Nairobi Gymkhana’s batting line-up failed to cope with Sikh Union’s bowling as they were cleared for 80 runs before succumbing to a 201-runs defeat in the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) Super League action on Sunday.
Chasing 281, the hosts were no match to the visitors with only skipper Karan Kaul and Harsh Patel reaching the double digits with 25 and 13 runs respectively.
Pratik Ghallare with 3 for 11 was the outstanding bowler with Sandip Adole and Tarandeep Singh adding on two wickets each.
Gurdeep Singh gave Sikh Union the platform for the final total with 81 from 65 balls. He was ably assisted by Abdul Rehman and Paramveer Singh who scored 43 runs each. Martin Okoth was the peak of Gymkhana’s bowling with 3 for 48. At Sir Ali, Alfred Luseno gave his side a winning comeback with an impressive display that saw their opponents, Obuya Academy, bowled out to the lowest league record of 49 and eventually handed his side a 147-run win.
Luseno made amends on his poor performance on the opening day when he pegged Obuya Academy’s top order on the back-foot with a fiery display. Maxwell Ager might have started well with the dismissal of the opener in the second over but it was Luseno who scuttled the Obuya Academy batting line up. After Ager had removed Steve Odhiambo (2), Luseno went on to remove David Obuya (6), Amit Inbal (0) and Kennedy Obuya (0) to reduce them to 25 for 4 from what looked like a comfortable position of 25 for 1.
Aman Gandhi then chipped in with two middle order wickets to reduce them to 41 for 7 before Zaheed Abbas wrapped up the inning for the lowest score of 49 with two wickets. Luseno ended his spell with 3 for 17 while Ager finished his six overs spell with 2 for 8. Ken Owino, Hamza Malik and Thomas Odoyo all scored 37 as the home team posted 196 runs with eight balls to play. Mujib Ashraf chipped in with 28 runs as Sir Ali shared some crucial partnerships at crucial stages of the match.
At Eastleigh High School, hosts Kanbis easily beat Kongonis by six wickets to make it two wins out of two. Chasing 142, the hosts lost four wickets courtesy of Emmanuel Opura’s three wickets before winning the match in 19.1 overs.
At Nairobi Jafferys, Maurice Ouma scored a century (109) as Swamibapa raced to 331 for 6 before beating Ruaraka by 180 runs. Ouma shared a third wicket stand of 196 runs with Babu Katukala (87) to get them to 273 in 43.2 overs. Ouma’s knock that included five sixes and seven boundaries came off 102 balls.
Mitesh Sangani and Jadavji Bhimji bagged three wickets each as Ruaraka were bowled out for 151 in 38.1 overs.
Elsewhere, defending champions Stray Lions beat hosts Cutchi Leva by seven wickets. After losing the toss, Stray Lions restricted the home team to 147 in 34.1 overs with skipper Hiren Varaiya bagging 4 for 20. In reply, Manyala Pranith hit 74 off 40 balls that had 10 fours and four sixes as Stray Lions reached the target in just 13.5 overs. Ashwin Hebbar was also brutal in his batting, hitting three sixes and four sixes on his way to unbeaten 46 off 20 ball