Africa-Press – Kenya. National cricket team skipper Shem Ngoche hopes the hard work he has put in practice continues to bear fruit after another match-winning performance for his Stray Lions side.
Ngoche bagged a five wickets haul to lead the side to an eight-wicket win over Cutchi Leva in an NPCA Super League match over the weekend.
“I am enjoying how things are working in my favour so far. I am happy that whatever I put in practice during the week is paying off. It’s my prayer that this will continue throughout the season and help in Stray Lions fortunes, “ Ngoche said.
His 5 for 18 aided Stray Lions to bowl out Cutchi Leva to 100 in 27.5 overs before the batsmen finished the work in 25.2 overs.Seam bowlers David Mutua (3 for 19) and Gerald Mwendwa (2 for 38) capitalised on a favourable bowling track to give Stray Lions the best possible start before Ngoche joined the fray to bag his five.
His scalps included his elder brother Lameck Onyango who he caught for a duck. Cutchi Leva struggled throughout the inning with no meaningful contribution from the batsmen apart from skipper RD Rabadia (36) and Jignesh Kerai (25). Poor was their show in the crease that the second wicket stand of 29 was the best in an inning that had five ducks.
Praveen Mogasati and Krishna Babu then put the Strays on 63 stands to hand them victory. Babu scored from 43 off 52 balls with Mogasati adding on 33 from 65 balls. The two were joined in the 10th over after Onyango had dismissed skipper Nithin Arvind for 19 with the board on 37.
They batted for 14 overs before the stand was broken with the scores levelled by Darsh Panchani who had Babu caught. The win was the third in a row for Stray Lions after beating Ruaraka and Ngara in their two previous matches.
