NPCA Results Week 1

SUPER DIVISION:

Kanbis Sports Club 'A' versus Kongonis Cricket Club 'A' at Eastleigh Sec. Sch.

Kanbis batted first and showed why they are not only defending champions, but also many people's favourites for a consecutive titles. A wonderful century from National team hopeful Malhar Patel (109) would certainly have caught the selector's eyes and he was well backed up by Ramesh Mepani who fell just short of his half century. Pick of Kongoni's bowlers were Dominic with 4-53 and Moses Otieno who weighed in with 2-36. Kanbis finished on 7-275 and were always going to make Kongoni's struggle to chase. None of the Kongoni batsmen really got going, and incisive spells from Rohit Vekaria (4-21) and Arvind Halai (3-16) kept Kanbis in firm control. Kongonis finished on 141 all out with their top scorers Singh (19) and Duncan Okinyo (13).

A comfortable 134 run victory for Kanbis to start the season. Kongonis will need to regroup before their next game.
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DIVISION I:

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Kongonis Cricket Club 'B' versus Parklands Sports Club - Rhinos at Nairobi Club: Match abandoned due to damp pitch.

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Ngara Sports Club versus Premier Club at Ngara S.C.

Premier Club batted first and set a target of 287 All Out thanks mainly to Brijan G Patel (55) and Rahul J Patel (49). Ngara's bowlers were spearheaded by Jagit Patel (3-26) and Rajan (2-60). In reply Ngara's Jay Solanki (103) hit the second century of the competition ably supported by Jagit Patel's 45. Vijay took 2-30 for Premier, but their next best was Snehal Patel with 1-34 and Ngara ended up winning by 3 wickets.

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Swamibapa Cricket Club 'B' versus Shree Cutchi Leva Youth League at Pindolia Academy:

Swami's fielded first and put the screws on right from the start. Sailesh Patel (5-9) and Narendra Vekaria (3-3) both finished with figures that they are unlikely to duplicate and SCLYL ended up all out for 72. Only Paresh Kerai (15) made it to double figures. Chasing such a low total was never going to put too much strain on Swamibapa and they cruised to victory with 8 wickets still intact. Maxwel Otieno 29* and Narendra Vekaria 18* the batsmen to take them home. Nishant Vaghjiani (2-18) the only player to come out with anything to show for SCLYL.

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Ruaraka Sports Club 'A' versus Kanbis Sports Club 'B' at Ruaraka S.C:

Kanbis batted first and made 226 before being bowled out. Rajesh (65) and
Ramesh (36) led the way with the bat while Kapil Josh (3-50) and Amit Shukla (2-35) were the pick of Ruaraka's bowling. Chasing what looked like an achievable total, Ruaraka looked good with all-rounder Amit Shukla making 69 and Hitesh Gohil 37. It was another all-rounder, Rajesh (2-27) who swung the balance back to Kanbis, and together with Rikesh (3-39) made sure that both Kanbis teams finished on a winning note. Ruaraka ended up 188 All Out giving Kanbis 'B' a 38 run victory.

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DIVISION II:

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Aga Khan Sports Center 'B' versus Nbi Gymkhana Sports Club 'B' at Aga Khan S.C:

Ravindu Shah returned for Nairobi Gymkhana and made a welcome 72 after so many months out injured. A welcome sight for Kenya's selectors even if it was in Div II. Shashank chipped in with exactly 50 as the visitors set a target of 237 for the loss of 7 wickets. It was a family affair with the ball for Aga Khan as Moez Popatia finished with 3-32 and Asif Popatia took 1-17. Aga Khan's reply was lead by another Kenyan team hopeful, Ashish Karia who posted a fine 122, the highest score of the day. Mohsin Ali added 50 and the hosts ended up cruising to an easy 8 wicket victory. Gymkhana's wickets came from Rajesh Patel (1-33) and Rakip Patel (1-55).

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Qutbis Sports Club 'A' versus Nbi Institute at Seifee Park:

One of the closer matches of the round saw Quitbis (166 all out) defeat Nairobi institute (144 all out) by 22 runs.

Top scores for Quitbis were Huzeifa Najmi (47) Burhanudin Nana (29) while Institute's were Khuzeima (29) and Salim (25). Pick of the bowlers were:
John (N.I) 4-18, Ritesh (Qut) 3-15, Huzeifa (N.I) 3-27 and Bilal (Qut) 2-19.

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Stray Lions Crcket Club 'A' versus Nairobi Nookers Cricket Club at Simba Union.

National team reserve, David Obuya (74) led the way for for Stray Lions as they set a total of 231 for their 9 wickets. Mohamed Faruk added 46. Nooker's best bowlers Ronald (2-19) and Earnest (2-29) can probably feel a tad aggrieved that the rest did not give them better support. Despite Ronald (54) making a half century, Nookers never really looked in the hunt and the Lions bowlers kept the lid on. Shinaz Abdul took 3-27 and Bharat Halai 3-43 to ensure Nookers were bowled out for 146. Rajesh Patel was their second highest scorer with 20.

Stray Lions win by 85 runs.

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DIVISION 3:

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Golden XI versus Ruaraka Sports Club 'B' at Highridge Pr Sch:

Ruaraka B batted first in their debut game and were able to set a target of 202 all out. No batsman really dominated for them, it being more of a team effort, but the two picks were Ravji R (28) and Rajesh N (28). Golden XI's Amit N took the first five wicket haul of the competition with 5 - 34 to keep them in the game and he was supported by a fiery Sanish with 3-19. Not to be out done, Ruaraka's Nguru returned the favour with the day's best figures of 5-30. Ritesh took 4-20, and their effort was enough to give Ruaraka a 46 run victory despite 33 from Somba and 22 from Pratik.

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Parklands Sports Club - Ndovu versus Oshwal XI at Parklands S.C:

The closest game of the round saw the visitors batting first and reduced to 172 all out after a fine bowling display by Ravilal Manji (3-23) and Mansuk Hirani (3-43). Mehul Gada (45) will no doubt be disappointed to miss out on his fifty by 5 runs. Oshwal's next highest scorer was Primal Chandaria with 22. Ndovu's reply stuttered thanks again to the bowlers, the pick of whom was Chirag Pattani (3-34). Again, no batsman really dominated but 29 from Hitesh Varsani and 24 from man-of-the-match, Ravilal Manji was enough for the Parklands boys to scrape home by 1 wicket.

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Sir Ali Muslim Club 'B' versus Stray Lions 'B' Sir Ali Muslim Club:
This was reported on previously, but just as a reminder: Sir Ali made 292 For 8 (Abdul 64, Akber 62, Nadeem 62), Pradip 4-63 and Ashwin 2-39. In reply, Stray Lions were bowled out for 60 with Nadeem (4-11) and Tariq Alvi (3-15) doing the damage. Sir Ali by 232 runs.