NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 31 – Kenya Kongonis ‘A’ will be banking on experience and resilience in their quest for their first win of the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) Twenty20 championship.
The Nairobi Club outfit resumes its T20 assignment with a home fixture on Saturday against Cutchi Leva (SCLPS YL A).
On Sunday, Kongonis A visit Ngara Sports Club A at the latter’s South C backyard where they will be hoping to complete a double should their Saturday plans come to fruition.
Kongonis’ skipper Tom Ojijo remains confident despite a bad start to the season.
Reflecting on their weekend missions, Ojijo commented: “We are looking to secure our first win as a club in the T20 championship and the dressing room is positive with our seniors Alex Obanda and Shem Ngoche in the side. We have a nice balance in our squad and the essence for now is to just focus on one game at a time; staying positive and looking to enjoy our cricket.”
Meanwhile, the big guns are back in the crease on week 3 of the NPCA T20 championship.
Kanbis A have a date with log leaders Sir Ali Muslim Club A at their Eastleigh backyard before heading to Nairobi Gymkhana against hosts on Sunday.
Kanbis formidable batting has struggled for runs so far and will be looking to get back into form.
Skipper Dhiran Gondaria, Sachin Bhudia and Rakep Patel will spearhead the batting for the home side as they look to bounce back from last week’s defeat.
Tournament favorites Swamibapa A will host Sikh Union A at Nairobi Jaffrey’s before clashing with leaders Sir Ali Muslim club A at Sir Ali on Sunday afternoon.
Sikh Union has had an impressive start to the tournament and will be looking for a positive result against Swamibapa.
Sir Ali will peg their hopes on the tournament’s leading run scorer Simran who has amassed 223 runs from 3 innings at an average of 111.50.
He is followed by Ruaraka’ s Nitish Hirani who has 190 runs in 3 innings ahead Kongonis’ Alex Obanda with 103.
Swamibapa skipper Rushabh Patel believes there are no easy matches in this league.
Rushabh: “We try to go game by game, try to execute the team plan without worrying who is coming next. The fielding and bowling effort was fantastic last weekend in our 9-wicket win against Kanbis “A”. Our bowlers were again excellent on Sunday against Ruaraka A restricting them to 109/9.”
Hitendra Sanghani and Vraj Patel have been outstanding with bowling so far and will be looking to continue with their fine form as they meet two unbeaten sides Sikh Union A and Sir Ali A in a double header.
Stray Lions A will also be seeking their first win of the season against Nairobi Gymkhana but it won’t be easy for the visitors.
Stray Lions has struggled for consistency both with the bat and bowl and their senior players will have to take on more responsibilities if they are turn around their fortunes in the tournament.
Nairobi Gymkhana fresh from its victory over newly promoted Ngara will be looking to rank up another victory to move up the standings.
Meanwhile, Divisions One and Two have several fixtures in the city sure to treat fans to some exhilarating displays.
On Sunday, Stray Lions C play Goan Institute B at Nairobi Jaffrey’s in a Group A Division 3 match.
Swamibapa Development will play Nairobi Royals at Jamhuri in another Division 2 match.
Like the Super Division, Division One has 10 fixtures (5 on Saturday) on both days of the weekend.
Sir Ali Muslim Club B play Kanbis B at Sir Ali while Obuya Academy A Hosts Stray Lions B at Lenana.
Although no one knows what’s up the sleeves of the players this weekend, that will be known after the toss.
“Standards have been set and only the sky is the limit. We expect some cutthroat competition from the teams now that action is taking shape at week 3,” said NPCA Hon. Secretary Narendra “NK” Patel.
WEEKEND FIXTURES: Sat/01/02/25
SUPER DIVISION
14:30: Kanbis A vs Sir Ali Muslim Club A (Eastleigh) 14:30: Swamibapa A vs Sikh Union A (Jamhuri)
14:30: Ruaraka A vs Ngara Sports Club A (Ruaraka)
14:30: Nairobi Gymkhana A vs (Nbi Gymkhana)
14:30: Kongonis A vs SCLPS YL A (NBI Club)
DIVISION ONE
14:30: Sir Ali Muslim Club B vs Kanbis B (Sir Ali)
14:30: Sikh Union B vs Swamibapa B (Sikh Union) 14:30: Ngara Sports Club B vs Ruaraka B (Ngara)
14:30: Obuya Academy A vs Stray Lions B (Lenana)
14:30: Goan Institute A vs SCLPS YL B (GI)
DIVISION TWO
14:30: Stray Lions D vs SCLPS YL Development (Peponi School)
Sun/02/02/25
SUPER DIVISION
14:00: Nairobi Gymkhana A vs Kanbis A (Nbi Gymkhana) 14:00: Sir Ali Muslim club A vs Swamibapa A (Sir Ali) 14:00: Sikh Union A vs Ruaraka A (Sikh Union)
14:00: Stray Lions A vs SCLPS YL A (Peponi)
14:00: Ngara Sports Club A vs Kongonis A (Ngara)
DIVISION ONE
09:30: Obuya Academy A vs Kanbis B (Lenana)
09:30: Sir Ali Muslim Club B vs Swamibapa B (Sir ali) 09:30: Sikh Union B vs Ruaraka B (Sikh Union)
09:30: Stray Lions B vs SCLPS YL B (Peponi)
09:30: Ngara Sports Club B vs Goan Institute A (Ngara)
DIVISION TWO
09:30: (A) Wolves Cricket Club A VS Sikh Union Development (Viraj)
09:30: (A) Nairobi Jaffrey’s vs Stray An-nadil Jamaly (Nairobi Jaffreys)
14:00: (A ) Stray Lions C vs Goan Institute B (Nairobi Jaffreys)
14:00: (A) Obuya Academy B vs Legends CC A (Lenana)
09:30: (A ) Nairobi Gymkhana B vs Kanbis Development (Nbi gymkhana)
09:30: (B) Swamibapa Development Nairobi Royals (Jamhuri)
09:30: (B) Kongonis B vs Stray Lions D (Nbi Club)
14:00: (B) SCLPS YL Development vs Medics CC (Jamhuri)
09:30: (B) Ruaraka Development vs A Legends CC B ( Ruaraka)
(B)
Wolves B (BYE)
