•If Stray Lions 'A' and Kanbis 'A' lose and Ruaraka decimate Shree Cutch Leva Patel Samaj at home this Sunday, they'll already have attained unassailable points score enough to win the title on Match-day 12.
•But if Ruaraka win as well as Kanbis and Lions, the only other way for the Thika Road side to lose the title would be through the Net Run Rate (NRR) rule.
Image: FILE
Leaders Ruaraka 'A' are only a step away from the coveted Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) Super Division 50-Overs League title with only three matches to spare.
The dynamics of the title chase could be intricate though and is likely to boil down to arithmetics.
If Stray Lions 'A' and Kanbis 'A' lose and Ruaraka decimate Shree Cutch Leva Patel Samaj at home this Sunday, they'll already have attained unassailable points score enough to win the title on Match-day 12.
But if Ruaraka win as well as Kanbis and Lions, the only other way for the Thika Road side to lose the title would be through the Net Run Rate (NRR) rule.
In that case, Ruaraka would have attained the 44-point mark with two matches left, considering Kanbis and Stray Lions would only manage a maximum of 44 should any of them win the last three.
Kanbis 'A' will host Swamibapa 'A' in a grudge match which the former can't afford to lose. In the last round, Kanbis 'A' went down with a fight to host Swamibapa at Nairobi Jaffrey’s in a pulsating match.
Swamibapa 'A' defeated Kanbis by nine runs on July 23 in the first-leg match hosted by the former. But this time round, Kanbis will bank on the experience of run-hungry skipper Dhiren Gondaria and on-form Rakep Patel, who is currently ranked fifth on the run leaderboard with 523 runs from nine innings.
Swamibapa will definitely have a difficult time for two reasons. For one, Kanbis have not lost any home game this season at home.
But Kanbis lost two away matches to Swamibapa at Jafferys and Ruaraka but at home, they are a different outfit as the venue appears to suit their style of play.
Kanbis skipper Dhiren Gondaria commented: “This weekend’s match is part of the three that must be won to have a chance of retaining the title. Swamibapa are a top side in the league and we will be having a hard time facing them. We are confident we still have a chance with the extra batter adding to our lineup.”
Rakep is yet to score a century in this season's league but his grit and consistency on the crease has ranked him amongst the most prolific batsmen so far.
Against Ruaraka, Rakep struck 93 runs off 71 deliveries and 94 off 45 balls against the Samaj team.
“It is an important match for us as it will be almost impossible for any team to catch us in the remaining two matches after this weekend. But as I had said earlier, we will treat the match as another event and do our best.”
Sachin Gill-led Ruaraka 'A' will be looking for victory on Sunday to more or less guarantee themselves the championship.
The current form of Pushkar Sharma, Sachin Gill and Maxwell Swaminathan has propelled them to the brink of their maiden league title in the last two decades.
Stray Lions 'A' on the other side, will be looking to delay Ruaraka's celebrations when they host Sikh Union 'A' at Nairobi Jaffrey’s.
Subham Jadhav’s prolific run-scoring has brought them into the mix of the title race. Jadhav is supported by Irfan Karim and the young bowlers Gerald and Francis.
Obuya 'A' and Gymkhana 'A' face off in the battle of the bottom two sides and both will be looking for a victory for a respectable finish in the league.
Obuya 'A' chased down 300 runs last week against Sikh Union 'A' after a brilliant 150 runs from the legendary Collins Obuya. He will once again spearhead the batting as they seek to avoid bottom finish.
Division One is also headed for an exciting finish as the top three — Kongonis 'A', Ngara 'A' and Kanbis 'B' are all in the mix for the title. Top two sides Kongonis 'A' and Ngara 'A' will face each other this weekend seeking to consolidate their title ambitions.