Sir Ali seek to showcase middle-order depth against Swamibapa

Sir Ali will showcase their new-found depth in the middle-order when they take on Swamibapa in the battle of unbeaten sides in the Nairobi Invitational Twenty20 tournament at Nairobi Jafferys.

Speaking as they wound up training ahead of the encounter, skipper Gurdeep Singh admitted the middle order was a letdown last season.

“Our middle order was a big letdown. In a number of occasions, we could have good starts but all this could be lost as soon as our middle order came into the party. But, thanks to a few signings that we had and some hard work from the team, we can now get into a match knowing we are covered,” said Singh.

Sir Ali, who have confidently won all their three opening matches, signed Faiz Ahmed, who has remained unbeaten in two of the three matches they have played with match-winning half tons.

With the signing of Pakistani Fasih Rafi, Sir Ali has been forced to drop their top players down the order which has in the end strengthened the middle order to the joy of the skipper.

He said: “This time around, we ensured that we have [batsmen] who can play at the top or in the middle. The acquisition of the two has also forced some of the old players to drop which in the end has given us batting depth.”

“We can confidently get in the middle confident that we have players that can finish off the games in the death overs.”

Singh, however, put all teams at par, underlining the unpredictable nature of the game.

He said: “It’s obvious that all the top teams (Kanbis, Swamibapa and Sir Ali) have very good teams. And it all boils down to one good innings or a couple of good overs in this format.”

“We will play to our strength to get the desired results. We have the liberty of picking from four to five combinations in any given situation to take the field which not many teams can boast of,” Singh said, referring to the all-round talent available in the team.

Hosts Swamibapa are also enjoying good form thanks to their all-round performance. They have been enjoying good services from the bowlers led by Emmanuel Bundi and James Ngoche who have so far claimed 12 wickets between them.

“We are happy we have two top spinners (James and Jadavji ‘Bhimji’ Malindi). They have shown that they can win any match for us. Bundi is also supportive and has given us good start,” Patel said.