Stray Lions ‘A’ floor Kanbis ‘A’ to maintain unblemished run in NCPA T20 League

CRICKET Stray Lions ‘A’ floor Kanbis ‘A’ to maintain unblemished run in NCPA T20 League

Joel Omotto 16:46 - 12.02.2024

Stray Lions A kept their flawless run with a thrilling win against rivals Kanbis A at Nairobi Jaffrey’s to maintain their league lead in the NPCA Super Division T20 league

Stray Lions A continued with their perfect start in the ongoing NPCA Super Division T20 tournament with a thrilling victory over rivals Kanbis A at Nairobi Jaffrey’s at the weekend.

The team ascended to the summit of the T20 Super Division League with a 3-run advantage over hard-fighting Kanbis A on Sunday, having handed hosts Ruaraka a 6-wicket blow a day earlier.

Stray Lions A won the toss and elected to bat first, losing dangerman Shubham Jadhav and Aman Gandhi within power-play.

But Irfan Karim played the anchor role whilst Neil Mugabe and Tanzeel Sheikh played some aggressive innings.

When fielding, Stray Lions’ Aarnav Patel took a brilliant one-handed diving catch to dismiss Kanbis skipper and danger man Dhiren Gondaria. Gondaria trudged back to the pavilion, having scored 47 off 37 balls.

For the second day running, opener Karim was one of Stray Lions’ standout players, hitting 46 off 42 balls, to compliment his previous day’s unbeaten 89 off 65 deliveries.

Kanbis’ Vinod Rabadia turned out to be the leading scorer with a cool 60 off 32 deliveries.

“Staying on top of the table is a happy feeling with two more games to play in the league stage before it enters into knockouts,” said Stray Lions Chairman Thota Sreenivas.

In another Super Division match, SCLPS YL A defeated hosts Nairobi Gymkhana by 53 runs to keep their hopes for a top four finish alive and qualify for the knockout round while at the Sikh Union Club, Obuya Academy A suffered a 83-run loss to Sikh Union A.

The Sikhs posted 177 for the loss of 8 wickets in their innings, with valuable contributions of 32 from Sukhdeep Singh and a well calculated 33 by Nehemiah Odhiambo. Obuya Academy collapsed for a paltry 94 in 17 overs.

Meanwhile, Stray Lions’ unbeaten run has catapulted them to the summit of the log with 20 points from five matches.

Ruaraka A, Kanbis A and SCLPS A tie on 12 points but the Thika Road troops occupy second spot on a superior run-rate of 1.846.

Following Saturday’s loss, Ruaraka recovered well in time to vanquish defending champions Swamibapa A by 8-wickets on Sunday.

Ruaraka A won the toss and put Swamibapa in to bat. Swamibapa posted a decent total of 172/6 in their 20 overs with Dhwanil Patel top scoring with 71 off 44 deliveries.

Ruaraka A chased the target in 18.4 overs with Pushkar Sharma top scoring with a fine 74 off 42 deliveries and Sachin Gill finishing with an unbeaten 47 runs off 36 deliveries.

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