Victorious after 41 years

Victoria School players carrying their captain Yusuf Aslam after beating Raffles Institution by 37 runs in the Schools National B Division cricket final. -- PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM

POWERED by Siddharth Sikka’s half-century and captain Yusuf Aslam’s brilliant batting and fielding, Victoria School won the Schools National B Division cricket final at the Ceylon Sports Club ground yesterday.

They beat favourites Raffles Institution by 37 runs to claim the title after 41 years. Victoria were second in the past two years.

‘Both teams were good and the match was of high quality,’ said Fred Martens, the Victoria coach. ‘Raffles dropped a couple of crucial catches, we didn’t. That cost them the match.’

Victoria should be thankful Yusuf was dropped when the 16-year-old had just begun his innings.

Yusuf and Sikka, after initial consolidation, tore the Rafflesians’ bowling apart with some powerful hitting.

Sikka smashed 56, including four sixes and three fours, and Yusuf contributed a swift unbeaten 38, with two boundaries and a six, as Victoria totalled 141-4 in 20 overs.

Brief scores: Victoria School 141-4 in 20 overs (Siddharth Sikka 56, Yusuf Aslam 38 n.o.). Raffles Institution 104 in 17.2 overs (Divesh Dadlani 23; Shabab Chowdhury 3-24, Abdul Hareesh 2-8).

From: The Straits Times