2nd Belgrade indoor tournament New Belgrade Trophy

On Saturday, 27th of February, the second U-15 indoor cricket tournament (Belgrade
Championship) was held in the indoor hall of Jovan Sterija Popovi elementary
school in New Belgrade. This time, the interest of children was even higher so
instead of four, as previously planned, there were five 7-a-side teams competing
three from the school of cricket in New Belgrade and two from Stari Grad. What
is even more important is that the level of cricket was much improved in
comparison with the first tournament. The teams looked more compact and
tactically aware, with bowling, running between the wickets and the fielding being
the three main areas of improvement.
The teams were divided in two groups Group A (Centurion, Sava and
Blokovi/Mirijevo A) and Group B (Mirijevo and Stari Grad). In group A the matches
were played in accordance with single round robin system, whereas in group B
teams played each other twice. The second placed team in both groups then played
the 3rd place play off, and the first placed played the final.
The matches were very tightly matched and competitive, due to the much better
understanding of the game in comparison with the first tournament. Whats more,
two matches had to be decided in super over!
The winner of the tournament was, surprisingly, the second team of Mirijevo Blokovi, who in the final beat their more established team-mates. The third place
was reserved for Centurion, the winners of the first tournament. Unfortunately, the
guests from the city centre- Sava and Stari Grad this time had to return home
without medals. The best batter of the tournament was again Luka Milievi, who
this time played for Blokovi, whilst the best bowler was an extremely talented 13
year old, Milica Andri of Centurion.
It should be mentioned that the tournament was honored by the presence of
eminent guests who presented the trophy and the medals: H.E. Arif Mahmood, the
Ambassador of Pakistan; Ms. Melinda Rio, the First Secretary of the Australian
Embassy in Belgrade; Dr. Dane Korica, representative of the Serbian Sports
Association and one of the best athletes in the history of Serbian sport, and the
headmaster of the Jovan Sterija Popovi school, Mr. Dejan Pavkovi.
Nenad Dugic, on the behalf of the Belgrade Cricket Association, was very pleased
with the progress that youth teams made and praised help and the support of the
Serbian Cricket Federation, Municipalities Stari Grad and New Belgrade, the SOS Kit
Aid and the ICC.
The third and the final U15 indoor cricket tournament will be held at the premises of
the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, on Sunday 27th of March.
Results of the matches:

Group A:
Centurion 36/3 Blokovi 36a.o. Super over Blokovi 12/0 Centurion 5/1. Blokovi won
by 7 runs.
Player of the match Milica Andri (11 runs, 3 wickets)
Blokovi 53/3 Sava 48/2. Blokovi won by 5 runs.
Player of the match Luka Milievi (14 runs, 1 wicket, 1 maiden over)
Centurion 65/2 Sava 55/3. Centurion won by 10 runs
Player of the match Milica Andri (10 runs, 2 wickets)
Group B:
Mirijevo 56/1 Stari Grad 57/3. Stari Grad won by 4 wickets
Player of the match Ivana Stoli (6 runs, 1 wicket)
Mirijevo 60/5 Stari Grad 46/1. Mirijevo won by 14 runs.
Player of the match Aleksa Markovi (16 runs)
Super over qualifier Mirijevo 11/1 Stari Grad 7/2. Mirijevo won by 4 runs.
3rd Place Play off:
Centurion 39/3 Stari Grad 32/0. Centurion won by 7 runs.
Player of the match: Radovan Kukolj (12 runs)
Final:
Blokovi 57/2 Mirijevo 53/1. Blokovi won by 4 runs.
Player of the match: Luka Milievi (15 runs, 1 wicket)