Swamis 'A' beat Kanbis 'A' to keep top spot in the 50-Overs league

Sublime Dhwanil Patel smacked a century as Swamibapa 'A' beat rivals Kanbis 'A' by 89 runs in Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 50-Overs Super League match at Nairobi Jaffrey’s.

The result saw the Swamis consolidate their lead on the table despite early scares; wrapping up the weekend four points clear of Kanbis and defending Champions Ruaraka.

It was also a bad day in the office for champions Ruaraka 'A' who suffered a 3-wicket loss to Shree Cutch Leva Patel Samaj (SCLPS YL A) in another Super Division encounter.

Batting first, Ruraka scored 232 all out in 44.5 overs. In reply, SCLPS chased the score with seven wickets down. Ravi Rabadia with 69 runs was the top scorer in the match.

Hosts Sikh Union racked up their second win of the season with a six-wicket advantage over Kenya Kongonis.

Nairobi Gymkhana 'A' chalked up their maiden win of the season after handing Sir Ali Muslim Club a seven-wicket blow.

Week 7 matches saw Swamibapa cling on to the summit of the NPCA log with 20 points minus their injured skipper Rushabh Patel who is expected to return soon.

Kanbis won the toss and chose to bowl first. However,  Swamibapa had a bad start in their innings, losing three wickets in the start.

Kanbis’ overseas paceman, Dhruvam Patel picked up the first three wickets in his opening spell to reduce Swamibapa to 16 for 3 in the first five overs.

Then Swamibapa had two good partnerships between Dhwanil Patel and Harendra and then a 100-run partnership with Yash Chavan which saw them through to a decent total.

Swamibapa pro-Sachin Gill commented: “Yash and Dhwanil got us out of danger. Dhwanil scored a brilliant 124 as Yash chipped in with 38. The lower order also made a good contribution which got us to 233. Kanbis had a flying start but we came back with quick wickets and got the game on our side.”

  Following early dismissals of Swamibapa's top order of Harshvardhan Patel, Prashan Hirani and Sachin Gill, Dhwanil remained peerless on the bat, hitting 124 off 117 balls with 10 boundaries and 8 sixes to his name.

After a rapid start by Kanbis openers Nelson Odhiambo (53 runs) and Pushpak Kerai (7), the spinners led by Vraj Patel 3/35 and Yash Chavan 4/36 picked wickets at regular intervals to bowl Kanbis out for 144/10 in 33 overs.

Sikh Union captain Sukhdeep Singh hailed his boys for the victory against Kongonis. He said: “It was a good effort from the boys. We were able to restrict Kongonis for a low score with  Yug Patel taking 5 wickets.”

Sukhdeep continued: "A youngster who just came in from the B team and bowling this well was exceptional. When it came to batting, Shubham Patel and Jasraj Kundi were amazing to watch in the Sikh Union line-up. It was amazing to get four points in the bag after not being able to play against Sir Ali last week.”

Elsewhere, Nairobi Gymkhana opened their account in the league with an impressive win over Sir Ali A at Nairobi Gymkhana.

After winning the toss, Sir Ali could only muster 200/10 in 44.3 overs with the only notable contribution from their overseas player Onkar Jadhav who scored 86 runs off 91 deliveries. 

The pick of the bowlers for Nairobi Gymkhana was skipper Dominic Wesonga with 4/28 ably supported by youngster Krishil Patel with 3/42.

In response, Nairobi Gymkhana chased the runs in 42.3 overs with the loss of only three wickets. Yuvraj Bhatyani 68 not out and Sami Sohail 78 not out starred with the bat in the run chase.

In Division One, Wolves Cricket Club beat Sikh Union B by three wickets at Viraj International Academy. Ngara 'A' beat Nairobi Gymkhana by seven wickets. Obuya Cricket Club 'A' beat Stray Lions B by five wickets while Kanbis 'B' avenged their 'A' side loss with a 151-run win over Swamibapa B.

Division Two also produced fireworks with Stray Lions 'C' defeating An-nadil Jamaly by 30- runs. Wolves 'B' made it a double on the weekend by beating Obuya 'B' by five wickets.