• Swami’s will bank on a star-studded top order comprising opener and skipper Rushabh Patel, his namesake Harshvardhan and dangerman Sachin Gill.
•T-20 champions Stray Lions 'A' host Sikh Union 'A' at Nairobi Jaffrey’s while Kongonis have a bye.
Image: HANDOUT
Shree Cutchi Leva Patel Samaj host on-form Swamibapa 'A' at Samaj Stadium in Nairobi West as the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 50-Overs League enters its fifth week.
Swamibapa and champions Ruaraka tie on 10 points with the latter top of the table due to a superior Net Run Rate of 2.220.
However, the Swamis have a match in hand against Ruaraka's four.
Last weekend, Ruaraka suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Kanbis who beat them by a 52-runs margin.
Ruaraka will seek to make amends against Sir Ali.
Swami’s will bank on a star-studded top order comprising opener and skipper Rushabh Patel, his namesake Harshvardhan and dangerman Sachin Gill.
Swamis’ overseas star, wicketkeeper Dhwanil Patel, is also expected to shine, having posted 60 off 66 deliveries in their five-wicket win over Sir Ali last weekend.
However, Samaj will not be pushovers.
The Nairobi West outfit are gunning for their second win of the season after beating Gymkhana by 221 runs at home last weekend.
Manish Kerai, Rahul Harish and Hiren Kerai are expected to occupy Samaj’s top order with Kishan Varsani, Ankit Bhanderi and skipper Niraj Patel expected to start in the middle order.
Kanbis 'A' will be away to a lacklustre Nairobi Gymkhana 'A' in a fixture the former are expected to dominate.
Experienced Dominic Wesonga and promising youngster Stian Smith will have to step up. If not, in-form Kanbis will roll over them. Kanbis are riding high in the NPCA League, though skipper Dhiren Gondaria wants free cricket with full responsibility.
Dhiren said: “We have batting till number 11 but I would urge my boys to play free cricket with full responsibility and things will go our way. Bowling-wise, I think we showed good character in our last match against Ruaraka."
"All my bowlers contributed towards the win but not to take credit from fielders, who threw themselves on the field and allowed the bowlers to bowl with confidence."
"The players were active till the last ball. They showed patience after that big partnership, kept believing and as soon as we got the breakthrough from Dhruvam, we decided not to relax but finish the game as soon as possible.”
T-20 champions Stray Lions 'A' host Sikh Union 'A' at Nairobi Jaffrey’s while Kongonis have a bye.
The Lions are expected to challenge the revamped Sikhs, who have three pros from Pakistan.
Stray Lions have missed the services of Tanzeel Shiekh and a few senior players. They hope last season’s highest run-scorer, Subham Jadhav, finds some form to lead the struggling batting unit.
Sikh Union have had a great start to the season with Ali Bhatt impressing with the bat, supported by Subham Patel and Jasraj Kundi.
Ruaraka's Gautam Waghela hopes to maintain his lead on the batting leaderboard. He has 234 runs in four innings.
He is followed by teammate Pushkar Sharma on 198 while Samaj 'A’s Hiren Kerai is on 160 from three innings.
Meanwhile, Division One leaders Ngara Sports Club 'A' have a date with Obuya 'A' at the latter’s Lenana School Ground on Sunday.
Both teams won their respective matches last weekend with Obuya inflicting Gymkhana 'B' a massive 101-run blow at Nairobi Gymkhana.
Sun/21/07/2024
SUPER DIVISON
Sir Ali A vs Ruaraka A (Sir Ali )
Nbi Gymkhana A vs Kanbis A (Nbi Gymkhana)
Stray Lions A vs Sikh Union A(Nbi Jaffreys)
SCLPS YL A vs Swamibapa A (Nairobi West) Kongonis A have abye.
DIVISION ONE
Ruaraka B vs Sir Ali B (Ruaraka)
Obuya A vs Ngara SC A (Lenana)
Kanbis B vs Nbi Gymkhana B (Eastleig)
Sikh Union B vs Stray Lions B (SikhUnion)
Wolves CC A vs GI Unicorns A (Viraj)
DIVISION TWO
Legends CC vs Wolves B (Impala)
Kongonis B vs Stray Leopards B (Nbi Club)
GI Unicorns B vs Stray Lions C (GI)
An-nadil Jamaly vs Obuya B (Saifee)