Scarecrow and Swamibapa start 2010 with wins

Having lost 2 games last weekend - one to rain, the other to a funeral, action returned to the pitch yesterday in Nakuru with both Scarecrow and Swamibapa registering their first wins of 2010.

Scarecrow defeated Royal Cubs by 32 runs in the 14th match of the RVSC Crown Berger 20-20 League thanks to a superb unbeaten 90 from Armadeep (?) and a depleted Cubs side. Armadeep found good support in Faiz (?) who added 37 as Scarecrow eased to 182/3 in their 20 overs.

Royal Cubs hit an early hurdle with the loss of Krunal for just 3, but a good second wicket stand between Trushit ? (30) and Sunny ? (68) gave them a glimpse of victory before Prabdeep ? (3/29) ripped through the middle order. In the end the chase fell well short, but could have looked better had Royal Cubs been able to field a full team.

This begs the question as to what exactly the RVCA development program is doing as one would have thought that there would be plenty of local school boys who would be itching to make up the numbers. It is just such scenarios (and the spinknit forfeight last week) where the association needs to step in and give these younsters a chance. At worst, they would certainly allow a proper game to be played and at best could really make a name for themselves if they took the opportunity. This must be serious food for thought for RVCA for future matches. There is no point in having a development program if local players are not filtered into the league teams.

In Game 16, Swamibapa batted first against Khalsa XI but found the going difficult against the tight lines of Indraj ? (4/24) and Vikas (3/21). Top scorers were Kalpesh Patel (24) and Jogesh Patel (19) with Sunil Rathod (18) and Deval Patel (16) also contributing to the final tally of 120 all out.

If Swamibapa had struggled against the bowling, Khalsa really made a meal of it as their reply stuttered to just 94 all out. V.P Singh was the lone figure of resistance as he was left stranded on 36* as only two other players made it into double figures. Jogesh Patel (3/23) was pick of the Swamibapa bowling with Jignesh Patel (2/10), Dilp Patel (2/10) and Anil Patel (2/18) also enjoying their time with the ball.