Kenbright Cup T20: Babu Krishna stars as Consolbase Simba beat V-Create Warriors by 69 runs at Nairobi Gymkhana

Babu Krishna starred as Consolbase Simba beat defending champions V-Create Warriors by 69 runs in the ongoing 2023 Kenbright Cup New Age Premier League T20 tournament at the Nairobi Gymkhana on Sunday evening.

Impeccable Krishna amassed 46 runs off 29 balls to steer Simba to sweet victory in the high pace regular tournament encounter.

Jolet Abraham and Nithin Arvind added 38 runs off 29 balls and 35 runs off 18 balls in that order for Simba who registered 208 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the 20 overs contest.

In reply, V-Create Warriors, formerly Sunshine, scored 139 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs with D.M Rammurugesh emerging their best marksman with 27 runs off 26 balls.

"We are elated with this win, next weekend we are playing SS Acrovent Rhinos who are definitely tough so we are going to practice adequately in the course of the week to improve our speed," Krishna told Standard Sports.

The tournament, now in its third edition, is being managed by the New Age Sports Management which is a group of cricket fraternity based in Nairobi.

The competition is being contested by eight franchises playing in two round-robin formats. One format is for players above 40 years and the regular format is for those under that age bracket.

"Following the success of the first two editions, we have made the competition bigger and better this year. We are glad that financial and insurance firm Kenbright has come through in a very big way to support the tournament as title sponsors," Ramesh Pisharam, the New Age Sports Management Society chairman underscored.

Ahead of the tournament, the franchises were allowed to buy players from an action that was held in October. Most of the players are from the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association League.

"The players had two months to up their training ahead of the Premier League T20 that bowled-off in January.

"The tournament is now in its second week and it's such a wonder and joy to watch because of the kind of talent being displayed on the pitch," Pisharam underlined.

The high level cricket contest was conceived during the Covid-19 pandemic with an aim to get people outside their houses after the first wave of the pandemic that kept people mostly indoors.

"Cricket brings people together, it helps individuals to interact, it helps to improve and harmonize friendships," says Pisharam.

Kenbright Head of Medical Retail and International Private Medical Insurance, Aleefa Jamal, says they are proud to sponsor the tournament which is helping Kenbright to mark its 30 years of operation in Kenya in style.

"We are glad that we have started 2023 with a bang. We wanted to do something positive for the society to mark our three decades of operation in Kenya and we are happy that this tournament came handy.

"This competition has made people understand the kind of products that we offer in the market," Jamal highlighted.

The 2023 Kenbright Cup New Age Premier League T20 collated results

Regular tournament

1. Consolbase Simba beat V-Create Warriors by 69 runs

2. Kifaru Chargers beat Consolbase Simba by 36 runs

3. V-Create Warriors beat SS Acrovent Rhinos by 5 wickets

2. SS Acrovent Rhinos beat Kifaru Chargers by 6 wickets

Above 40 tournament

1. V-Create Warriors beat Acrovent Rhinos by 23 runs

2. Consolbase Simba beat Kifaru Chargers by 10 runs

3. Consolbase Simba beat V-Create Warriors by 5 wickets

4. Kifaru Chargers beat SS Acrovent Rhinos by 82 runs