Having already taken some impressive scalps, the Nitish Hirani-led Ruaraka A can no longer be taken lightly in the ongoing Nairobi County Cricket Association (NCCA) 50-Overs Super Division League.
The immediate former Champions racked-up a thumping seven-wicket win over hosts Ngara Sports Club A, thanks to two centuries delivered by current league’s top run scorer Satyalaksha Jain and Kenya team star Pushkar Sharma.
Pushkar set the tone for a brilliant Ruaraka A performance in the second innings as he smacked a fabulous 53-ball century.
Satyalaksha on his part chalked-up his third century of the season coming in the middle order. His scintillating show on the crease saw him cling onto the NCCA 50-overs leaderboard with 590 runs accrued from 6 innings at an impressive average of 147.
Ruaraka won the toss and elected to field first as the hosts were all bowled out for 254/10 in 48.3 overs. In response Ruaraka A managed 256 for three in just 28.3 overs.
But Ruaraka’ s huge win was overshadowed by Kanbis A who decimated hard-fighting Sikh Union A by 23 runs to cling onto the summit of the Super Division log for the umpteenth time.
Kanbis who are also the defending champions exploded incidentally without injured skipper Dhiren Gondaria, known for his run-scoring antics.
The drama began when Kanbis won the toss and elected to bat first, posting a mammoth total of 387 runs for four in 50 overs. Kanbis openers Pushpak (53 runs) and Keval Bhuva (94) runs set the tone for a huge total with a brilliant opening partnership of 124 runs in 21 overs.
The middle order led by the newly acquired overseas professional Murtaza Trunkwala struck a scintillating unbeaten century (101 runs off 65 balls) ably supported by the evergreen Kenya batting stalwart Rakep Patel who scored unbeaten 73 runs off only 32 balls.
Chasing the massive target, the Sikhs didn’t fail to impress when skipper Sukhdeep Singh hit a 72-ball century. But Sukhdeep’s stellar performance wasn’t enough to salvage a win from leaders Kanbis. Sikh Union batters fought hard to chase a daunting target and would be disappointed by failing short by only 23 runs after finishing with impressive 364 runs all out in 49.1 overs.
Swamibapa A also proved too strong for Sir Ali who they beat by 201 runs at their Jaffrey’s home turf.
On a day of centuries, thanks to Yash Chavan’s 84-ball grandeur. Chavan also clinched the man-of-the match and Best Bowler accolades. Chavan collected a total of 4 wickets
Put in to bat first by Sir Ali, Swamibapa batters found it hard to score on a difficult surface and were reduced to 52 runs for 3 in 11.2 overs. But two good partnerships between Jignesh Hirani (31 runs) and Yash Chavan (100 runs) and Yash Chavan and Sachin Gill (69 runs) propelled the team to a decent total of 313/8 in 50 overs.
In response, Sir Ali A were dismissed for 112/9 in only 22.5 overs. Losing to marauding Swamis saw Sir Ali suffer their third straight defeat and the fourth of the season much to their chagrin.
Following matchday 7, Kanbis are tied on 24 points with Ruaraka but the latter still tops the log on Net Run Rate.
SCLPS A defeated Kongonis A by 105 runs to record their third victory of the season. SCLPS A batting first scored 248/9 in 50 overs and in reply Kongonis A were bowled out for 143 runs in 39.2 overs to lose their 7th successive game in the campaign.
–Centuries Galore–
Stian Smith also scored a century to propel Nairobi Gymkhana to a 9-wicket win over Stray Lions A.
SUPER DIVISION MATCHDAY 7 RESULTS
Kanbis A 387/4 (49.1 Ov), Sikh Union A 364 (50.0 Ov), Kanbis won by 23 runs
Swamibapa A 313/8 (50.0 Ov); Sir Ali A 112/9 (22.5 Ov); Swamibapa A won by 201 runs
SCLPS A 248/9 (50.0 Ov), Kenya Kongonis A 143/10 9 (39.2Ov) ; SCLPS A won by 105 runs
Ngara A 245/10 (48.3); Ruaraka A 256/3 (28.3 Ov); Ruaraka A won by 7 wickets
Stray Lions A 174/9 (50.0Ov); Nairobi Gymkhana 175/1 (24.5 Ov); Gymkhana won by 9 wickets