Cricket: Kanbis beat Swamibapa to stay top
Cricket
By
Elizabeth Mburugu
| Sep 26, 2017
Rakep Patel continued with his fine form smashing a century to spur Kanbis to a 52 runs win over Swamibapa in a Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) Super League match played at Nairobi Jaffreys over the weekend.
Following the victory, Kanbis stay firm at the top of the table with 135 points after seven rounds of matches.
Defending champions Stray Lions are second with 130 points while Swamibapa who suffered their first defeat of the season in the hands of Kanbis are third with 117.
Batting first, Rakep hit 148 off 111 balls as Kanbis scored 325 all out in 47.5 overs to set a 326 target for their hosts. Rakep who is also the national team skipper said that his current form is a result of hard work and many hours of training.
“I have dedicated many hours to practice because good performance does not come easy. We have international matches coming up and I am working very hard so I can improve in readiness for national team tasks,” Rakep said.
Brilliant show
Rakep put up a brilliant show cracking the edge 20 times in 18 boundaries and two sixes. His sterling show combined superb bowling ensured that they remained on course to winning this season’s title. Narendra Kalyan (46) and Nelson Odhiambo (40) rounded up their performances with one wicket each.
Rajesh Budhia was fantastic with the ball taking three wickets as Kanbis restricted the Swamis bowling them out for 269 for 9. National team wicketkeeper and opening batsman Irfan Karim’s ton went to waste as Swamibapa fell to their guests.
Karim remained solid scoring 108 before Vinod Rabadia got him caught and troubles set in for Swamibapa. Alex Obanda (44) and Emmanuel Bundi 20 also pushed the scorethree Swamibapa. Bundi had began his day with taking four wickets in Kanbis innings.
At Nairobi Sikh Union Club, defending champions Stray Lions beat their hosts by 44 runs. Abraham Vadada hit a ton to guide Lions to 239 runs in their innings. Viren Varaiya and Shem Ngoche took three wickets each to ensure that they bowled out their hosts 197 in 45.4 overs. [Elizabeth Mburugu]