KFSAC Year 5 and 6 Boys Cricket
On Saturday 1st April, our A and B cricket teams were in action in the annual KFSAC cricket tournament. Both teams played exceptionally well and managed a very pleasing 1st and 3rd place finish in the tournament- well done to all involved!
A Squad
The A squad of Omar, William, Sam, Christian, Felix and Finnley had proved themselves during preparation and they continued to show their ability as the games started.
TEA were our first opponents and, after Omar had won the coin toss and decided to bowl, we set about our work. A brilliant bowling and fielding display limited TEA to a score of 153 – great for TES considering they started on 200! Catches were taken, players run-out and stumpings cleverly claimed. We were straight into our groove. The sides swapped over and TES were in to bat. Omar and Christian got us off to a strong start, scoring 17 runs off the first 2 overs. Sam and William maintained the pressure on the TEA bowlers, taking the score up to 227. Finnley and Felix then eased through the last 2 overs, scoring 27 runs to take our total to 254 – an emphatic victory by over 100 runs! Game 2 here we come!
Due to the size of the tournament TES and TEA had been allowed to bring a B squad to the event and now we matched up against our friends, the B team. Friends in school, friends in practice but most definitely not friends on the cricket pitch. A cagey game followed and the B squad played out of their skins, putting pressure on the As at every opportunity. Despite losing a couple of wickets the B team finished their innings on 210, a positive target and one that required focus from the As. Strong fielding limited the scoring power of our openers and, after losing 2 wickets in the middle of the innings, the Bs could smell victory. Unfortunately for them, class showed and the As crept over the line to win by 10 runs. Close, and definitely a wake-up call.
BSK were our next opponents and we started brilliantly, taking 5 wickets in the first 2 overs. BSK were definitely on the back foot now. A maiden over followed and BSK were struggling. Unfortunately for TES the next player in decided to swing the bat and hit 3 huge 6s to bring them back into contention. A couple of tight overs at the end kept BSK at bay and they finished on 198. Safe, sensible cricket was needed to win this one and after a positive first over we were confident. A minor collapse then happened and we lost 3 quick wickets, making the scores tight. We needed a strong finish to put this game to bed. To put it simply, panic over. No problems and another game won – TES finishing on 212.
NES followed next and a change of bowling order was needed by TES to help limit their strongest batsman – a switch that worked to perfection. Only 2 runs were scored and 3 wickets were lost – a great tactical ‘victory’. Further strong bowling put us in a powerful position and NES were finally out for 180 - another minus score. TES batted confidently and carefully and eased to a 50 run victory.
Heads were now held high and we took our positions ready to face KES in our penultimate game. There was immediate disappointment and our first loss of the day occurred – the coin toss. KES subsequently chose to field and this meant we had to post a challenging total when batting, rather than chase down a total. A different mindset was required – how could we attack but play sensible cricket at the same time? To cut a long story short, we managed it and posted a healthy score of 252 – thanks in part to a last over where we scored 16 runs. The original bowling order was reinstated and despite one or two big hits from the KES openers the challenge proved too great for them. Another 5 wickets were taken by TES and KES finished 45 runs short of our total – 207.
With the KFSAC title now secured we were able to relax and enjoy our final game against TEA B. Despite dropping a couple of chances we bowled beautifully and took 10 wickets in the game, conceding only 4 runs. TEA B 154. As the midday sun beamed down our tired batsmen strode to the crease for one last hurrah - and what a last hurrah it was! EIGHT 6s and three 4s were struck and TES racked up a huge total of 293 – the last 2 overs going for 51 runs! Another dominant display from a dominant team.
The gladiators, still looking sprightly after over 4 HOURS of cricket, came off the battlefield unmatched in all areas all day - brilliant in the field, accurate and devastating with the ball and balanced and elegant with the bat. This was a complete all-round performance from 6 very strong cricketers. From 6 games the boys conceded only 122 runs and managed to take a staggering 43 wickets.
Throughout the tournament all of the boys (A and B team) played with a fantastic spirit and were incredibly sporting. They really were a credit to their parents and to TES. Another trophy for the Year 5 and 6 boys and the third consecutive KFSAC cricket one. Very well played, gentlemen!
B Squad
TES B team started the KFSAC cricket competition with a game versus KES. The boys batted well during the first fixture and bowled and fielded very well during too. KES set a score of 205, but TES made a decent start to the day scoring 219 runs to win the opener. The second game was against the TES A team, the boys knew it was going to be a close game and put in a respectable score of 210 against a strong bowling lineup. The fielding and bowling was of a high standard in game 2 and the B team narrowly lost out to TES A by a score of 220-210. By game 3 the boys got into a good rhythm with their batting and started to put in some impressive scores, beating TEA B team 251-207 and then beating TEA 260-192 (taking 5 wickets in the process). In the penultimate game of the day the boys were very close to beating BSK (dropping a couple of catches and missing chances of run outs), losing by a very close margin of 226-222. In the final game of the day the boys took on NES and beat them comfortably by a score of 242-207, doing enough to finish 3rd overall in the competition. A great performance by all the boys on the day, well done Aayan, Ciaran, Harrison, Haydn, Liam, Truman, Umair and Vardaan!
Yet another fantastic term of sport at TES. All pupils in Years 3-8 who have contributed to our successes are to be commended for their efforts.
After Spring Break, we have ISACK semi-finals to look forward to, and all being well finals - as well as the final KFSAC tournament of the year - the girls and boys basketball. In Term 3, we are also looking forward to our inter-house tournaments open to all of our Prep students.
Wishing you all a pleasant break next week whether you are travelling, or staying here in Kuwait.