Patidar Samaj beat SKLPS by eight wickets while Rounders shocked Nile with a three-wicket defeat as the Multiple Industries Division One 50-Over League bowled off on Sunday.
Following the peculiar bizarre result at Jinja SS Oval, Nile skipper Martin Ondeko has urged his teammates to double their standards if they are to contend to for major honours this season.
“We now need to revise our targets after this loss,” a seemingly unhappy Ondeko said. “It was a disaster. Rounders is not the strongest side but we gave away vital points,”
He lost the toss but scored a half-ton of 61 runs while David Musoke added 64 as Nile set 203-7 in 42 overs amidst Michael Kintu (2/33) and Amos Kyazze’s (2/40) bowling.
But after a blistering innings, aside from last season’s best Brian Masaba (3/25), the rest of Nile’s bowling unit looked rusty in front of Rounders’ bastmen. “We lost the game on the field not on the bat.” Ondeko added.
That aided Narinder Singh to hit 44 runs and Ronald Okeng got 37 as the hosts reached 207 with three wickets in hand.
At Lugogo, Patidar skipper Ankit Patel’s decision to field proved right and SKLPS were all out for 78 runs in 31.4 overs.
Only captain Virod Kerai (11 off 50) and Rajesh Varsam (18 off 8) reached double figures courtesy of impressive bowling from Jigar Patel (3/7), Sandesh Shetty (1/11), and the quartet of Farouk Ochimi, Emmanuel Issaneez, Milap Patel and Bhzipesh Josh got figures of 2/13 apiece.
Jignesh Parekh got 17 off 23, Shetty was not out with 14 off 28 while opener Abdallah Lubega struck three fours to pile an unbeaten 32 runs off 51 balls as Patidar chased the score in 17.4 overs, an innings that ended within an hour.
“Credit to the bowlers and Lubega who delivered the result. This is a perfect start.” a delighted Patel said.
The result meant Patidar, the 2010 and 2011 winners laid a foundation on which they can thrive forward after the departure of key national team trio of Roger Mukasa, Lawrence Ssematimba and Charles Waiswa to Tornado B.