The 2023-24 season has been a strange year for junior cricket due to the lack of competitive cricket. The Romande Cup and Gingins Indoors weren't held due to the non-availability of venues. The Basel Indoors on February 3rd and 4th 2024 was hence eagerly awaited as the first tournament of the season where old rivalries are renewed and old friendships rekindled.

A very strong field awaited our players with participating teams from Zurich Crickets, Basel Dragons, Luxembourg and the Swiss National u13 team. As it turned out, every match in the competition was keenly fought, almost every match being decided in the final over. Our young cricketers excelled themselves but not without giving the coaches and the parents a few scares along the way.

Match 1 - Gingins v/s Luxembourg
Our first game was a thriller with Luxembourg putting on a good total of 122/7 in 15 overs with Arav getting 2 wickets and Ayaan bowling a great economical spell. Gingins looked comfortable all along with 25(21) from Aadi and a commanding 31* in just 18 balls from Samanyu. The run rate slowed a little towards the end creating some nervous moments but we eventually coasted home in 14.2 overs scoring 123 for the loss of just one wicket. A great return to match cricket for us.

Match 2 - Gingins v/s Swiss u13s
After a brisk opening stand of 22 in 2 overs, our normally solid batting line-up stuttered in this game with all the batsmen struggling to score quickly and losing 5 wickets to run outs as the pressure kept building. We eventually finished at a sub-par 103/8(14.5 overs) with our own Edward Dann taking 2-6 playing for the Swiss u13s. In response, the Swiss u13s finally overhauled our total with only 3 balls to go. When things got tight, we were yet again undone by crucial runs from another of our own, Nicholas Rose. I guess it takes Gingins players to beat Gingins.

Match 3 - Gingins v/s Basel Dragons
The hosts, Basel Dragons batted first and put up a very competitive total of 138 in 15 overs. Ayaan yet again bowled excellently taking 2 wickets. Ayaan 28(20) and Aadi 33(16) opened the batting and put on 69 runs in 6 overs. Leo 31(23) and Arav 20(15) carried the score to 128. Yet again with just 11 runs needed, what was looking like an easy victory was turned into a hard slog as we gifted wickets through 4 run outs before finally scrambling home with just 1 ball to spare.

Match 4 - Gingins v/s Zurich
Against the toughest opponents in the tournament, needing to win to make it to the finals, we produced our best performance of the tournament bowling out Zurich for just 80 runs in 9.4 overs. Leo took 2 wickets. We stumbled yet again to 4 cheap run outs while batting, but Aadi held up one end with 23*(27) and we knocked off the required runs in just 13.4 overs. This result setup a rematch with Zurich in the finals/

Finals - Gingins v/s Zurich
We anticipated an exciting final and got exactly what we expected. Zurich batting first were never allowed to take their foot of the brakes. Ayaan with 3-19 and Leo with 2-19 kept making useful breakthroughs. Our two young guest players Hari and Kapilan, who both contributed throughout the tournament, chipped in with a wicket each. Zurich were restricted to 114-7 in 15 overs.

We anticipated an easy chase and did not exactly get what we expected. Wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Samanyu 14(19) and Ayaan 19(25) kept the counter ticking before Leo 21(14) brought us close to the target. As the pressure built and the required run-rate grew, we looked set to struggle before our tail wagged. Ciaran scored a quickfire 8 in just 3 balls and Ananya scored a critical boundary that kept victory in sight and allowed us to close a nerve-wracking win of the last ball and bring home the trophy.

One highlight of the tournament was our excellent fielding effort throughout. Ciaran set the ball rolling with a spectacular catch and run-out against Luxembourg. Aadi took 5 catches in the tournament, each one a crucial one. Arav, Ayaan, Samanyu and Leo also took a special catch each. The ground fielding was excellent throughout with everyone putting their body on the line regularly. Ananya was excellent with the gloves throughout, not letting anything through, keeping the extras in control and contributing with run outs through speedy glovework. Our two junior guests, Kapilan and Hari were also livewires in the field. Samanyu our best fielder by far strangely didn't get much action as the opposition didn't dare hit the ball to him :).

Thanks to Abhishek, Shashank for the coaching and all the parents for their chaperoning and cheerleading skills.

Coaches Note from Abhishek:
I would like to highlight some of the best moments. In the fielding, Ciaran’s catch and direct hit, Arav’s one handed catch, Ayan’s quick reflexive catch.. Samanyu’s going back catch on the boundary.. Leo's wall rebound catch, Aadi’s high catch on the boundary.. younger u-13 kids holding on to all the catches that came their way.. and Ananya’s fantastic keeping behind the wicket, we did not even think of having a backup fielder as she was excellent in keeping to our fast and spin bowlers.. there were lots of positives in batting, and in captaincy. Ciaran's walk off after snicking the ball is very admirable.
In bowling, I believe we were the most disciplined side as it is visible from the opposition scores against us (we bowled out zurich for lowest score of the tournament).. bravo to the players.

One of the points that needs attention is that we have to work on calling and running. in the indoors, anticipating the rebounds off the wall before deciding for a run etc.

To add to the winning the trophy, we have won 2 more awards, best bowler went to Leo and best fielder has been given to Aadi (this change has been informed by the organizers in the morning, initially it was given to Finn from Cossonay).

remaining awards: best batter went to Vedant from Zurich and Spirit of Cricket went to u-13 team with honorable mention to Ciaran's walk off.

Thanks to all the players for the performance and execution on the field and enkoying the game as it should be.

Thanks to all the parents for all the help and support during the tournament.

Link to Tournament and Scorecards:
https://www.crichq.com/draws/60432/rounds