Stray Lions 'A' extended their flawless run in the ongoing NPCA Super Division T20 tournament with a three-run win over rivals Kanbis A at Nairobi Jaffrey’s.
The win, coupled with Saturday’s six-wicket advantage over Ruaraka ‘A’, saw the Lions storm the league summit with 20 points from five matches.
“I’m so happy with the team’s performance and proud of their commitment. Being on top of the table is a happy feeling with two more games to play before the knockouts,” said Stray Lions chairman Thota Sreenivas.
The Lions won the toss and elected to bat first; losing dangerman Shubham Jadhav and Aman Gandhi within power-play.
But Irfan Karim played the anchor role while Neil Mugabe and Tanzeel Sheikh played some aggressive innings.
When fielding, Lions’ Aarnav Patel took a brilliant one-handed diving catch to dismiss Kanbis skipper and danger man Dhiren Gondaria. Dhiren trudged back to the pavilion having scored 47 off 37 balls.
“Aarnav’s catch was the turning point in the game as Dhiren was playing well before his exit,” quipped Thota. For the second day running, opener Karim was one of the Lions’ standout players, hitting 46 off 42 balls to compliment his previous day’s unbeaten 89 off 65 deliveries. But Kanbis’ Vinod Rabadia turned out to be the leading scorer with a cool 60 off 32 deliveries.
In another Super Division match, SCLPS YL ‘A’ defeated hosts Nairobi Gymkhana by 53 runs to keep their hopes for a top-four finish alive and qualify for the knockout round.
At the Sikh Union Club grounds, Obuya Academy ‘A’ suffered an 83-run loss to Sikh Union ‘A’. The Sikhs posted 177 for the loss of eight wickets in their innings, with valuable contributions of 32 from Sukhdeep Singh and a 33 from Nehemiah Odhiambo. Obuya Academy collapsed for a paltry 94 in 17 overs.
Meanwhile, Stray Lions’ unbeaten run has catapulted them to the summit of the log with 20 points from five matches.
Ruaraka ‘A’, Kanbis ‘A’ and SCLPS ‘A’ tie on 12 points but the Thika Road troops occupy second spot on a superior run-rate of 1.846.
Following Saturday’s loss, Ruaraka recovered well in time to vanquish defending champions Swamibapa ‘A’ by eight wickets.
Ruaraka ‘A’ won the toss and put Swamibapa into bat. Swamibapa posted a decent total of 172/6 in their 20 overs with Dhwanil Patel top scoring with 71 off 44 deliveries. Ruaraka ‘A’ chased the target in 18.4 overs with Pushkar Sharma top-scoring with a fine 74 off 42 deliveries and Sachin Gill finishing with an unbeaten 47 runs off 36 deliveries.
