The fifth week of Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 50-Overs League promises fireworks with some mouth-watering Super League fixtures scheduled for various venues.
Shree Cutchi Leva Patel Samaj (SCLPS YL A) will host on-form Swamibapa A in a match programmed for Samaj Stadium in Nairobi West.
Swamibapa tie on 10 points with champions Ruaraka who remain on the summit of the competition owing to a superior Net Run Rate of 2.220.
But the Swamis have a match in hand, with Ruaraka having played four and the former three. Last weekend, Ruaraka suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Kanbis who beat them by a 52 runs margin.
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Ruaraka will be seeking to make amends against hosts Sir Ali, but whatever is up the sleeves of the two sides will be known on Sunday.
Swami’s will bank on a star-studded top order comprising of opener and skipper Rushabh Patel, his namesake Harshvardhan Patel and dangerman Sachin Gill.
Swamis’ overseas star Dhwanil Patel, who is also the team’s wicketkeeper, is also expected to shine, having posted 60 off 66 deliveries in their 5-wicket win over the Star-studded Sir Ali last weekend.
Samaj, will not be pushovers against the well-oiled Swamibapa outfit.
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The Nairobi West outfit are gunning for their second win of the season after beating Gymkhana by a massive 221 runs at their home turf last weekend. Manish Kerai, Rahul Harish and Hiren Kerai are expected to occupy Samaj’s top order with Kishan Varsani, Ankit Bhanderi and skipper Niraj Patel anticipated to start in the middle order.
Kanbis A will be away to a lackluster Nairobi Gymkhana in a fixture the former are expected to dominate.
Nairobi Gymkhana A side has so far struggled in the league with neither their batting or bowling performing consistently.
They will need to improve their performance to boost their league standings. Experienced players like Dominic Wesonga and promising youngsters like Stian Smith will have to step up or else the in-form Kanbis side will roll over them.
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Kanbis are currently riding high in the NPCA League, though skipper Dhiren Gondaria is calling on the boys to play free cricket with full responsibility.
“We have batting till number 11, but I would just urge my boys to play free cricket with full responsibility and things will go our way. Bowling-wise, I think we showed good character in our last match against Ruaraka. All my bowlers equally contributed towards the win, but not to take credit from fielders as well who threw themselves on the field and allowed the bowlers to bowl with confidence,» said Gondaria.
«The main part is my boys were fully active till the last ball, the way they showed patience after that big partnership, kept on believing till the end and as soon as we got the breakthrough from Dhruvam, we decided not to relax and finish the game as soon as possible.”
In another Super League match, T-20 Champs Stray Lions A will host Sikh Union A at Nairobi Jaffrey’s while Kongonis have a bye.
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The Lions have yet to roar in this year’s 50-overs League and are expected to come out with full force against the revamped Sikhs, who have three pros from Pakistan in their line-up.
This will sure be an interesting encounter. Stray Lions have missed services of Tanzeel Shiekh their captain and a few senior players and will be hoping last season’s highest run-scorer Subham Jadhav finds some form to lead the struggling batting unit.