Sweden U18 come back home UNDEFEATED following six games in Copenhagen, Denmark. An action packed week witnessed Sweden defeating Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and Norway in T20 & 50 overs games. The week also witnessed key coaching workshop focusing on important messages for this age group in Captaincy, Leadership, Spirit of the Game, Mental skills, S&C and Nutrition.
Match 1 – Sweden U18 vs Germany U18
Sweden batted first and after losing early wickets on a fresh Turf wicket, the innings was held together by Mashal Khan (23 of 32 balls) and Anish Pimpalkhare (18 of 28 balls).
Sweden put up a modest total of 89 being restricted by some excellent bowling from Germany
Sweden successfully defended the target of 90 with some exceptional bowling performance led by Hasan (3 wickets for 12) backed well by Mohammad Saile & Zaid Ahmad (2 wickets each).
Anish kept well and accounted for 4 scalps (3 catches and a stumping).
All in all, a low scoring thriller, with Sweden coming on top showing great character and belief in a low scoring encounter.
Match 2 – Sweden U18 vs Denmark U18
Sweden fielded first and came up with a brilliant bowling effort led by Sanuk Keppetiyawe, well supported by Mohammad Saile and restricted a strong Denmark team to 107.
Sweden had a slow start, but the innings was ably stabilised by Mashal Khan once again. Fawad Shirzad and Zaid Ahmed came up with important contributions and runs under pressure to support Mashal.
Hasan and Mashal held their nerve and helped Sweden achieve the victory in final over against a strong Danish side.
Match 3 – 50 overs v Denmark
Our first 50 overs match against Denmark Development squad witnessed a quick flow of wickets in the first hour as the home team were bowled out for 67 by an excellent display of seam bowling in the first inning. A ruthless batting performance from our top order batters finished the game in 11 overs. Due to the early finish, we decided to play a T20 match for the rest of the day, sweden batted first scoring 146 with excellent contribution from Kavin Meenakshisundaram, Yarharth Singh Chauhan and Fawad Shirzad. We finished the game in similar fashion to the first match, bowling the home side out for 69 in the second innings. Overall a successful day against Denmark.
Match 4 – 50 overs v Switzerland
Having won the toss, Sweden batted first, Kavin Meenakshisundaram again the pick the batters (80 from 107 balls) with good support from Fawad Shrizad (28 from 31) and Mohammed Salie (24 from 15 balls) posting 217. In reply, Switzerland started positively but lost wickets at regular intervals, Madhav Erat pick of the bowlers 4- 20 runs, supported by Zaif Ahmed 3- 21 runs. Overall a convincing 87 run victory.
5th Match – T20 v Norway.
Another difficult opposition on our final day on this tour. Sweden won the toss and batted first, posting 187 for 5 wickets in our 20 overs. 79 from 48 balls from Captain Yatharth Singh Chauhan, 31 from 32 balls from Kavin Meenakshisundaram, 25 or 14 balls from Fawad Shirzad and an explosive 29 from 13 balls from Zaid Ahmed help our helped to put on our highest T20 score for the week. A competitive start by Norway eventually witnessed regular wickets supported by excellent display in the field after the powerplay. Rahul Madhan Prabu picking 3-16 in 4 overs supported by Madhav Erat 2-20 for his 4 overs.
Overall, a competitive week of cricket, lots of key learning points and reflections for the our youth team. It’s key to build positive behaviours and habits which helps shape our culture which is very important at this stage of their cricketing journey. I witnessed some excellent individual performances but overall very satisfied with the teams performance, especially coming home unbeaten against strong Nordic teams. I would like to thank Rajan Sharma and Vikram Pimpalkhare for their continuous support along with
all the parents who travelled along also. Qasim Ali – Director of Cricket
Heja Sverige!
