Kanbis A believe their players have a lot to learn from their second loss in the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 50 Overs League on Sunday, July 30, 2023.
Kanbis' top player Rakep Patel who missed out on a century by seven runs during their match against hosts Ruaraka, said that Kanbis are still a force to reckon with in the longer version of the game.
In what turned out to be a pulsating encounter at the Ruaraka Sports Club, hosts Ruaraka struggled to register a 2-run victory over Kanbis A.
Kanbis won the toss and elected to field first. But Ruaraka set a decent target of 336 for five in 50 overs, thanks to Maxwell Swaminathan's century which elevated his side to desirable levels.
Chasing the massive target, Kanbis managed 334 runs for nine in 50 Overs, but were left to rue Rakep's late exit after he was caught out by Maxwell' Swaminathan.
Asked about Kanbis' spirited run, star player and scorer of 93 runs Rakep Patel said: "I think chasing 336 you always have to stay with the rate and we were behind the rate till the 40th over when we managed to score 100 runs in the last 10 overs which was a good achievement, losing with a small margin but it was a good effort by the team to reach where we did."
Ruaraka took their impressive win courtesy of brilliant innings by Maxwell Swaminathan (107), Sachin Gill (70)) and Pushkar Sharma (79). Sachin, however, cautioned his teammates against complacency.
"We are very happy for the result especially for the century by Swaminathan as he was sick for the last two days but still posted a very good innings and bowled very well," Ruaraka’s Sachinsaid after the match.
Kanbis skipper Dhiren Gondaria congratulated his players saying: "I think the chase was on, our top 7 batters equally contributed with quickfire innings, but in cricket, anything can happen, we lost as a team but am really happy with the batting performance as all our batters did a great job, starting from Emmanuel Bundi, Vinod and most importantly Rakep Patel's near century."
In another match, Sikh Union A beat Nairobi Gymkhana by 6-wickets.
Nairobi Jaffery’s hosted yet another tough match which saw Swamibapa lose to Stray Lions by 2 wickets.
Swamibapa won the toss and elected to bat first. The Swamis scored 261 for 8 in 50 Overs. Chasing the target, Lions hit 265 for 8 in 49.5 overs, to continue climbing up the board with some great innings lately.
Elsewhere, Cutchi Leva beat Obuya Academy by 6 wickets.
Cutchi Leva won the toss and elected to field first. Obuya managed 157 (all out) in 38.5 overs. Chasing the target, Cutchi Leva scored 162 for 4 in 23.1 overs.
Meanwhile, Kanbis skipper Dhiren believes batsman Rakep Patel is out of this world.
"With the experience and gusto that we saw today, I can confidently say Rakep almost snatched that game alone from Ruaraka, I, am really proud of my team, I don’t mind losing today, we went down fighting. “Dhiren said.
