Stray Lions’ T20 triumph best feeling on NPCA ranks, says Bharath
Indian professional Bhagath Varma
has described his match-winning antics in the Nairobi Provincial Cricket
Association (NPCA) T20 Cup final as his best feeling ever since joining Stray
Lions earlier in the year.
Bhagath sent hundreds of Stray Lions
A fans into a frenzy with that towering match-winning six as they beat rivals
Swamibapa A by 5 wickets to claim the Super Division T20 trophy.
Chasing a target of 165, Stray Lions
rediscovered their good form later in their innings to pulls through when Bhagath
did the unexpected.
"We were sure the wicket was
really good to play, so we were sure anything between 170 to 180 we were able
to chase so we had a plan to stay through the end and it happened," said
Bhagath.
Asked about his stunning last ball
six, Bhagath went on: "I just went for it, i didn't know I would hit it. It
was just one ball away and one good hit.
“It’s always a good feeling winning
the final to your team and with this atmosphere so we believed in ourselves and
gave it our best shot. You always hope to fight to the very end and you never
know, you might win or lose."
It was double celebration for the
Lions after their B side defeated Kanbis B by 7 wickets to rack-up this year’s
Division One title at Nairobi Gymkhana.
Stray Lions skipper Tanzeel Sheikh
said:
“It’s an incredible feeling winning
this dramatic final. And winning it off the last ball is even merrier.
Congratulations to the boys and Swamibapa as well for a well-fought final.
“The innings Bhagath played
throughout, he was hitting the ball well so we all believed even if it’s six
off one ball he would win it for us and he did. He (Bhagath) played an
incredible game,”
Swamibapa A won the toss and elected
to bat first. They savored a good start in the first innings; setting a decent
target of 165 for 9 in their allotted 20.0 overs. Chasing the target, the Lions
hit 166 for five in 20.0 overs to carry the day with vim and vigor.
Bhagath was named man of the match
with 84 off 44 deliveries whilst Swami’s Dhwanil Patel smacked 77 off 49 balls.
Bhagath hit 8 boundaries and 5 sixes.
The tournament’s Most Valuable
Player (MVP) was Cutchi Leva’s Manish Kerai while Swamibapa A skipper
Rushabh
Patel emerged the best batsman after he topped the leaderboard with 416 runs.
Tanzeel sounded quite febrile on
their spirited chase, saying: “I think 160-plus on this wicket was a really
chasable target. The wicket was good, but they also batted well. And again,
Bhagath pulled us through. By and large, we have played incredible cricket in
the T20 season and teamwork
Going into the last ball, the Swamis
thought it was a done deal, but not until Bhagath’s six sent the victors into a
frenzy.
Swamis’ veteran batsman Maurice Ouma
was left to rue the last ball that denied the 2023 T20 champions back-to-back
titles.
Ouma, a former Kenya team skipper,
said: “Basically, Bhagath took the game away from us, single handedly. We had
our plans when we were going to defend the 165, and we stuck to our game plan
until the 12th over. But again, we lost it at the 13th and 14th when we
gave
them too many runs. I think that’s
what brought them (Stray Lions) back to the game.”
NPCA Hon. Secretary Narendra Patel
(NK) congratulated all the teams, saying: “We’ve had eight good weeks of competitive
cricket, with Cutchi Leva A topping the group stages for the
first time, which goes to show the
improvement of teams across board.
The 50 Overs League champions
(Ruaraka) could not even qualify for the knockout stage. I must also
admit that we have seen quite a few
youngsters who have performed really well; that's a good sign.”
NPCA Chairman Kantilal Rabadia, on
his part, remarked: “When it comes to T20, it's usually more exciting than the
50 overs League. And come to think about the high-flying professionals, the
teams, the level of competition and the fighting spirit, I mean, it’s
absolutely brilliant.”
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