National cricket team captain Shem Ngoche lauded his team for their “professionalism” and described his Stray Lions' 169 runs win over Ruaraka on Day One of 2021-22 NPCA 50 overs league as a “clinical” performance.
“It’s nice to win and play well. It was a really good and clinical performance today. We can always improve and we can keep getting better. We also take a lot of satisfaction from the match today,” said Ngoche, who was making a return to the club after two years.
The Peponi School-based side didn’t put a foot wrong in the match on Sunday as they first scored 263 for 8 and then returned to bowl out the visitors for 94.
Ngoche top scored with 108 before debutant Joseph Onyango bagged 4 for 12 to lead his side to its opening victory.
“Our bowlers pulled it back brilliantly, like Jojo, I (3 for 13) and a lot of professionalism from Praveen Kumar (57) and Nitin Arvind (26) who batted very well,” Ngoche said.
“It also feels good to be back on a cricket pitch after a very long time and it's also better to do that on a winning note,” he added.
Kumar who opened the batting said: “It was a really nice pitch, good for bowlers and batsmen. This outfield wasn’t that fast and so we had to do a lot to get the scoreboard ticking.
Onyango, who laid the foundation with four top order wickets, said: “I’m happy to come out here and bowl well and give my team a chance of winning."
“The leg cutter is something I practiced a lot, and I am happy it worked. It’s great to play in a club that wants to win. We wanted to play good cricket here and are happy to do that,” added Onyango who joined Stray Lions from Kongonis.
Ruaraka skipper Purshotam Vekaria said his side didn’t rise to the occasion but picked up lessons in the loss.
“We are learning the hard way; we didn’t get many partnerships going. Our bowlers tried their best but the fielding failed us.
“We have to try harder in the next few days,” he added.
