Gingins u13s dazzle at Basel

Our u13s brought their A-game to the 8 team 2022 Basel Indoors U13 tournament. In what is becoming a habit, the team lifted the winner’s trophy. Placed in Pool 2, alongside Swiss Romande u13, the Swiss u11 National Team and the Swiss Wanderers, the squad emerged with 3 wins, but not without facing adversity and rising up to challenges along the way. The team played as a unit and dug itself out of a few tough situations before dominating a very very strong Zurich side in the final.

Match 1 – Gingins - 135/6(14) beat Swiss Romande - 61/8 (8.5) by 74 runs
The team started off very strongly brushing aside a very strong Swiss Romande team made up of players from Geneva RYCC and Cossonay. Ayaan (22*), Aadi (21*) and Ciaran (15*) led the way along with contributions from every other batter to put up a strong total. In what later proved to be a pattern, the team excelled in the field with 4 run outs. Samanyu was everywhere with 2 runouts and 2 catches. Aadi (2-21) and Ananya (2-2) polished off the opponents inside 9 overs for a comfortable 74 run win.

Scorecard

Match 2 – Wanderers – 142/8(13.5) lost to Gingins – 144/2 (12.4) by 6 wickets
The easy victory in the first game led to a degree of complacency in the team. Up against the Wanderers, a team made up of spare players from some teams and a few guest players, the team expected an easy victory. In spite of a great fielding display with 4 run outs – 2 from Kai, and Ayaan’s 2-16, the Wanders raced away to a strong total of 142. After a nail-bitingly slow start, Anhad 21(14), Aadi 18(13) and Ciaran 18(15) rebuilt before a Samanyu blitz 20(10) allowed the team to win with 8 balls to spare.

Scorecard

Match 3 – Gingins 112/7(14) beat Swiss Nati u11 103/8(13) by 9 runs
In a highly anticipated match, our squad met the Swiss u11 National team. This was a team that was, although a year younger, packed with proven talent and without any weaknesses. Batting first, Gingins put up a middling total of 112. Ayaan – 16(9) and Ciaran – 21*(18) got the team off to a good start before a middle order collapse slowed us down. Arav 14(13) and Nicholas 12(10) helped the team recover to a below-par but defendable total. The Nati u11 responded strongly led by our own Ed Dann 17(16). Yet again, 4 run outs aided our cause but the Nati rallied to come within 9 runs of our total before Kai picked up the last 2 wickets to finish with 2-16 and seal what was a very close but hugely important win that placed us in the finals.
Scorecard

Match 4 – The Final: Gingins 115-6(15) beat Zurich 94-6(12.1)
The Gingins squad reserved it’s best for the final against old-time rivals Zurich. Zurich have generally been the dominant team in this age-group but Gingins has been rocking their perch regularly in the recent past, and did so again with a clinical bowling and fielding display.

Batting first, we were struggling at 36-3 but yet again, the middle and lower order displayed grit and tenacity when runs were hard to come by. Three of our batsmen took blows on the body in the face of some hostile and very fast Zurich bowling, but refused to retire and continued battling. Anhad 20(24), Ciaran 18(19) and Arav 14(19) steadied the ship before Kai 10(5) indulged in a late frenzy of runs to lift us to a par score of 115.

Zurich appeared confident at the start, but not for long as they were soon 13-3. Anhad (1-8), Samanyu (1-16) Ciaran (2-13) and Kai (1-5) all choked the flow of runs while regularly picking up wickets. Arav incredibly bowled a maiden over to heap the pressure on. The team work and commitment shown on the field were nothing less than outstanding and Zurich only briefly looked like coming close before being bowled out 23 runs short. Unfortunately, we only managed 3 run-outs this time around, a fall that the coaches will address.
Scorecard

The squad
This u13 squad, have for the most, been playing together for the last 2-3 years, coming up together through the u11s and amassing a lot of tournament experience and a few wins along the way. As the older members keep growing and developing, new talent has also come into the squad resulting in this team truly becoming a force to reckon with. It is also an absolute pleasure to watch the friendships and bonds that have developed, and the team is as much a social unit as a cricketing unit. This tournament was a special display of the team playing for each other with commitment and this would be a good time to highlight what each one of them brought to the table.

In Alphabetical Order

Aaditya Batla – Part of the old triumvirate of Aadi/Anhad/Samanyu who have been playing together for many years and form the all-rounder core of the team. Aadi took 5 wkts to be the No 2 bowler in the tournament and also scored 42 runs. His viciously spinning deliveries foxed he batters often, apart from adding many runs with his astute running between the wickets. Among the safest hands in the club. Received the award for the best bowler in the Swiss u11 2020-21 season.

Ananya Srinivasan – The only girl member in the squad, Ananya missed out on the 2nd day due to an illness, but was right there with the squad cheering the team on and sharing in the celebrations. Her 2 wickets in 4 balls against Swiss Romande lifted her to a healthy 17th of 83 in the bowling leaderboard, and her accurate bowling and reliable wicketkeeping skills give the team options on the pitch.

Anhad Sheikh – Mr Dependable, he can pull out a wicket, a run out or a boundary just when you need it. Rarely bowls a wide ball. His 1-8 in 2 overs in the final was a match-winning performance in a huge pressure situation. His 58 runs placed him at No 6 in the batting leaderboard and 2nd in the club listings. Received the Bob Barber Award for the best u11 Swiss Cricketer of 2020/21 after the final. Arguably the most natural cricketer in Switzerland in his age group.

Arav Kumar - Arav is the latest member of the club and the team. Playing his first tournament in this environment, Arav excelled with bat and ball and in the field in every single game. His compact technique and determination solved our middle order problem where we would collapse if the top few don’t get runs. He came on in the final in a high pressure situation and bowled a very rare maiden over, that too against settled batters. He also threw himself about in the field and saved valuable runs. Welcome to the club Arav.

Ayaan Rai – Captain Fantastic, Ayaan led by example all through. His exceptional wicket-keeping was key in our huge number of run-outs and led to us winning some key moments in the finals. As the opener, he provided us with great starts and got 43 runs to finish 17th in the batting list and also managed to do double-duty finishing 18th in the bowling list. Last but not least, his dynamic captaincy and field placing which was at the core of our excellent fielding performances.

Ciaran Feakes – Ciaran held our middle order together in every game, and crowned it with a solid 18 in the final that pulled us out of a hole when we were in big trouble. He finished a remarkable 2nd in the overall batting list and was by far our top scorer with 72 runs and 18* playing for the Wanderers team, only being out once for an astonishing average of 90!!! He may look dimunitive but he proved impossible to dismiss – our wall.

Edward Dann – Eddie was absolutely stellar in the tournament, sadly most of it for the Swiss u11 Nati. He finished 3rd in the batting with 73 runs which is an astonishing feat for an u11 in a u13 tournament. Eddie stepped in for Ananya in the final despite just having finished a match, and saved many runs in the field before scoring invaluable quick runs in the last over.

Kai Pattison – Kai can be relied on to chip in with wickets when called upon. His 3 wkts at an average of 9.33 and an economy rate of 7 saw him finish an impressive 8th in the tournament bowling. He bowled a very economical over in the finals, and also displayed the ability to score quick runs scoring at a very high strike rate of 181.82 when coming on to bat in the slog overs, including a crucial 10(5) in the finals.

Nicholas Rose – Nick is an u11 who is comfortable at the u13 level. Nick showed the team the way with his amazing commitment in the field in the first game, putting his body on the line to save the team some runs. It inspired the rest of the team to lift their commitment levels. His all-round abilities and energy have helped balance the squad substantially and added useful runs in the lower-middle order.

Samanyu Bidhu – 5 catches, 4 run outs and that’s just the fielding. Add the 38 runs and the swinging and accurate fast bowling with a knack of taking wickets, and Samanyu proves that big things come in small packages. Solid and dependable all through, he took crucial catches, wickets and run-outs in the final that rocked Zurich. And he never drops a catch or fails to field the ball cleanly. He makes it all look easy. Received the award for the best fielder in the Swiss u11 2020-21 season.

One has to add a few words of praise for the coaching duo of Abhishek and Kabir. Under their tutelage from the u11 days, the team has moved on from being competitive to being genuine contenders. Every player has improved dramatically and the specific work on team play has proved its efficiency on the field. The trophy win is just reward for their hard work.

We all look forward to a happy and successful summer for the team and this was a great beginning.