ACS(I) cricketers topple RI in final

They were facing the three-time defending champions, who had already beaten them by 20 runs in the preliminary round.

Rather than being intimidated by Raffles Institution (RI) yesterday, the Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) team were instead confident of clinching their first Schools National A Division cricket title since 2010.

Sure enough, they beat RI by 18 runs at the Ceylon Sports Club.

The reason for their confidence, according to captain Archit Goenka, was that they had beaten the same RI team two years ago in the B Division final.

"We were getting better as the tournament progressed, we were peaking at the right time," said the 18-year-old, who scored 48 runs from 32 balls to guide ACS(I) to 154-5 in 20 overs.

Despite strong batting by ACS(I), RI were still fancied, as they had scored between 160 and 180 in previous matches.

However, they only reached 136-8 in 20 overs, losing their first wicket without scoring.

"I'm very proud of the boys, because we didn't give up in spite of the massive total that ACS(I) set up, and managed to chase it back to 136," said RI captain Chirath Gunasinghe, 18.

ACS (I) coach Sarika Prasad said three of his key players - Archit, Utsav Rakshit and Prateek Mishra - had underperformed against RI in the preliminary round, and felt that they made the difference in yesterday's final.

"Some of them have been with me since primary school, and it's nice to see them finish their school career on a high," he said.

This article was first published on May 27, 2014.
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