No complacency this time as RI claim cricket crown

During their previous meeting in the National School Games A Division boys' cricket competition on May 13, Raffles Institution (RI) were confident they could outscore the 114 runs in 20 overs accumulated by defending champions Anglo-Chinese School (Independent).

- Samuel Tan

Confidence soon turned into complacency however, as RI, batting second, fell just short, amassing 113 runs in the same amount of overs, losing by just one run.

As the two schools squared off again in the final at Ceylon Sports Club on May 23, RI were determined to not repeat that mistake. Keeping their focus in the sweltering heat, they won by eight wickets. RI captain Shreevathsa Chihnan said: "That loss (by one run) helped us realise that we shouldn't be complacent at any moment of the game, regardless of whether we're leading or when we're losing.

"That's what we learnt from that game, and we won today because of that loss. It was a really needed loss."

The win marks RI's first A Division cricket crown since 2018 and ended ACS (I)'s run of four straight titles from 2019 to 2024, excluding the Covid-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.