KICC have mountain to climb in title race

Apr 25, 2016

KICC's slip-up left them in danger of falling 12 points behind both Tornado Bee

UCA National 50-over League

Division 1

Tornado cc 118/7 KICC 113/9

(Tornado win by 5 runs; rain-reduced game to 23 overs a side)

Kutchi 118/10 Nile 87/10

(Kutchi win by 31 runs; rain reduced game to 30 overs a side)

Division 2

Charity 221/10 Mwiri 111/10

(Charity win by 110 runs)

SKLPS 142/10 Jinja 114/10

(SKLPS win by 28 runs)

It's not long since KICC and Nile were part of the title conversation of the 2016 UCA National 50-over Division 1 League.

But following a five-run reverse for KICC versus Tornado at Lugogo and Nile's 32-run defeat to the Kutchi Tigers in Entebbe, any discussions about the championship should come with a Nile and KICC filter.

KICC's slip-up left them in danger of falling 12 points behind both Tornado Bee and the Challengers by the start of the second round and that is a gap that may be too big to close. As for Nile, well, their collapse from potential surprise contender to relegation candidates beggars belief.

After a 2-0 start to the season, Nile have now lost four in a row to fall into sixth place - just above the drop zone. Their latest defeat was heavy considering all they were chasing was 118 runs in 30 overs (reduced from 50 because of rain). Jitesh Gorasia had scored a game-best 53 runs for the Tigers while Nanji Pindoria added 18.

Abubakar Seguya 3/9 in 3.2 overs was the pick of Nile's bowlers but the batsmen would once again faltered. Seguya ended up leading Nile's scoring with a paltry 24 runs while Ivan Kakande added 21.

KICC's defeat was similarly down to a failure to chase a gettable target after Tornado set 118 in the rain-reduced 23 overs. Benjamin Musoke and Falak Shar had scored 39 and 19 runs respectively for Tornado, with Irfan Afridi picking 4/13 for KICC.

John Tumusiime (33 runs) and Arthur Ziraba (27) led KICC's scoring but it would not be enough.

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