Rising Stars Chui, Express Ndovu sail to semis of East Africa Cricket Cup

By ERICK OCHIENG’

Rising Stars Chui and Express Ndovus successfully sailed to the semis of the East Africa Cricket Cup in Nairobi yesterday.

Chui, who drew against Uganda’s Warriors in their first match the other weekend, won by 60 runs against I&M Bank Nyatis at the Simba Union grounds.

Likewise, Express Ndovus won by a wicket against Sameer Simba at the Nairobi Jaffreys grounds.

Following the victories, Chui have booked a date against another Uganda franchise, Nile Knights, while Ndovus will tackle Warriors in the semis to be staged this weekend at Simba Union grounds.

Chui, who won the toss, were boosted by the opening partnership of captain Collins Obuya and Irfan Karim that resulted to 150 runs to pile pressure on the Nyatis.

Train hard

“We are very happy to make it to the semis, we are going to train hard this week to ensure we outdo the Knights who we are meeting next,” Obuya said.

 Chui coach Joseph Angara hailed Obuya and Karim for giving them a perfect lead to win the quarters.

He added he will introduce other new tactics in their training session at their base in Ruaraka, which he hopes will give them an edge over the Ugandans.

Nyatis coach Thomas Odoyo was apparently not impressed by his charges’ lack of consistency against the Chui even though he was impressed by their bowling display.

Great partnership

“We were restricted by the opponents because of our batting, which was wanting. I realised that I had no player who could stand up to bat continuously,” said Odoyo.

“In our next fixture we will have to look for a great partnership that could give us the needed advantage in the game.”

Nyatis lost the first match by seven wickets to Warriors of Uganda and the fall to Chui yesterday meant they are now officially out of the tournament.

Odoyo advises Kenyan franchises to continuously train hard to match up with their ever rising Ugandans.

Nyatis captain Tanmay Mishra admitted to FeverPitch that his side has a problem with batting especially in a game of do or die like theirs against the Chui.

“We learnt a lot in the tournament and I hope we will return better next year,” said Mishra, who plays his professional game in India for Payade and Parkophene clubs.

Mishra said he is going to take a break before he travels to India to link up with the clubs on the second week of September.

He is also looking forward to link up with the national team for an ICC Intercontinental Cup at the end of September if he earns a call up in the Kenyan squad where he is a regular member.