•Openers Naman Patel and Rushab Patel put on an opening stand of 122.
•Peeyush Kerai, Bhudiya and Mikunj Pindoria all bagged three wickets each for Swamipaba.
Image: /COURTESY
Swamibapa bowlers showed no mercy to their longtime nemesis Kanbis carrying their side to the finals of the NICL 50 Overs finals with a 40-run win as the two teams clashed in the Qualifier One match at Nairobi Gymkhana yesterday.
Kanbis long batting order had no answer to Swamibapa’s bowling attack that showed little mercy to them before they were bowled out for 179 in their chase for 219.
Openers Naman Patel (64) and Rushab Patel (47) put on an opening stand of 122 that set the tempo to Swamibapa’s final score which the visitors never threatened once the opening partnership of Rakep Patel and Dhiren Gondaria was broken by veteran Lameck Onyango.
It was a match that saw both sides exchange the control of the match.
First was Swamibapa, who were on top of the match halfway through the first inning where Naman and Rushab were calling the shorts.
The two shared 11 boundaries and a six in their partnership before Kanbis got back in the match by picking up five wickets for 19 runs.
The Naman and Irfan Karim (0) fell in span of three balls to skipper Rajesh Bhudiya in the 26th over. They were reduced to 133 for 3 and then 136 for 4 with the dismissals of Rushab and Dhwanil Patel (6). Rakesh Kahar was the fifth to fall in Kanbis’ bowler’s moments of glory when he was trapped lbw on seven.
It took Emmanuel Bundi’s 14, James Ngoche’s 22 and Nehemiah Odhiambo’s 25 for Swamibapa to get over the 200 mark.
Peeyush Kerai, Bhudiya and Mikunj Pindoria all bagged three wickets each.
In reply, Kanbis looked set to chase the total but that wasn’t the case after Onyango bagged two wickets in two balls.
Onyango reduced Kanbis to 27 for 2 in five overs by dismissing Rakep and Hiren Kabaria in consecutive balls.
Nehemiah Odhiambo supported his elder brother well with the dismissal of Gondaria in the 10th over with the board on 39.
Kanbis was then reduced 82 for 6 after Jadavji Bhimji dismissed Bhudiya (21), Sachin Bhudia (3) and Vinod Rabadia (16).
But they were able to bounce back into the match and ended up reviving their chances of winning the match after Ramesh Mepani (46) and Pushpak Kerai (41) put on 79 for the seventh wicket.
But when James Ngoche bowled Mepani with 9.2 overs to play, Kanbis chances on a win were halted before they were finally buried when he added three more wickets to end the match in 46.34 overs.
Bhimji attributed the win to good bowling show.
“The way the whole group has bowled has been outstanding. We got on top of their batsmen and didn’t let them get back. We created pressure non-stop. That’s a credit to all – not just the seamers, but to the spinners as well.”