All down to the final game

Convincing wins from both Kanbis A and Swamibapa A (no news yet from the Stray Lions camp...) mean that the NPCA Super Division Title will be decided on the final day of the competition.

Kanbis A kept alive their title bid with a professional dismissal of Sir Ali A. Sir Ali captain Mujib Ashraf won the toss and elected to bat first with his team scoring 211 all out in 50 overs thanks mainly to Shiraz (?) 58, Farhan (?) 49 and Abdul (?) 44. Bowling honours were shared by Rikesh Hirani who snared 5 wickets for 23 runs and Rohit Varshani (2 wickets for 25 runs).

Kanbis Sports Club had no problem in scoring the required runs (213 for the loss of 3 wickets in 18.5 overs). The batting heroes for Kanbis were Rakeb Patel (78), Alpesh Bhudia (68), the evergreen Ramesh Mepani (35*) and Captain Arvind Halai 18*.

Swamibapa also kept themselves on track for their first League title in 6 years with Elijah Otieno leading the way with a devastating spell in which he took 4 wkts for 6 runs as Swamibapa a bowled out Shree Cutchi Leva for just 74. Peter Ongondo (2/14) and Nehemiah Odhiambo (1/25) were the other bowlers of note.

Swamibapa had little trouble running down the total with main contributions coming from Francis Otieno (22) Nehemiah Odhiambo (22) and Tony Suji (15).

Swamibapa A play their final game next week against Stray Lions A knowing that a win or even a full quota of bonus points will seal the title. Stray Lions for their part can now no longer win the League after Swamibapa's win but victory in their final game could see them take second place if Kanbis slip up. The defending champions however should breeze past SCLYL 'A' at Pindolia Academy and so will keep the pressure on Swamibapa.

At the bottom end of the Super Division it will similarly come down to the final game to see who is relegated with both Sir Ali A and Simba Union A hoping a last gasp win will save them from the chop.

It is great to see such a competitive season in the NPCA with no fewer than four teams still in the running going into the last month. Hopefully this competitiveness will transfer itself across to competition for places in the national side.