Swamibapa set for Kanbis semi-final clash

Defending champions of the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association’s 40-over tournament Swamibapa face Kanbis in one of the semi-finals.

Swamibapa reached the semi-finals of the tournament after beating Stray Lions by 26 runs at Nairobi Jaffreys at the weekend.

The venue of the semi-final match planned for Sunday is yet to be announced by organisers of the tournament.

Batting first, Swamibapa set a target of 237 in their allotted 40-overs.

Swamibapa’s opening batsman, Alex Obanda, was the team’s highest runs getter with 60 off 68 deliveries that included seven fours. Nehemiah Odhiambo knocked a quick half a century, 54 off 33 balls.

Elijah Otieno was the only other batsman who contributed meaningful runs to the side with 29.

Kenya’s former captain, Jimmy Kamande, was Swamibapa’s main executioner taking four wickets for 49.Varun Prakash (2/33) and Pravin Kumar (2/17) were the other wicket takers.

STRAY LIONS DISMISSED

In reply, Stray Lions were dismissed for 210 with 50 balls in hand. At one point, the pendulum swung in favour of the Stray Lions, with Narvin Sharma (73 off 51 balls with five boundaries and four towering sixes) sending the bowlers all over the place.

However, the game slipped through the fingers of Stray Lions when Sharma was adjudged run out. The other batsmen appear to have panicked. Stray Lions needed 30 runs with 10 overs in hand, at a run rate of three per over.

Collins Obuya, another former national team skipper, tried hard from the outside to guide the batsmen at the crease not to go for big hits and try to complete the remain over’s, but it was all in vain. The batsmen lost wickets cheaply and lost the game to their arch-rivals.

Elsewhere, Kanbis (327 all out in 39 overs) beat Sir Ali Muslim Club (56 all out in 16 overs) by 271 runs.

The other semi-final will feature Nairobi Gymkhana verses Kongonis.