Newly promoted Kenya Kongonis finally racked up their maiden Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 50-Overs League match victory.
Kongonis caused the season’s biggest upset so far when they dealt T20 Champions Stray Lions a five-wicket blow contrary to all expectations.
Kongonis’ middle order batsman Thomas Ojijo described their fairytale performance at their Nairobi Club backyard as awe-inspiring.
Kongonis made their runs through Nelson Taylor (28) Jitendra Gariya (26) and Brian Likavu who chipped in with a valuable 26.
“Second innings was a slow start due to the nature of the pitch but our batters took their time to navigate through,” said Ojijo. “It feels good to get the first win in the Super League; since it’s still early days yet in the league unfortunately we have a bye this coming weekend gives us more time to grind and do the basics right waiting for Samaj in our next fixture.”
Stray Lions won the toss and decided to bat first. Kongonis’ opening pair of Jitendra Singh Gariya and Nirav Bhudia used the overcast conditions at the Club by hitting right areas.
Ben Sidwell was nevertheless the toast of Kongonis outfit when he captured four quick wickets that set us up to allow the spinners to take full advantage of the pitch.
Tom Ojijo took 3 wickets whilst Shem Ngoche and Kelvin Nganga both took 1 apiece which saw Stray Lions bowled out for a total of 111 runs.
Kanbis, Swamis Sparkle
Meanwhile, former champions Kanbis and Swamibapa maintained their dogged campaign in search of the coveted Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 50
Dhwanil Patel smacked a cool unbeaten 60 off 66 deliveries as Swamibapa A defeated Sir Ali Muslim Club by 5 wickets at Nairobi Jaffrey’s. Winning the toss, Rushab Patel immediately put Sir Ali into bat under overcast conditions and the bowlers responded by bowling out star studded Sir Ali’s batting line up. Vraj Patel was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets.
Kanbis, on the other hand, defeated Champion Ruaraka by 52 runs in another Super League fixture at Ruaraka Sports Club. Kanbis won the toss and decided to bat first and put on a decent score of 249 all out in 45.1 overs. Sachin Bhudia 48 run and Maxwell Swaminathan 58 runs were the main contributors for Kanbis. In reply, Ruaraka lost wickets at regularly intervals and were bowled out for 197 in 37 overs with overseas professional Gautam Waghela scoring his 3rd half century of the season with 87 runs.
Swamis’ new signing Sachin Gill was all smiles: “The match was good. We won the toss and decided to bowl first. The wicket was a bit helpful and we took advantage of that and got then out for 140. Even in the start, we lost couple of quick wickets but Dhwanil and other batters got us through, such a great feeling.”
Hiren Kerai’s 98-ball century handed Samaj (SCLPS YL A) a convincing 221-run victory over visitors Nairobi Gymkhana A. Gymkhana won the toss and elected to field first.
Samaj A piled on a decent 336 for 6 in 50 overs but Gymkhana were bowled out for a paltry 117. Samaj’s Lucas Odhiambo Ndandason was the match’s second highest scorer with 79 off 29 balls. His teammate Niraj Patel contributed 53.
