Rift Valley Challengers shock Mt.Kenya Chargers

An amazing performance by Rift Valley Challengers batsmen helped them stun Mt.Kenya Chargers by three wickets on Day two of the Samsung cricket tournament at the Simba Union on Sunday. After first week defeat to Coast Super Kings, Mt.Kenya conceded another defeat at the hands of Rift Valley. Thota Srinivas’ 52 -ball 44 helped Mt. Kenya post 133/7 off 25 overs, after electing to bat first.

Srinivas received good support from Ankil Keriadan (35 off 54) and Kieran KVU 11 not out. Apart from the three, none of the players were able to score runs as they struggled against Rift Valley bowlers led by Santosh Gore, who picked 3 for 30. Raul Shetty too was impressive with two wickets. With the track conditions good for spin bowling, Pramond Shetty used the conditions well and played with ease as he remained unbeaten, scoring a match winning 56 off 66 balls. Shetty’s knock was crucial as wickets tumbled on the other end.

He lived up to the expectations and played a magnificent role in winning the match for Rift Valley to stay alive in the tournament. In the first match of the day, Coast scored a six-wicket win over Maasai Mara to keep their chances of reaching final alive. Batting first, Maasai Mara made 122, all thanks to a hat trick from Ritesh Pamnani, who claimed the wickets of Girish Nair, Chidam Subramanian and Jolet Abraham. Coast took only 22 overs to win the match with Arun Balaraman top-scoring with 40 off 32 balls. He was aided by Ram Hariharam who made 32 off 40 balls. The two put on a third wicket stand of 60 runs that took the scores to 96.