach of the Delhi Private School (DPS), Sharjah, saluted the character of his team as they beat both the heat and the Modern High School, Dubai to win the Sharjah Cricket Council Under 16 Inter-School title yesterday. Aagam Shah was the star of the show for the champions, providing two crucial blows in a single over to turn the tide in DPS's favour. After scoring a quick-fire 18 to help his side post a total of 108, the left-arm spinner took the wickets of Shorye Chopra, the tournament's top-scorer, and Abhishek Dhar, the Modern captain, in the 15th over to wreck the Dubai school's run-chase.

Modern had been cruising until then, with 72 on the board after 14 overs and six wickets in hand. But Shah's bowling changed the game and when Vishal Bali was run-out with a direct throw from Aniket Rodrigues, the DPS wicketkeeper, it completed an 11-run win for DPS. "This is a reward for all the hard work we have put in," said Dutt, who has guided DPS Sharjah to three titles this season, the Maxtalent Inter-school, the SCC girls' Inter-school and now this latest success to cap a great campaign.

"It is dedication, motivation and sticking to the basics. We knew we had not done well with the bat and I told the boys to try their best in the field now. They did just that." Shah was adjudged man of the match for his all-round show and Siddharth Sekhar, his teammate, was picked as the player of the tournament for his 222 runs and eight wickets. Modern High School's Varun Totadri was the best bowler of the tournament with 14 wickets, while Chopra took the individual honours in batting for his 265 runs, which included an unbeaten 123 in the semi-finals.

"I am happy to be scoring runs," said Chopra, who made 37 yesterday. "But when it mattered the most, in the final here, I could not finish the game." @Email:[e-mail]