Swamibapa, Kanbis, Ruaraka resume supremacy battle for NPCA 50- Overs League

Batsman Shubham Jadhav in action. [Courtesy]

With an apparently insatiable appetite for success, Swamibapa A, champions Ruaraka A and Kanbis A have become the dominant forces in Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) ranks, exchanging titles between them.

Sikh Union A are the dark horses of the season and well in contention for the coveted Super League title having already taken some impressive scalps.

It's anyone's League as high-flying Sikhs are patched in the fourth position with 20 points alongside Ruaraka, and 4 Points behind the leaders Swamibapa and second placed Kanbis.

Coming into the season, the former T20 finalists Sikh Union didn’t want any team to take them lightly because they are a well-balanced squad.

The collective team effort and batting from their pros Shoaib Akram and Ali Bhatt has been amazing, the level of experience they have yearned for the longest time possible.

Ruaraka ended their long wait for the elusive 50-Overs League title last season in emphatic fashion but have had to fight tooth and nail to stay afloat this season after losing some of their key batsmen to other teams including Maxwell Swaminathan to Kanbis and Sachin Gill to Swamibapa.

Sublime Waghela

Ruaraka’ s Gautam Waghela has nonetheless not disappointed with the bat as he tops the leaderboard with 373 runs accrued from 6 innings.

Sir Ali’s Onkar Haresh Jadhav is so far the second best with 354 ahead of Swamibapa’ s Dhwanil Patel on 343.

Kanbis man Sheryas Gurav has the highest number of wickets so far having racked up 19 in seven innings followed by Nairobi Gymkhana’s Neel Doshi with 14 from 5 innings.             

Former Ruaraka star Sachin Gill, now in Swamibapa line up has collected 13 wickets from 6 innings.

Swamibapa top the log with 24 points after eight matches and appear to have regained the winning touch after struggling in their only defeat so far against Sikh Union.

But then again, the leaders have picked two No Results (NRs) after their matches against Ruaraka and Stray Lions were abandoned due to bad weather, something that could haunt them in the long run.

Kanbis have a match at hand having played 7 same as Sikh Union. The game in hand is against the high-flying Sikh Union which could play a decisive role in the tile race.

T20 Champions Stray Lions have nevertheless found the going really tough in the ongoing 50-Overs League having won only once in seven matches and lost five times.

It will be interesting though to see how teams perform in the second half of the season which is already underway.

Battle For the Titans

The four giants resume their rivalry for top spot in the Super League this Sunday, while tailenders Kenya Kongonis A and Stray Lions A aim to get their fortunes back on track.

Ruaraka A will host Stray Lions A at their Thika Road backyard whilst Swamis play Samaj A at Jaffrey’s.

Kanbis have a date with Sir Ali Muslim Club at their Eastleigh grounds home turf where they have proved almost unbeatable time and time again.

The Shem Ngoche-led Kenya Kongonis will play host to Nairobi Gymkhana at their Nairobi Club backyard.

Sikh Union have a bye this weekend and have another full week to prepare for their next assignment.

Last weekend, Swamis beat Gymkhana by 153 runs to stay ahead of the rest on Net Run Rate.

Swamibapa middle order batman Sachin Gill observed: "So the start to the Gymkhana match was difficult due to slow wicket but our batters fought it out and scored a defendable total on a hard wicket with Yash Chavan scoring 70 and me scoring 34 plus Mitesh Sanghani chipping in with 30 runs. Then in bowling Peter Koech got us to a flying start by getting 3 quick wickets and I took 6 wickets including a hattrick in that which got us an easy win."

There is no easy game in this league and any complacency will be punished as all sides have a decent balanced team which could upset anyone on a given day. We want to take it game by game and hopefully cross the line this time round.

NPCA TOP 4 50 OVERS SUPER LEAGUE STANDINGS

1.Swamibapa A 24 Points – Net Run Rate – 1.907

2.Kanbis A 24 Points – Net Run Rate – 1.690

3.Ruaraka A 20 Points – Net Rub Rate 1.985

4.Sikh Union 20 Points – Net Run Rate 1.012

SUPER LEAGUE FIXTURES

Ruaraka A vs Stray Lions A (Ruaraka)

Swamibapa A vs SCLPS YL A (Nbi Jaffrey’s)

Kanbis A vs Sir Ali A (Eastleigh)

Kongonis A vs Nbi Gymkhana A (Nbi Club)