Nairobi — Kanbis Sports clubs' motto is "Unity in Brotherhood" and their B side have stayed true to it to clinch the coveted Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 50-Overs Division One League in a scintillating weekend of super cricket.
Kanbis B racked up a 5-wicket victory over Obuya Academy A to complete a double of title wins as Kanbis A outfit went on to seal the Super League title with vim and vigor.
Kanbis B skipper Rikesh Hirani was all smiles, saying his boys supported each other throughout the tournament "and with the much-needed cohesion they emerged as champions".
Kanbis A and B made up for their development outfits' undoing of falling to Samaj Development in the recent NPCA Division 3 final at Jamhuri High School grounds.
"Sunday's game against Obuya Cricket Academy was make or break as the winner was taking home the championship title. We were coming off a very good season losing just one game but still we had to make sure we put in the final nail in the coffin," Rikesh said.
After losing the toss and put to field first, Kanbis B managed to restrict their match adversaries to 171 runs.
Coming in to bat, Rikesh says they knew there was no option but to score 1 more than them and go home as champions.
Rikesh: "We always trusted the process and made sure we put all the efforts in our training and we knew if we were true to our process the results would be good for us and that's what happened to us."
The winner of Division One will be promoted to the first tier Super League which informs the purpose of the coveted title won by Kenya Kongonis A last season.
Kanbis B have completed their 12 fixture games and there is no way their closest rivals Obuya A (with one game in hand) or Ngara A (who have completed their fixtures) can get to their tally of 44 points.
Obuya have 34 and even if they win their last match, they will finish on 38 points, 6 short of Kanbis B total of 44.
On Sunday, Kanbis B's Rajesh Bhudiya became the match's top scorer after he smacked 63 off 35 balls. Ken Mwangi was Obuya Academy's highest scorer with a score of 62 off 85 balls.
Home team Obuya won the toss and opted to bat first scoring 171 All Out in 44.5 overs. In reply, Kanbis B were home and dry with 174 for 4 in 32.5 overs to seal a comfortable 6 wickets victory.
-Sikhs On A Roll-
Sikh Union B made up for their A team's massive loss in the Super League as they beat visiting Goan Institute by 8 wickets.
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Shree Cutchi Leva Patel Samaj YL B also made up for their A team undoing with a deserved 134-run win over Stray Lions B.
-Division 2 Title Chase-
In Division 2, Ngara B defeated An-nadil Jamaly by 51 runs to dislodge Stray Lions C from the summit of NPCA Division 2 50- Overs League.
But Ngara cannot afford to rest on their laurels as they only savor a slim 2-points lead on the log but it will be interesting to see how the title chase goes.
Stray Lions C didn't have a fixture this weekend and as such dipped to second position on the log. They return to the competition on the weekend of September 29 against Wolves Cricket Club.
Kenya Kongonis team beat Swamibapa Development by 98 runs also to make up for their A team loss in the first-tier competition. Wolves cricket Club beat Goan Institute B by 4 wickets in another Division two match.
POINTS TABLE DIVISION ONE
1.Kanbis B 44
2.Obuya A 34
3.Ngara A 34
4.Sikh Union B 26
5.Samaj 24
DIVISION 2
1.Ngara B
2.Stray Lion C
3.Sray Leopards B 22
4.Wolves B 20
5.Legends 20
