NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 12 – Hosts Kenya began their Kenya-Nigeria Bilateral series campaign with a 30 runs win at the Nairobi Sikh Union ground.
The home team delivered an all-round performance to clinch victory in the five match series.
Winning the toss, Kenya opted to bat first and set a challenging target of 159 for 6.
Sachin Bhudia emerged as the standout performer with the bat, scoring a crucial 50 runs, which included a final-ball flourish that boosted Kenya’s total.
Despite a rocky start that saw early dismissals, Kenya managed to stabilize their innings, thanks to notable contributions from Neil Mugabe (28), Rushab Patel (14), and Nelson Odhiambo (20).
Later in their innings, Bhudia combined with Shem Ngoche (13) and Jasraj Kundi (21) to steer Kenya towards a competitive total of 159 runs.
In response, Nigeria faced a tough challenge as the Kenyan bowlers, particularly the spinners, made significant breakthroughs at crucial intervals. By the seventh over, Nigeria found themselves struggling at 46 for 4, with only Prosper Useni (31) managing to hold up their innings and guide them past the 100-run mark.
Kenyan bowlers were exceptional in defending their total, with Shem Ngoche, Gerald Mwendwa, and Peter Koech each claiming two wickets to restrict Nigeria to 130 for 9 by the end of their allotted overs.
Skipper Sylveter Okpe was a standout performer for Nigeria with the ball, capturing three crucial wickets for 22 runs, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Kenya from securing a convincing 30-run victory.
The series continues on Saturday with the second match at the same venue from 1:30pm
