Ruaraka wins maiden NPCA Super League title
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Ruaraka’s hitman, Sachin Gill was named the league's most valuable player. Photo/Citizen Reporter
Ruaraka A defeated home team Sikh Union by 168 runs to lay
their hands on a maiden Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) Super
Division 50-Overs League title.
Indefatigable Chandresh
Hirani (101 from 67balls), dangerman Sachin Gill (79 off 97 deliveries) and
Maxwell Swaminathan (62 from 54 balls) were the star performers for the
indomitable Thika Road outfit which ended their spirited run with an
unassailable 48 points.
Ruaraka had previously won
the then KCA title as Kathiawar Sports Club, a name that rekindles some fond
memories with great names; like Suresh Joshi, Anil Lakhani and Harish Sumaria,
to name but a few.
Racking up their maiden
NPCA title was such a great feeling for the Thika Road outfit which has since
displayed resilience and the much-needed winning touch on their way up.
Ruaraka star batsman Sachin Gill was all smiles after his team won their first league title since the inception of the NPCA League as well as being named the league season's Most Valuable Player (MVP) ahead of teammate Pushkar Sharma.
"Pushkar, Swaminathan
and myself had some good runs on the crease. Pushkar has played some brilliant
innings this season and has been in good form lately. Ruaraka have been the
team that everyone would like to beat for the last one and a half years,"
Sachin said.
Kanbis ends the second leg on a
high
In other matches, Kanbis
beat Stray Lions by a massive 200 runs at their Eastleigh High School home turf
to settle for second in the competition with 44 points.
Stray Lions' loss to Kanbis
saw them wrap up their league campaign in third place with 40 points.
Obuya Academy A made the
second leg's biggest upset when they dealt Swamibapa A 31-run blow at the
latter's Nairobi Jaffery’s home ground.
Obuya, however, had to
contend with playing second fiddle to the misfiring Swamibapa A, who
incidentally wrapped up the league in fourth with 28 points.
Obuya won the toss and
elected to bat first scoring 120 for 10 in 38.0 Overs. In reply, the Swamis
were bowled out for a paltry 89 in 19.0 Overs contrary to all expectations.
Kanbis maintained their 100
per cent win record at home in the league season and held their heads high
after their last fixture.
"I think going
unbeaten in the second round was a great comeback from losing 3 in a row in the
last round. I think those games are the game which cost us the title, but no
complaints we played with local players whereas other teams played with 3-5
pros,” Kanbis skipper, Dhiren Gondaria said.
"I'm proud of the
boys, the way they have played throughout the league season and how they gave
experienced overseas players a run for their money. They have shown that Kanbis
is moving on the right track," he added.
Jadhav misses the rare 1000mark
Meanwhile, Stray Lions'
hitman Shubham Jadhav was left to rue missed opportunities as curtains came
down on the NPCA League season.
Jadhav was chasing a rare
1000 runs from 14 innings but failed in his attempt after managing a cumulative
total of 966.
He also failed to steer
this side, Stray Lions to second place though he ended the league as the
highest run scorer.
Pushkar wrapped up the
league as the second-best run scorer with 730 followed by Sachin on 692 and
Rakep Patel of Kanbis on 633.
Rakep ended the league with
a century (116 off 82 deliveries) to attest to his exhilarating displays and
good form in the season.
Kanbis won the toss and
elected to bat first scoring 404 for 7 in 50.0 overs, while Stray Lions were
bowled out for 204 in 34.2 overs.
Home team Samaj A defeated Nairobi Gymkhana by 8wickets to end the league season in fifth with 24 points.
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