Mixed Reults For Ipplepen and Cockenbach in Nakuru

Both English touring sides were in action at Nakuru this weekend, with greatly differing results.

On Saturday, Cockenbach CC took on the N.A.C Under 17 side in a 40 over match . N.A.C won the toss and elected to field. It may have been a decision they regretted, as Cockenbach's two openers J. Walter and M.Beedell proved more than able to deal with the new ball, both striking half-centuries. Indeed, N.A.C struggled with the ball throughout the innings, only restricting one of the visiting batsmen to less than 10, and that was C.Thomson who was run out by Pradeep for 5. Pradeep was the pick of the fielders for N.A.C, involved in a second run out, as well as taking Cockenbach's number 3, A.Eve, caught and bowled. At the end of their 40 overs, the visitors had put on 259 for the loss of only 5 wickets.
The youngsters struggled in reply, with wickets falling at an alarming rate. Only three batsmen were able to get starts, and unfortunately none were able to convert them to the big score that N.A.C needed to stay in the match. N.A.C's highest scorer was Trushit who made a battling 47 before falling caught and bowled to Walters, who was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets. In the end, N.A.C managed to reach 187 all out, a loss of 72 runs. While the result was not what the youngsters would have hoped for, it will have given them much needed experience against more seasoned players. They will improve with more matches like this, and we may yet see some of them in action for Kenya in the future.

Sunday saw the N.A.C senior side play host to Ipplepen CC, again in a 40 overs a-side contest. This time it was the visitors who won the toss, and not having learnt from the day before, elected to field. Again, it proved a mistake. A fiery 64 from Dilip, and good starts from Harshil, Minesh, Vimal and Jogesh taking N.A.C to a formidable looking 9 for 286. Chasing 7 runs an over was always going to be a tough task for the tourists, and some excellent bowling from the N.A.C soon put paid to any hopes of them overhauling the target. Vimal was especially impressive in carving through the middle order - He bowled Wakeham for 7, Harvey for 1, Charlie for 8 and W.Goose for 1, after Ghanshyam had done the damage at the top of the order. In the end, it was an easy defence for the hosts, winning by 188 runs in the 34th over.

Attention in Nakuru will now turn to the provincial limited overs tournament which is due to start very soon. I will keep you posted as I get news from a very reliable Shailesh in Nakuru (hint, hint those of you in Mombasa who are the only province yet to make contact…)