Top four have fingers crossed as Sikh's join NPCA T-20 playoffs race

The top four teams in the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) T-20 League are optimistic about posting good results in the playoffs.

After a dramatic finish at the weekend, Sikh Union Cricket Club A’s stunning 3-wicket win over Stray Lions sealed a fourth and final spot in the playoffs where they will join Swamibapa A, Kanbis A and Sir Ali A.

Despite Sir Ali Muslim Club A’s 5-wicket loss to Kanbis, skipper Gurdeep Singh is confident that they can still lift the coveted T-20 title.

“It is sad that we lost to Kanbis in Saturday’s derby, however, we are going back to the drawing board to address some of the errors we made in the match. We lost a match we should never have lost,” said Singh adding that they were let down by drop catches. 

Kanbis captain Dhiren Gondaria said their victory against Sir Ali was well deserved.

 “We are happy with the win and mostly with the way Sachin (Bhudia) and Vinod

Rabadia batted, I hope the good batting form will continue to the end of the T-20 season.”

Bhudia and Vinod Rabadia (not out) chalked up 43 and 44 runs apiece for Kanbis with Sir Ali’s top scorers in the first innings being Abdul Rehman (32), Irfan Karim (not out/33) and Kashish Panseja (35) and Kavi’s Century.

Elsewhere, Nairobi Gymkhana A celebrated a brilliant 50-run win over Obuya Academy A, thanks to Kavi Dosaja's classy century.

“I feel I have had a bad season so far and I took it upon myself today (Saturday) to make sure I scored some big runs to take our team through."

"I needed to bat long after we were 20-5 having opened the batting. Feels great to win a game after a long time. We’ve had a season to forget but I am certain we will come back strongly,” Dosaja said.

Gymkhana A nevertheless suffered a 38-run defeat at the hands of Cutchi Leva A (SCLPS A) on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Swamibapa’s big victory propelled them to the T-20 summit for the first time since the shorter version of the game began.

Swamibapa A, batting first at Nairobi Jaffrey’s put on a huge total of 249/6 the highest total posted in the current season.

Led by Captain Rushab Patel’s 40 off 21 balls, Dhwanil Patel once again showed his brilliance with the bat scoring a brilliant 78 off only 36 balls. Obuya Academy could only manage 145/6 with Collins Obuya again leading with the bat with a fighting 68 runs of 41 balls.

This means the top two Swamibapa A and Sir Ali A will face off in Qualifier 1 this weekend.

The winner will earn a direct ticket to the finals while the loser gets another chance against the winner of the eliminator.

Kanbis A’s 9-wicket loss to Ruaraka A means they have a date with Sikh Union A in the

eliminator. Kanbis A batting first were bowled out for 139 in 19 overs. Ruaraka in reply chased the scoring by losing only one wicket with Pushkar Sharma scoring an unbeaten 51 off 41 balls and Sachin Gill's unbeaten 41 off 25 balls.

The winner of the eliminator will face the loser of Qualifier 1 in the second qualifier for a place in the finals. Sikh Union A's victory over Stray Lions qualified them for the eliminator.