Ruaraka Sports Club ‘A’ team are now within striking distance of its fairy-tale goal following an emphatic 193-run home victory over Shree Cutch Leva Patel Samaj.
Indefatigable Ruaraka pro-Sachin Gill nevertheless revealed that their aim is to end the eight-team Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) Super Division 50-overs league on a high.
Ruaraka extended their points lead to 44 points well in time for their much-anticipated grudge match against home side Kanbis on September 17.
The last time both teams met in July, fans were treated to some exhilarating displays, but it was Ruaraka ‘A’ players who had the last laugh with a narrow two-run win over Kanbis ‘A’.
Against Samaj ‘A’ over the weekend, Ruaraka won the toss and elected to bat first, setting a decent target of 332 for 3 in 50 overs.
In reply, Samaj ‘A’ were bowled out for 139 in 30.4 overs. Ruaraka’s all-rounder Vishil Patel racked up five wickets to extend his wicket tally to 15.
In what turned out to be a pulsating outing, Pushkar Sharma smacked a century (149 off 136 balls) and Neelakash Tambe, an impressive 92 to annihilate a spirited Samaj ‘A’ outfit.
Elsewhere, Kanbis and Stray Lions maintained their dogged campaign in search of the coveted title as they both stretched their points tally to 36.
What this means is that the two teams still stand a slim chance of winning the league title should Ruaraka stumble in their remaining two fixtures.
Kanbis are yet to lose at home and it will be interesting to see what happens to Ruaraka this weekend.
Kanbis defeated Swamibapa ‘A’ by 127 runs at their Eastleigh while Stray Lions ‘A’ decimated Sikh Union ‘A’ by 204 runs at Nairobi Jaffery’s ground.
Stray Lions’ hitman Shubham Jadhav was for the umpteenth time the standout batsman with a scintillating 171 off 126 deliveries.
A well-struck century soared Shubham’s run-score lead to a massive 830 runs at a fine strike rate of just 120, which he has accomplished from 12 innings at an average of 75.45 much to his credit.
He is just 170 runs shy of the dream of 1,000 runs in a season, which has not been accomplished by any batter in recent NPCA League history.
This is despite having failed to score any valuable runs in his first three innings of this season, after which he went into overdrive and has notched up five centuries to date!
He leads a pack of Stray Lions batters on the chart with Pushkar Sharma and Sachin Gill of Ruaraka and Dhiren Gondaria of Kanbis breathing down his throat!
In Division One, Kongonis still hold the lead with 38 points despite having not played their scheduled match of the weekend.
Their match against hosts Ngara Sports Club ‘A’ was abandoned after the pitch was declared unfit with a wet square.
SUPER DIVISION AFTER WEEK 12
1. Ruaraka A 44 (NRR 2.419)
2. Kanbis A 36 (NRR 2.232)
3. Stray Lions 36 (NRR 1.627)
4. Swamibapa A 28 (NRR 0.566)
5. SCLPS YL A 16 (NRR -1.344)
6. Sikh Union A 16 (NRR -1.477)
7. Obuya Academy A4 8 (NRR -2.614)
8. Nairobi Gymkhana A 4 (NRR -1.848)
