BAPS Charities organised a national indoor cricket tournament for youths, the Yogi Yuva Cup, on Sunday 9 March 2014 held jointly at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London, The Swaminarayan School, and Harrow Leisure Centre.
Thirty-two teams and over 250 participants from various communities across the UK joined together for an event that offered tremendous enthusiasm and healthy competitiveness, providing enjoyment and fostering community spirit throughout.
With a high quality of cricket on display for all to enjoy, the support for the teams was equally impressive. The top two teams in each of the eight groups qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament – including Watford, who were participating in their very first tournament.
The round of 16 allowed eight teams to progress safely with no major shocks. The strength and experience of the seeded teams proved too strong for the challengers. By the quarter-final stage the exciting atmosphere had risen with teams knowing they were now only two games away from contesting the final.
Nottingham Robbins remained the last remaining team outside of London at the quarter-final stages, but their journey ended here as they lost to South London A. East London’s two-pronged challenge also stopped at this stage with both their A and B teams falling to Harrow A and BAPS Lions, respectively. In the remaining quarter-final, Finchley A, the 2012 winners, comfortably beat the Charities Volunteers.
The semi-finals kept alive the possibility of a repeat final from last year of South London A vs Harrow A. Standing in their path were BAPS Lions and Finchley A who were determined to contest the final. The first match proved to be a close contest between South London A and BAPS Lions with South London A eventually progressing by a narrow margin of eight runs. The second semi-final was an equally gripping battle where Harrow A progressed with some calm batting in the final over despite the best bowling efforts of opposing captain Arpit Naik.
The final was indeed a repeat of last year with Harrow A looking to reverse their fortunes against a much-changed South London A team. Harrow A batted first and set a challenging target of 127 with some consistent hitting throughout. In the chase, South London A began well and were on course with the target run-rate. With the third pair at the crease, Harrow A pegged back their opponents with some tight bowling, sensible fielding and all-important good fortune. Despite the valiant efforts of the final pair led by South London A’s captain Darpan Amin, South London A eventually reached a total of 103, well short of the target. Harrow A had successfully claimed the trophy from the holders and were crowned champions for 2014.
The hugely successive event promoted the joy of exercise for youths leading busy lifestyles and helped to enhance community relations between youths from various towns and cities around the country.
Prizes for exceptional individual performances were also awarded, as follows:
Best Batsmen – Darpan Amin (South London A) and Manish Patel (BAPS Lions)
Best Bowlers – Kalpesh Dangar (Harrow A) and Piyush Patel (South London B)
