Nairobi — The Nairobi County Cricket Association (NCCA) T20 League is heating up, and Week Three this weekend promises to be an intense one.
The action kicks off on Saturday with a thrilling match, pitting one-time champions Stray Lions A and multiple champs Swamibapa A at Jamhuri Ground.
As the home team, the Swamis will not make life any easier for the Lions, who are playing well again after a bad run in recent years.
Stray Lions will be relying on their overseas professionals, led by Subham Jadav, to steer their team to victory.
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The Stray Lions, known for their aggressive batting, will look to take advantage of the match situation, while Swamibapa will be gunning to maintain a clean sheet at home.
Both sides have won their opening matches and will be looking to strengthen their qualification for the qualifiers later in the tournament.
Swamibapa A boasts of some of the finest batsmen and will hinge their hopes on their century-hungry dangerman, Sachin Gill, and Dhwanil Patel. Gill has always done well with the bat on a good day.
But the spotlight will be on Kanbis A, who renew their rivalry with Ruaraka A at Ruaraka Ground in a highly anticipated match on Saturday.
Both teams will be fighting hard, with Ruaraka looking to break their winless streak, and Kanbis desperate to bounce back from their 5-wicket loss to Sir Ali on January 18. The Kanbis, led by their experienced captain, Dhiren Gondaria, will look to exploit Ruaraka' s weaknesses.
But the Nitish Hirani Ruaraka will be banking on their strong bowling attack to trouble the Kanbis A batsmen. Ruaraka will fight like wounded lions.
But then again, Kanbis A can't afford another slip-up, while Ruaraka is eager to get their campaign back on track.
The Ruaraka team is severely depleted with the absence of their overseas players in the T20. The overseas players have been instrumental in their 50-over league success. Who knows, it's still early days into the season, by and large.
But there is an adage in sports that success comes and goes; it's a wait-and-see situation. Other matches on Saturday include Ngara SC A taking on Sir Ali A at Ngara Ground and Sikh Union A facing off against SCLPS A at Sikh Union Ground.
-Mother Of All Battles-
On Sunday, Kanbis A takes on Swamibapa A in a top-of-the-bill match at Jaffrey's, a repeat of their intense encounters in previous seasons. The Swamibapa team, known for their spin attack, will look to trouble the Kanbis batsmen.
But Kanbis will be relying on their explosive batting led by skipper Dhiren Gondaria, who smashed consecutive hundreds on Saturday and Sunday to move to the top of the batting chart, and newcomer Tanzeel Sheikh to take down the Swamibapa bowlers.
Other matches on Sunday include Nbi Gymkhana A taking on Sir Ali A at Nbi Gymkhana, Stray Lions A facing Sikh Union A at Peponi, and Ruaraka A hosting SCLPS A at Ruaraka Ground.
The league is heating up, with teams battling it out in every division. It's going to be a nail-biter as tension is building, and the stakes are high. Will Kanbis A turn their campaign around, or will Ruaraka A finally get their first win?
The NCCA T20 League week 3 is sure to deliver thrills and spills.
Sat/31/01/26
SUPER DIVISION
14:30:00 Swamibapa A vs. Stray Lions A (Jamhuri)
14:30:00 Ruaraka A vs Kanbis A (Ruaraka)
14:30:00 Ngara SC A vs Sir Ali A (Ngara)
14:30:00 Sikh Union A vs. SCLPS A (Sikh Union)
Nbi Gymkhana A Bye
DIVISION ONE
14:30:00 Kongonis A vs Swamibapa B (Nbi Club)
14:30:00 Kanbis B vs Ruaraka B (Eastleigh)
14:30:00 Sir Ali B vs Ngara SC B (Sir Ali)
14:30:00 SCLPS B vs Sikh Union B (SCLPS)
14:30:00 Nbi Gymkhana B vs. Wolves CC A (Nbi Gymkhana)
14:30:00 Obuya Academy A vs Legends CC A (Lenana)
Sun/01/02/26
SUPER DIVISION
14:00:00 Swamibapa A vs Kanbis A (Nbi Jaffrey)
14:00:00 Nbi Gymkhana A vs Sir Ali A (Nbi Gymkhana)
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14:00:00 Stray Lions A vs Sikh Union A (Peponi)
14:00:00 Ruaraka A vs SCLPS A (Ruaraka)
Ngara SC A Bye
DIVISION ONE
09:30:00 Kanbis B vs Swamibapa B (Eastleigh)
09:30:00 Wolves CC A vs. Sir Ali B (Vraj)
09:30:00 Sikh Union B vs Obuya Academy A (Sikh Union)
09:30:00 Nbi Gymkhana B vs SCLPS B (Nbi Gymkhana)
09:30:00 Ngara SC B vs Kongonis A (Ngara SC)
09:30:00 Ruaraka B vs Legends CC A (Ruaraka)
DIVISION TWO
14:00:00 (A) SCLPS Development vs. Stray Lions B (SCLPS)
09:30:00 (A) An-nadil Jamaly vs. Kongonis B (Saifee)
14:00:00 (A) Sikh Union Development vs. Nairobi Royals (Sikh Union)
14:00:00 (A) Wolves CC B Bye
14:00:00 (B) Kanbis Development vs Goan Institute A (Eastleigh)
09:30:00 (B) Medics vs. Obuya Academy B (Jamhuri)
09:30:00 (B) Nairobi Jaffrey's vs Ruaraka C (Nbi Jafferys)
