Kabras Sugar and KCB to renew rivalry in Kenya Cup curtain-raiser

Defending champions KCB and three-time finalists Kabras Sugar will renew their rivalry on February 20 in the Charity Cup finals after the Ministry of Sport cleared the return of rugby under strict covid-19 protocols yesterday.

In a statement released by the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU), 2019 Kenya Cup champions KCB and 2019 Enterprise Cup winners Kabras are scheduled to meet next month in the Charity Cup final, which will act as Kenya Cup curtain-raiser.

“Following clearance from the Ministry of Sport, Culture and Heritage, the 2021 Kenya Cup season will kick off on Saturday 27 February 2021 and will run for 11 match days with the top four teams qualifying for the semifinals on Saturday 22 May,” read the statement.

KRU said the 2021 Kenya Cup season will kick off on Saturday, February 27, and will run for 11 match days with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals scheduled to begin on May 22.

The winners of the semi-final encounters will play in the Kenya Cup final set for Saturday, May 29.

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The season will be preceded by the Kenya Cup qualifiers pitting the top six teams from the 2019/20 KRU Championship.

These qualifiers will be played on February 6 and February 13 respectively. In the playoffs, Mean Machine will host Egerton Wasps as USIU take on Northern Suburbs in the quarterfinals.

The semi-final ties will follow a week later with Strathmore Leos who topped the regular season on 76 points hosting either USIU or Northern Suburbs while runners-up Masinde Muliro University battling it out against either Mean Machine or Egerton Wasps.

But there will be no finals as the finalists will be promoted to the Kenya Cup. This will pave way for a league curtain-raiser pitting the current holders of the Kenya Cup against the current Enterprise Cup champions on February 20.

Seven days after the Charity Cup, the season will kick off with the two sides facing off with the newbies who would have earned promotion from the second tier.

The two dominant sides will then meet on the final day of the regular season on May 8.

KCB and Kabras have met in four Kenya Cup finals with the bankers emerging top in all four meetings.

Kabras has beaten KCB once since their promotion in 2014, winning 19-6 at the den last season.

All fixtures will be played in adherence to existing Covid-19 protocols with no spectators in attendance.