Cricket: Eyes on the final

The home side will look to top order batsman Rakep Patel to anchor their batting, while Arthur Kyobe will lead the attack  for the opposition, the two batsmen have been in top form in the competitions. 

Nairobi Buffaloes will be wary of the threat posed by table toppers Rwenzori Warriors when the two teams meet at Nairobi Gymkhana.

Buffaloes, who are out of contention in the twenty20 format, will look to reserve their energy for Sunday’s do or die clash in the cup competition where, despite lying fourth, they still stand a chance of qualifying for the 50-over final.

Rift Valley Rhinos stand a good chance of claiming a finals spot in the East Africa Premier League if they can register wins in their last two fixtures in the shorter mode of the competition. They play Coast Pekee at home this weekend before hosting high-riding Kongonis next week.

Unbeaten run

The Rhinos are out of contention for the cup competition in which they lie fifth, just above Coast Pekee with hopes of making the final having disappeared last weekend.

They, however, managed to bring to an end Rwenzori Warriors unbeaten run in the twenty20 last weekend in what looks to be their specialty event, they hope to bag the points against Coast Pekee.

Kongonis: Kennedy Obuya (Player Coach), Rakep Patel (Captain), Gordon Brown, Rajesh Bhudiya, Dominic Wesonga, Emmanuel Ringera, Kennedy Ochieng’, Nicholas Oluoch, Amit Shukla, Paramveer Singh, Abdul Rehman, Benjamin Oluga, Baden Odinga and Dhiren Gondaria.

Teams line-up

Nile Knights: Davis Arinaitwe (capt), Arthur Kyobe, Frank Nsubuga, Almuzahim Saleh, Benjamin Musoke, Deusdedit Muhumuza, Jigar Patel, Daniel Ruyange, Dennis Tabby, Asadu Seiga, Sarfaraz Chunara, Fred Isabirye, Arthur Ziraba, Raymond Otim, Moses Otiti, Timothy Erumuka, Denis Musali, Nicholas Kebba, Abdulhamid Sulieman, Ivan Baidhu, Nehal Bibodi, Ankit Patel. Coach: Martin Suji.

Nairobi Buffaloes: Collins Obuya (Captain), Narendra Kerai, Karan Kaul, Raj Savala, Rahul Vishram, Rajesh Varsani, Rikesh Hirani, Gurmanjot Singh, Mahendra Siyani, Pritesh Rabadia, Lameck Onyango (Player/Coach), Gagandeep Singh, Mansukh Jeshani and Nishil Mandani.

Rwenzori Warriors: Lawrence Ssematimba (capt), Roger Mukasa, Ronald Ssemanda, Ivan Thawithemwire, Simon Ssesazi, Ali Raza, Martin Ondeko, Mohammed Shafeek, Abraham Alema, Narinder Singh, Abdullah Lubega, Brian Masaba, Shehzad Kamal, Henry Ssenyondo, Charles Waiswa, Jonathan Sebanja, Arnold Otwani, Akbar Baig, Irishad Suleiman, Abu Seguya, Ivan Kakande, David Musoke. Coach: Henry Okecho

Rift Valley Rhinos: Joseph Angara (Player Coach),  Hiren Varaiya (Captain),  David Obuya, Joseph Ochieng’, Ramesh Mepani, Luke Nightingale, Rajesh Khetiya, Peter Ongondo, Amardeep Singh, Mitesh Sanghani, Ibrahim Akello, Harish Vekaria, Dalveer Hunja and Harrison Angila.

Coast Pekee: Francis Otieno (Player Coach), Lucas Oluoch, Manoj Patel, Nadeem Ahmed, Kunal Bhundia, Sagar Karia, Raj Shikotra, Taaha Salemanjee, Rajiv Sutaria, Josephat Ababu, Bhavya Thaker and Peter Kituku.

Members of the public who would like live score updates from this weekend matches can call the following contacts for details during play:

Kongonis v Nile Knights:    Paul Marshall 0722 755 827; Rift Valley Rhinos v Coast Pekee: Martin Bentley 0772 825 557; CTA Nairobi Buffaloes v Rwenzori Warriors   Ritesh Pamnani 0733 743 792.

THIS WEEK’S FIXTURES

Today          

Kongonis       v     Knights  EAPL Nbi Club    

RV Rhinos     v     C. Pekee EAPL RV Club

Buffaloes       v     Rwenzori       EAPL Nrb Gym            

Tomorrow         

Kongonis       v     Knights  EAC Nairobi Club RV Rhinos      v     C. Pekee     EAC RV Club 

CTA Buffaloes       v     Rwenzori       EAPL Nrb Gym