St Jones Academy, Roorkee won the 10th Satpal Memorial Inter-School T-20 Championship by defeating local favorites Delhi Public School, Ranipur, by 21 runs. In the final played at BHEL Cricket Stadium, St Jones Academy won the toss and opted to bat first, though initial assistance from the pitch and weather conditions made it slightly tough for their opening batsmen. But as the weather conditions eased, St Jones Academy batsmen scored freely, maintaining a healthy run rate per over. Vipin Kumar smashed 78 runs off just 46 balls, which included eight fours and three sixes. Fellow batsman Mayank Tyagi also scored a brisk 26 of 29 balls, laced with four boundaries. Delhi Public School, Ranipur, bowlers Zishan, Tushar and Uttkarsh bagged a wicket each. In the stipulated 20 overs, St Jone’s Academy set a target of 155 runs for the loss of six wickets.
Chasing the modest target, Delhi Public School, Ranipur, batsmen, barring Jagrit Bhatiya (26 off 32) and Ayush Vashisth (43 off 40), could not stay at the crease for a long time as wickets fell at regular intervals. Harsh scalped three wickets, Mayank Tyagi took two and Vipin took one wicket, limiting the DPS batsmen to 21 runs short of the target. Later, at the prize distribution ceremony, Doiwala legislator and former state Transport Minister Heera Singh Bisht, who was the chief guest at the event, urged students to give equal weight-age to studies, sports and co-curricular activities as they enhanced the overall development of one’s personality. In the capacity of Uttarakhand Cricket Association president, Heera Singh Bisht assured the Cricket Association of Haridwar office-bearers and players of providing adequate facilities at the BHEL Stadia. Cricket Association of Haridwar (CAH) president Neeraj Kumar said for the past decade they had been organizing the tournament in the memory of late Satpal Kumar.
It had become a premier inter-school tournament in the entire district.General Secretary of the CAH Inder Mohan Barthwal said 13 teams participated in the tournament which saw many good performances. They had spotted some players who had the potential to play at higher levels, he said. Uttarakhand Cricket Association secretary PC Verma, match coordinators Ajay Kumar, Kuldeep Aswal, Kamal Chamoli, Kishore Bhatiya, Sudhir Sharma, Rachit Kumar, Karan Kumar, Sanjay Bisht, Rahul Chauhan, Pratap Bhandari and Manish Singh were also present at the prize distribution ceremony.
