Swamibapa hit rivals Kanbis in NPCA thriller

Evergreen batman Deepak Pal on Sunday blasted a scintillating century as Swamibapa beat rivals Kanbis by a wicket in a thrilling Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association Super League match at Eastleigh High School.

Pal’s 142 runs came off 124 deliveries with 17 boundaries and four sixes and was Swamibapa’s highest runs getter.

Put in to bat first, Kanbis set a target of 275 by the time they completed their allotted 50 overs with a wicket in hand. Sachin Bhudia top scored for Kanbis with half a century, 58 that came off 50 balls with five boundaries and two sixes.

Dhiren Gondaria (40 off 51 balls with four boundaries and a six), Narendra Patel (39 off 26 balls with five boundaries and two sixes), Ramesh Mepani (34 off 40 balls with six boundaries) and Nelson Odhiambo (29 off 57 balls) were Kanbis’ batsmen who posted meaningful runs on the scoreboard.

Kanbis were given a flying start by their two openers, Narendra and Dhiren, who put on an opening stand of 52. The partnership was broken when Mitesh Sanghani (1/45) had Narendra caught by Pal. Emmanuel Bundi was Kanbis’ main executioner, taking four wickets for 87. Pal (2/49) and James Ngoche (2/49) were the other wicket takers.

In reply, Swamibapa reached the target, 277 with one wicket and two balls in hand. Pal shared an eighth wicket partnership of 84 with Bundi, who was unbeaten on 25 off 40 balls with two boundaries, the best stand for Swamibapa. The partnership was broken when Pal was caught by Dhiren off the bowling of Rakep Patel (2/42).

Sanghani joined Bundi at the crease and at the time Swamibapa required five runs to win with a wicket and six balls in hand. Sanghani completed the stunning outing after hitting a towering six with the fourth ball of the last over.