Karia hits top form with century for Mombasa Club

Sagar Karia scored a century as defending champions Mombasa Sports Club got off to a flying start in the NIC Bank T20 cricket challenge.

The match at Mombasa Sports Club saw the joint title holders enjoy a home advantage to hit Mombasa Heats by 102 runs.

Mombasa Sports Club and Coast Gymkhana Sports Club were the 2016 joint winners after the final match was rained off.

Mombasa Heats won the toss and elected to bowl where they scored 119 in 20 overs. Mombasa Sports Club bagged 221 runs in 20 overs with Karia scoring 108 runs before he was caught and bowled by Yash Keagan. Mohit Dhutia bagged 51 runs before he was bowled out by E. Andrew.

Mombasa Heats' outstanding bowlers were Keagan Davis and E. Andrew, who had 2/48 and 2/40 respectively. Yash Pandaya was at 32 not out, while E. Geoff scored 20 runs for the Heats.

Raj Shiukotra and Jai Trivedi were outstanding bowlers for Mombasa Sports Club with 2/23 and 2/17 respectively in the well officiated match by umpires Kutub Gulamhussein and Bhavin Pancial.

In another match at the same venue, Burhani Sports Club won in the super over against Shree Cutchi Leva as both teams scored 181 runs. The winners won the toss, with Rakep Patel hitting 73 runs before he was bowled and caught by Akshay Bhanderi, while K Ammar was at 55 not out.

Cutchi Leva bowlers were Khilesh Hirani and Akshay Bhanderi with 27/3 and 25/2 respectively. Bipin Bhudia was the highest scorer for Cutchi Leva with 38 runs, while Akshay Bhanderi contributed 29 more runs. Burhani bowlers were Rakep Patel and Mustafa Chandabai with 1/45 and 1/41.

The tournament was officially launched last Friday by the NIC Bank Treasury Director Sankul Mandavia, who was flanked by the Cricket Kenya chairperson Jackie Jan Mohammed, former CK chairman Samir Inamdar and Coast Cricket Association chairman Sanjay Patel.

Mandavia said the bank has spent Sh2.3 million towards the sponsorship of the tournament, which has attracted eight teams. He added that the bank will continue to support cricket by rolling up new products.

Jan Mohammed said the tournament, now in its third year since inception, has changed the outlook of youth cricket in the region.

"We want more companies to come on board and support the sport," said Jan Mohammed.