Murthi hogs limelight with Player of the Match award

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HE more skilful Bears from SMK Bandar Puchong Jaya A emerged as champions in the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA)-Milo-SportsUnite-Kinrara eight-a-side fun event at the Kinrara Oval recently.

Going in to bat first in the final against Eagles from SMK Seksyen 4 Bandar Kinrara, the side captained by Petaling Perdana district representative Teoh Wai Fu returned with 80 runs to edge Eagles by 41 runs.

Bears’ M. Murthi stole the limelight with his exceptional batting display to earn the Player of the Match award.

Learning curve: Newcomer Nur Aina Husna batting for Wales from SMK Seksyen 3 Bandar Kinrara in the girls’ group match.

The 15-year-old contributed 26 runs including three sixes and still not out in the encounter.

However, Stallions failed to score a double for SMK Bandar Puchong Jaya A when they went down against the combined side of All-Star in the girls’ final.

In the decisive encounter, All-Star scored 23 runs for a commanding victory, winning the match by six wickets.

And All-Star’s Siti Najiha Zazali was voted the most outstanding player in the match.

Besides claiming three wickets, Siti also registered four runs and was still not out as they went on to seal the victory.

Making a dash: Bears’ captain Teoh Wai Fu chalking up the runs against Eagles in the final.

Considering the downpour on the opening day, the organisers have reduced the scoring format from seven-over to five-over to complete the fixtures.

A total of 21 teams from six schools including a primary school in Puchong took part in the two-day tournament.

Each team fielded 10 players in their line-up.

Seven teams featured in the girls’ section while 14 teams were in the fray in the boys’ contest.

MCA secretary C. Sivanandan said they were planning to introduce cricket to more schools in Puchong with the support from the Petaling Perdana education district office in their bid to create a bigger pool of players at junior level.

“For next year, we are hoping that the Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools will also join the occasion.

“Since hosting the meet last year, we have achieved our aim in attracting the newcomers to pick up a new sport and learn the basics of cricket in a fun way. We are delighted that the effort in promoting cricket at the grassroots is beginning to produce respectable results with several of the beginners representing the district this year,” he added.

From the inaugural meet with about 100 participants in the fray last year, three boys and two girls continuing to scale greater heights also received special mention during the prize-presentation ceremony.

This year, the trio of Teoh, Mohd Fikri Norizam and Mohd Affandi represented the Petaling Perdana district at the Selangor School Sports Council (MSSS) tournament.

Meanwhile, the fairer sex duo of Nor Hisham Zainon and Mim Sharieza Hanim went on to don the national stripes at the Asian Cricket Council Under-19 meet in Chiang Mai, Thailand, last season.

Both of them. 17, were part of the team which came in second behind Nepal at the junior continental tournament.