NPCA T20: Swamibapa beat Sikh Union to lift Super Division title

It was a colorful Saturday night marked with history at the Shree Cutchi Leva Patel Samaj (SCLPS) grounds as for the first time in the history of Kenyan domestic cricket, a match was played under floodlights.

This time, a final matchup pitting Swamibapa and Sikh Union in the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) T20 Super Division Final.

Sikh Union won the toss and elected to bowl, conceding a heavy run total of 200 runs that was at the end of the day impossible to chase, losing to the eventual NPCA T20 Super Division champs Swamibapa by 45 runs.

First Innings.

In front of a packed grandstand, top side Swamibapa - with tonnes of experience in its side- made an early statement of intent through their top order batsmen; Rushab Patel and Alex Obanda as they went on a furious run to post 88 runs for no wicket after the opening 10 overs.

Soon after, Rushab Patel was receiving a huge applause from the fans and family as he pushed his ball for a boundary and a half century with the scores at 98/0.

Sikh Union's persistence seemed to pay off just inside 11.4 overs as Patel's long ball was collected by Muhammad Kalyan, dismissing the former with 52 runs.

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Alex Obanda was the next man to exit the crease after 14.5 overs, to break the hot openers who had combined for a total of 112 Swamibapa runs.

Yash Bhatt produced a decent 10-ball 22 in between a mix of short-stayed batters like Dhwanir Patel and Priyanksinh Parmar all who were limited to single digits.

Dhwanir and Parmar scored five and nine respectively, with Harendra Kerai scoring 10 (not-out).

Shezad Ahmad and Aum Patel finished with two wickets each for Sikh Union.

Second Innings.

Sikh Union found things going tough for them early on, as the second batter Satish Hirani was dismissed after just 1.3 overs. A bowled ball by Peter Koech was caught by Yas Bhatt with the scores at 13/1.

For the next overs till the break, Swamibapa upped their tempo and dismissed two other batters; skipper Sukhdeep Singh and Jasray Kundi with Sikh Union just having recorded 67 runs.

It would have been easier to write Sikh Union off, but they made a worthy crack off of Fasih Rafi's 25-ball 29 and Muhammad Kalyan 21 runs to pull closer to the 200 run target.

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Osama Aslam had his own 55 runs after hitting five boundaries and three sixes but the damage had already been done in the first period, Sikh Union succumbing to a late Nehemiah Odhiambo bowled wicket.

Jignesh Hirani had a total of three wickets in four overs.

As the last ball was played for a single, the Swamibapa faithful hurriedly made their way into the SCLPS grounds to celebrate the win for a club that had last won the NPCA trophy back in 2017.

"It feels fantastic," Swami's Rushab Patel said post-game. "To come up again as champions is just testament to the level of effort not only the players but the entire management have shown.

"I hope that the fans have got what they wished for, I dedicate this win to them."

On the other side, Sikh Union captain Sukhdeep Singh was delighted with the brave shift shown by his team, acknowledging the fact that "Swamibapa won through experience" and that being the first time for the majority of the team to be in such a big final, they "played good cricket."

"To hear the cricket community say that we played good cricket gave us a deeper sense of what we were throughout the tournament," Singh said. "We promise to work even harder in the next tournaments."

As part of the trophy celebrations, NPCA organized for individual awards to celebrate the outstanding players throughout the tournament as follows:

Best batter - Sachin Gill (Ruaraka Sports Club)

Best bowler - Yash Bhatt (Swamibapa Sports Club)

Player of the tournament - Collins Obuya (Obuya Academy A)

Best wicket keeper - Dhwanil Patel (Swamibapa Sports Club)

Man of the match - Jignesh Hirani (Swamibapa Sports Club).