Titans lift DCC Evolve Under-16 Youth League Cup

Bandivdekar stops Spartans in final with five-wicket haul

Titans team played like champions and lived up to their name to emerge as champions of the Dubai Cricket Council’s (DCC) Evolve Under-16 Youth League at the Dubai International Stadium.

Speaking to Gulf News about the four-team event, Shiva Pagarani of DCC said: “This tournament was the brainchild of DCC secretary Amin Farooq to boost grassroots cricket and it has turned out to be one of the best junior tournaments the council has hosted.”

Farooq announced that the council will now host more age-group tournaments where under-19 and under-16 boys can compete together regularly at least four times a year.

The architect of Titans’ win was Krish Bandivdekar, whose five-wicket spell helped his team beat Spartans by 30 runs.

Titans lost opener Ahaan Fernandez after only one ball, but Siddanth Agarwal and Aakash Radhakrishnan put on a 84-run partnership. Siddanth scored 55 runs, while Aakash hit 43 runs. Akasha Mohammad hit an unbeaten 17-ball 43 to help Titans post 189 for 5. Nasr Khan (2-45) and Mohammad Ali Mirza (2-33) bagged two wickets each.

Spartans got off to an excellent start with Mohammad Ali Mirza (32), who was declared the best batsman of the tournament for 119 runs from two matches, and Rudra Mahadev (34) putting on a 67 runs for the opening wicket.

It looked like smooth sailing for the Spartans when Bandivdekar ran through the Spartans’ batting line-up to finish with 5 for 24. Siddanth Raina scored 24 from 43 balls and Aditya Gokale hit an unbeaten 25 from 17 balls, but it was not enough.