Three Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 50-Overs Super League matches were abandoned due to unplayable pitch conditions.
This was occasioned by the recent heavy rains which pounded the city later in the week. The heavy downpour on Friday evening rendered 3 of the 4 matches unplayable seriously denting the chances of title contenders.
Swamibapa A match against defending champions Ruaraka A programmed for Nairobi Jaffrey’s was abandoned due to poor pitch conditions which seriously dents both sides title charge.
Swamibapa has so far had 2 games abandoned which might cost them dearly in the end.
Sir Ali A’s home match against Sikh Union A at Park Road as well the Kongonis A versus SCLPS YL A at Nairobi Club were also abandoned for similar reasons.
Despite heroic efforts by the Sir Ali Management to dry out the pitch using all sorts of equipment in their inventory, the pitch remained unplayable and the Umpires decided to call off the game.
In the only Super League match of the weekend, Kanbis A defeated T20 Champions Stray Lions by 147 Runs at their Eastleigh High School home-ground to stay on course for title contention.
Kanbis A skipper Dhiren Gondaria was all smiles after victory and here’s what he had to say: The boys played really well, just happy with the form all of us are in at the moment. We hope to keep doing the same thing till the last game.”
Stray Lions opener Kavi Dosaja on his part commented: Today’s game was tough considering the conditions. Our captain Neil Mugabe won the toss and chose to bowl – at one moment, we reduced Kanbis to 76-5 before their overseas professionals put up a good partnership that swung the game in their favor. In our chase of the score, we lost wickets at regular interval and could not sustain the pressure from the Kanbis bowlers, that held us back.”
Opener Kavi chipped in with 17 off 14 balls, while Neil Mugabe hit 33 off 29 balls.
In the first innings, Kanbis A were bowled out for 241 in 49 .3 Overs, which at one time seemed inadequate. However, in reply, Stray Lions A were also bowled out for a paltry 94 in 25.2 Overs.
Sheryas Gurav was the toast of Kanbis A outfit after he picked 5-Wickets with Emmanuel Bundi collecting two.
Kanbis middle order batter Maxwell Swaminathan was the match’s highest scorer with 57 off 71 balls.
Sachin Bhudiya smacked 39 off 22 balls whilst Keval Bhuva made a contribution of 42 off 40 deliveries.
It was a bad day at the office though for Kanbis’ Rakep Patel and skipper Dhiren Gondaria who were sent back to the pavilion for a paltry 4 runs apiece.
Dhiren was bowled out by Amin Amish while Rakep was caught out by Aarnav.
Following the weekend matches, Swamibapa A remain on top the Super League log on net- run rate with 16 points same as Kanbis A and Ruaraka A. Kanbis A has a game in hand.
Ruaraka duo Gautam Waghela and Pushkar Sharmah top the batting chart with 346 runs and 250 respectively from 5 innings. Gondaria is placed third with 194 accrued from 4 innings.
Meanwhile, Division Two League continued at various venues. Stray Leopards B beat Legends Cricket Club by 4 wickets at Impala Club.
In another Division Two fixture, Goan Institute B Defeated Wolves Cricket Club B by five wickets.
In Division One, Obuya A beat Sir Ali B by 78 Runs. In another match, SCLPS YL B defeated Wolves A by 72 runs.
NPCA’s fixture secretary Vishal Bhojani scored a brilliant century scoring 115 off 105 balls taking home teams total to 315/10. Wolves could only manage 243/9 in their allotted overs.
Full results are as follows:-
SUPER DIVISION
●Kanbis A beat Stray Lions A (Eastleigh) 147 Runs
●Swamibapa A vs Ruaraka A (Nbi Jaffrey’s) -match Abandoned due to unplayable conditions
●Sir Ali A vs Sikh Union A Sir Ali-match Abandoned due to unplayable conditions
●Kongonis A vs SCLPS YL A (Nbi Club)-match Abandoned due to unplayable conditions ●Bye -Nbi Gymkhana A
DIVISION One
●Obuya Academy A beat Sir Ali B by 78 Runs
●Ruaraka B beats Swamibapa B by 178 Runs
●Kanbis B beats Stray Lions B by 143 Runs
●Sikh Union B beats Ngara Sports Club A by 6-Wickets
DIVISION TWO
●Stray Leopards B beat Legends CC by 4-Wickets ●Ngara B beat An-nadil Jamaly by 6-Wickets
●GI Unicorns B beats Wolves B by 5-Wickets