Nine Matches In: Inside Erode's MSDIAN U14 Tournament
Eight academies, one ground at Vadamugam Vellode, and a week that has already produced a hundred and a four-wicket spell. Where the league stands, and what each team needs to do next.
Erode wakes early in May. The cotton belt is in season, and so is its cricket. Out at Vadamugam Vellode, half an hour west of the city, a ground called the Losers Cricket Ground is hosting eight under-14 academy sides through the week. The tournament is the MSDIAN U14 T25 White Ball, twenty-five overs a side, white kookaburra, leather ball. Kannan opened the gates on 12 May and will hand out the trophy on 19 May. Nine matches in. Knockouts at the weekend.
The ground does not advertise. The pitch is a regulation strip on what used to be red soil behind a small grove of coconut. The name is an old joke that has stuck. The board at the gate just says "Losers Cricket Ground", and the kids treat it like the most ordinary thing in the world.
Where the league stands
Eight teams, two groups of four, top two in each go through. Galaxy and Rv lead with a hundred-per-cent win record and one match left to play. Jeet's and Future Stars are out. The other four sides sit on two points each.
Group A
| Team | P | W | L | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy CA U14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | +2.68 |
| Vellammal Bodhicamps | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +0.43 |
| Jeet's CA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | −1.02 |
| Future Stars CA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | −1.27 |
Group B
| Team | P | W | L | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rv Cricket Academy | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | +1.79 |
| DCAE U14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | +5.76 |
| Gopi SA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +0.05 |
| Kangeyam CA | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | −3.17 |
Group A is, in everything but ceremony, decided. The Galaxy versus Vellammal match closes the group for first seed, not survival. Group B has the maths still. Rv versus DCAE and then DCAE versus Gopi will settle it. If DCAE beat Rv and then lose to Gopi, three teams sit at four points and the order goes to NRR. DCAE's plus 5.76 is the kind that survives one bad afternoon. The kids on the bench know it.
The knock of the week
114 off 70 vs Kangeyam, 15 May
Friday morning, Maghezhan opened the batting for DCAE and stayed in till the 24th over. Fifteen fours, no sixes, strike rate 162.9. The only hundred of the tournament so far. DCAE built 212 for 5 on top of it and won by 144 runs. At fourteen, a hundred is a thing you remember.
The leaderboards
Orange Cap (most runs)
| Player | Team | Runs | SR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harshan | Future Stars | 156 | 92.3 |
| Maghezhan C | DCAE | 114 | 162.9 |
| Rathnavel | Jeet's | 110 | 69.2 |
Purple Cap (most wickets)
| Player | Team | Wkts | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|
| G S Vibash | Vellammal | 7 | 3.20 |
| Harshan | Future Stars | 4 | 2.58 |
| B. Praneesh | Galaxy | 4 | 3.11 |
MVP (batting + bowling + fielding)
| Player | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Harshan | Future Stars | 425 |
| G S Vibash | Vellammal | 257 |
| Dharshwin Arya | Rv | 242 |
| Maghezhan C | DCAE | 219 |
| B. Praneesh | Galaxy | 182 |
Player of the Match, all nine games
| Match | Player | Card |
|---|---|---|
| VBU14 vs FSCA | V.G. Adishwar | 66*, 1 wkt |
| GCA vs FSCA | Harish | 23, 2 wkts |
| GCA vs JCA | B. Praneesh | 22, 2 wkts, 1 mdn |
| KCA vs RCA | Dharshwin Arya | 53*, 2 wkts |
| Gopi SA vs KCA | V. Anuvarsan | 8, 2 wkts, 1 c |
| FSCA vs JCA | Abenav | 45, 1 wkt |
| JCA vs VBU14 | Thoufiq | 3 wkts |
| Gopi SA vs RCA | Karthik.S.A | 60*, 1 c |
| DCAE vs KCA | Maghezhan C | 114 off 70 |
Watch
Every match has been streamed on the Skipper Cricket YouTube channel with a ball-by-ball scorecard overlay. Subscribe for the knockouts and the final live. Maghezhan's century is the one worth opening first.
For parents
Kannan scores every match on Skipper from one phone. The tournament page updates ball by ball. If your child is playing, download Skipper, follow the tournament page, and subscribe to the YouTube channel so the knockouts arrive in your feed. The trophy is on 19 May. Every kid's profile will carry the week by that evening.
Download Skipper to follow this tournament or run one of your own. Both work the same way, off a single phone.