Inda's legendary cricket all-rounder Kapil Dev thrilled the spectators while leading Delhi Public School (DPS) Riyadh team to a convincing win against Veteran's XI in an exhibition match which was organized by the Delhi Public School at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital grounds here last week. The King Faisal ground wore a festive look as schoolchildren and families flocked to watch former India captain Kapil in action. And he did not disappoint the fans as he took two wickets and scored a quickfire unbeaten 30 runs. Kapil Dev led the young DPS school team against Veterans XI which was comprised of players from Indian Embassy and King Faisal Specialist Hospital cricket teams. The Veterans XI were led by Rajeev Sahare, Deputy Chief of Mission, Indian Embassy. Opting to bat first Veterans XI captain Rajeev Sahare got out the first ball as he tried to flick a wide ball on the leg side and was caught by the wicketkeeper. The opener M.S. Kanyal started aggressively by hitting 2 consecutive boundaries. He batted with flair to score a fine 30 with 5 hits to the fence. Nayeem Akbar then accelerated the scoring with a splendid knock of 44 with five fours and one six. The moment Kapil came on to bowl the crowd gave him a big roar. He bowled gentle medium pace and took two quick wickets to put the Veterans in check. The other scorers for the Veterans XI were Meraj Khan (11), Mansoor Ahmed (18 not out), Azhar Hussain (19 not out) and C.Vijay (6). For DPS XI Adnan and Kapil Dev took two wickets each. Veterans tallied 121 in their allotted 15 overs. For DPS XI openers Mustafa and Pandyan were scoring freely, before both of them were bowled by M.Arshad. Mustafa made 20 and Pandyan 12. After the fall of openers, Adnan and Amer played sensibly but the run rate kept piling up. Adnan was soon bowled by Azhar Hussain. The crowd once again gave a big applause to Kapil as he strode to the crease. He immediately started striking the ball. At the other end, Amer played a little cameo by scoring 18 runs off only 5 balls before he was retired hurt. Kapil then upped the tempo by hitting two fours in one over. DPS XI reached 122 runs in the 14th over. Kapil remained not out on 30 with 4 fours. For veterans XI, Arshad took two wickets while Amer, Nayeem Akbar and Azhar Hussein took one wicket each. Later, Nadeem Tarin, Chairman of DPS School, handed over the winner's cup to Kapil and thanked him for his sporting gesture of playing during this hot summer and motivating the young players. Mairaj Khan, Principal of DPS Riyadh thanked Tata Consultancy Group for sponsoring the match and appreciated Rehan Khan for making fine arrangements. He also thanked the KFSH and RC CC for providing the ground for the event. __
