Swamis’ fl ying start: Singh impresses in seven wicket win over Sikhs in 40 Overs opener

Sikh Union slumped to a seven-wicket defeat to Swamibapa as the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) 40 Overs Knockout tournament bowled off in Nairobi yesterday.

Swamibapa used only 59 balls to wrap up the win after a poor batting display saw them skittle Sikh Union for just 68. Harpreet Singh top-scored for Sikh Union with a breezy 21 from 28 balls (4 fours), but his dismissal in the ninth over saw his side collapse from 31 for 2 to 60 all out in 25.5 overs with Lameck Onyango and Jadavji Bhimji picking four wickets each.

Krushil Savla and Manhar Singh were the other batsmen in Sikh Union’s dugout to get double digits in an inning that had five ducks. Onyango and Bhimji were unplayable in the whole inning conceding 27 runs between them in 11 overs. Onyango dismissed all but one of the five top order batsmen while Bhimji, fondly known as Malindi, took advantage of the turn on the wicket to clean up the middle and the tail.

Gurdeep Singh steered his team to the seven wicket win against his former club with an unbeaten 38 from only 22 balls, as they passed their modest target with 30.1 overs to spare. There was some good news for Sikh Union at the start of their defence when they reduced Swamibapa to 10 for 3 in only 3.4 overs.

Openers Pankaj Sanghani and James Ngoche were all caught for ducks and Naman Patel followed with three before Gurdeep and Maurice Ouma (29) put on unbeaten stand of 62 runs. Sikh Union wicketkeeper Savla admitted that it’s been quite a struggle for the young side saying: “It’s very tough going out in the middle, with a huge amount of turn and not much value for shots with the slow outfield.”

“Our batting hasn’t been up to par and our bowling hasn’t been consistent enough either, but we are improving day by day. Between now and when the league starts we will be rethinking our targets and finding new ways to improve.”

It’s been a real baptism of fire for the Forest Road side since the exodus of a number of their players last year but former U19 bowler Paramveer Singh who remains unbeaten on a duck, is upbeat. “It’s been tough for the players but there have been encouraging signs. The players have all shown great energy and fight in the field despite not having more wins as we could have expected. It’s a steep learning curve for the squad but they will learn lessons and improve from these defeats. These matches will stand us in good stead ahead of the league.”