Kanbis ‘A’ Team continues to ride on the crest of a wave despite a narrow 1-wicket home loss to visiting Shree Cutchi Leva Patel Samaj (SCLPS ‘A’) on Match Day 4 of the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 50-Overs League.

Kanbis ‘A’ clung onto the summit of the competition, but only just. The Eastleigh giants are tied on 12 points with Swamibapa ‘A’, Nairobi Gymkhana ‘A’, Sir Ali A and Ruaraka ‘A’, but retained their place at the top of the log for the second weekend running on Net Run Rate (of 2.468).

Eastleigh High has, over time, earned a reputation as a slaughterhouse for its visitors – but not until the giant-killers Samaj came calling.

Kanbis ‘A’ went into Match Day 4 minus two of its finest batsmen, Rakep Patel and skipper Dhiren Gondaria, but still set an impressive target of 328 for 6 in 50.0 overs when put in to bat by the hard-fighting visitors, Samaj ‘A’.

The Kanbis duo is away in Entebbe, Uganda, representing Kenya at the 2025 edition of the Pearl of Africa T20 Cricket Series.

‘Giant killers’

The drama began when Kanbis ‘A’s opener, Pushpak Kerai, smacked a century, setting the tone for a high-scoring thriller and piling immense pressure on the victors.

But giant-killers Samaj ‘A’ bounced back with an impressive 332 for 9 in 50.0 overs to carry the day, contrary to all expectations.

Sachin Bhudia, who was surprisingly dropped for the Uganda series, once again proved his importance in the batting department with a brilliant 97 runs off 91 balls.

He was involved in a 170-run partnership with Pushpak, which laid the foundation for a huge total of 328 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 50 overs.

However, SCLPS ‘A’ got off to a flying start despite losing wickets, with valuable contributions from opener Aditya Vekaria, who scored 68 runs off 86 deliveries.

Captain Niraj Patel then held his nerve to guide his team through a tense chase with a brilliant unbeaten 92 runs off 91 balls, leading his side to a famous victory.

Immediate former champions Ruaraka ‘A’ also dealt T20 champions Swamibapa ‘A’ a 1-wicket blow at Ruaraka Sports Club.

Neelakash Ravindra Tambe’s batting prowess of 78 off 77 balls saw the hard-fighting Swamibapa A play second fiddle to immediate former champions Ruaraka ‘A’.

Swamibapa played minus three of its key players – Sachin Gill, Vraj Patel and Peter Koech – but still put up a good fight, narrowly losing to Ruaraka by 1 wicket.

Rushab Patel won the toss and elected to bat first, leading from the front with a brilliant half-century (56 runs off 60 balls), ably supported by Onkar Jadhav (65 runs) and Yash Chavan with an unbeaten 78 runs.

However, the absence of their senior bowlers was felt, as the inexperienced bowling attack fought hard but couldn’t cross the line in a very tense match at Ruaraka.

Meanwhile, Week 1 and 2 leaders Nairobi Gymkhana ‘A’ are back in the groove following a 7-wicket win over Ngara Sports Club ‘A’, rekindling hopes of winning the 50-Overs NPCA title in 2025.

Sweet victory

Another notable result was Stray Lions’ maiden win of the season at the “Lions Den” in Peponi.

The Lions’ spirited fielding performance earned them an exhilarating 9-wicket victory over visiting Kenya Kongonis ‘A’ Team, marking their first-ever win of the NPCA 50-Overs League 2025 season.

Lions’ opening pair of Sagar Mallepati (10 off 17 balls) and Kavi Dosaja (32 off 18 balls) showcased great skill and determination, as stand-in skipper Aman Gandhi finished off the job with just 4 off 3 balls, thanks to the rapid collapse of Kongonis’ top and middle orders, which saw man-of-the-match Patil Atharv (5) and Hiren Varaiya (3) rack up a combined total of eight wickets!