Edo Edo Boys High School and Iyoba College last week won the 4th edition of the Templars and Patrelli secondary school cricket competition, staged for boys and girls respectively.
Edo Boys High School beat Ohonre Grammar School by six wicket to lift the Templars trophy for boys while Iyoba College defeated Glorious Crown Group of Schools to claim their Patreli crown.
Barrister Abraham Oviawe, the Vice Chairman of the state cricket Association said the performance from this year’s edition definitely counts as the biggest exhibition of talent, since the school competition was instituted four years ago.
“We had the highest number of entries this year and that means more schools are buying into the Cricket Development project of the state. I also praise the state’s coaching team for their effort” He said.
The twenty overs game for boys saw Ohonre opening with 30 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 15.4 overs before Edo Boys’ team rose to the crease to chase down the score in 6.5 overs.
Top bowling performance was by Onoshagbe Joseph (Edo boys) who bowled four wickets for one run in 2 overs. Also, Solomon Chlemanya led the batting statistic of the closing game with 11 runs from 5 balls.
The first Innings saw Iyoba College dominated by scoring the highest number of runs recorded in the competition, a total of 95 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs.
Glorious Crown was unable to recover and could only produce 34 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 11.3 overs in the second innings of the game.
The Nigeria National Eomen’s Team who camped in Benin in preparation for the Kwibuka tournament in Rwanda, were present to encourage the young cricketers who aspiring to represent the country.
Newly appointed coach of the National Women’s Team, Mr. Leke Oyede, said the visit is important for the young players as they would have the opportunity to interact with the women they look up to, learn how to overcome the challenges they would face in the sport and also learn how to balance their academics with their cricket activities.
Founding partner of Patreli Partners law firm the sponsor of the female competition, Barrister Mrs Obosa Akpata, expressed joy at the involvement of girls in cricket.
“It is encouraging to see the number of girls infused with the game and also to see the sportsmanship and team play amongst the children. We are delighted to be a part of this and grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the development of female cricket in Edo state.” She said.
Oviawe added that, “What we are seeing here is the seed that if nurtured would grow to support the state team that performed spectacularly at the National Sports Festival and are already getting calls in the national teams.’ He added.
He noted that the different developmental initiatives of the Templars’ is part of, has been the driving force of the state’s rise in Cricket development.
“I think the growth we are experiencing is a combination of many things and we would be including the Visionary leadership of the State Government and the Chairman of the Cricket Association, Mr. Uyi Akpata.”
