Stray Lions batsman Anish Chaudhery is pleased that he did not throw away a promising start and went on to score a match-winning half ton in his fourth match in the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) Super League match against hosts Cutchi Leva on Sunday.
Chaudhery, who is one of three overseas players turning out for the current league leaders, smashed a 55-ball 80 run knock, his highest in the league, and shared a 109-run stand with Niel Mugabe (53 not out) to fashion a six-wicket win for the hosts.
"Since I joined the NPCA league, I have developed a thing of getting out in the 20s and 30s, so I had to talk to myself, 'don't hit any rash shots, don't hit any lofted shots, just play in singles and doubles'. I'm really happy with that aspect," Chaudhery said.
He further expressed his disappointment at being unable to reach a well-deserved century with 31 runs needed for the win.
"I was able to stick in and guide the team through. Again, if I'd scored 20 more runs, I would have been a lot happier," he said.
The home team could only manage 231 in 48.4 overs with spinners Hiren Varaiya (4 for 30) and Shem Ngoche (3 for 38), capitalising on the spinner friendly wicket to turn the inning into Stray Lions' favor after the home team had got off to a good start.
After losing the toss, Cutchi Leva skipper Niraj Patel (40) and Darsh Panjani (34) put on an opening start of 66 in 17 overs before the spinners came into the attack to take all but one of the wickets. Chaudhery said it was a good batting wicket in the afternoon.
"Initially, we just played according to the merit of the ball. We just had to react to the ball, because they had good pacers. The plan was to see how the new ball was doing," he said.
He added: "This was the first time I was batting here (Cutchi Leva ground), and I didn't really know. I watched how the openers were batting and so I decided that when I get in, I will just keep it simple, play according to the merit of the ball."
In another match at Eastleigh High, Kanbis' poor run continued when they lost to Ruaraka Sports Club, their fourth loss in five matches .
Chasing 252 runs, the visitors sealed their second win over the defending champions in 43 overs with five wickets in hand thanks to Zephaniah Arinaitwe (81) and Ajinkya Beloshe (62) half tons.
Elsewhere, Sir Ali Muslim Club beat Ngara by 71 runs despite missing their key players, Gurdeep Singh and Tarandeep Singh, who are each serving a two-match suspension.
