Super kings reign: Coast sip Masai Mara Tuskers to top league phase of Samsung Cup

Coast Super Kings beat rivals Masai Mara Tuskers by six wickets in a crucial match of the Samsung Cup cricket tournament at the Nairobi Gymkhana last Sunday.

This match was eagerly awaited since it was a perfect build-up to the final with the two teams having already qualified for the June 22 match that will decide new champions of the tournament presented by the South Indian Cultural Community.

And the eagerly awaited match started with a lot of anticipation in the air, but Tuskers batting order failed to live up to expectations after they were all out with vulnerable 84 runs at the end of the allotted 20 overs.

Kings wiped out Tuskers tail-enders, sending back to the pavilion three of their batsmen inside the final over.

Vipin Kollanandy scored 32 runs while Girish Nair added 16 in the first innings of the match that pitted two teams that had until their meeting not lost a match.

Praveen Mogasati starred in Coast Super Kings bowling, claiming 5-11 while Sibashanmugan Nadunchezhian was 3-13.

Chasing the target, Coast Super Kings required 12.2 overs to win the match at 85-4. Ramakrishnan Hariharan scored 53 runs that inclided seven boundaries while Praveen Rao hit 14.

Vishnu Kurup starred for Masai Mara Tuskers in bowling with 2-4.

In the first match of the day, Mt Kenya Chargers who won the competition last year made a late recovery after losing their first two matches to beat Rift Valley Challengers by six wickets to be assured of third-place finish in the tournament.

Bad batting

Challengers had a bad batting day after their batting order was wiped out at 110 in 19.4 overs.

All their batsmen but Pramod Shetty and Rakesh Gounder achieved single digits during the 20 overs match.

Shetty, who was the outstanding player in the team, managed one-ball one-run a half a century of 50 that included three boundaries and a six.

Gounder contributed 11 runs, Sunil Peter had seven while all other batsmen scored under five.

Manesh Reddy of Mount Kenya Chargers tore into Challengers batting order claiming five wickets for 19 runs while Prakesh Balagala was 3-19.

Mt Kenya Chargers opening batsman Abraham Vadada scored unbeaten 64 runs that included four boundaries and two sixes to guide his team to their first victory in three matches.

Balagala also starred in Mt Kenya Chargers batting after he managed 18 runs. In Rift Valley Challengers bowling, Lokesh Venkat was 2-16 while Shetty was 1-1.

—opilipili@standardmedia.co.ke