Star Field elite under-19 cricket team fell to Shree Cutchi Leva Patel Samaj team by eight wickets at the latter’s complex in Nairobi West on Saturday afternoon.

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They brought to a halt Star Field’s fine run that had seen the Desai road based side record impressive wins over Sikh Union and Ruaraka, despite Yash Talati’s exploits.

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In a match delayed by overnight rain, the hosts won the toss and understandably chose to bowl. A decision that gave them the expected results as they made inroads into Star Field’s elite side early and with the sort of regularity that never allowed their opponents to settle into any rhythm in their batting.

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The only bright spark in Star Field’s line up was provided by the astute Yash Talati who stroked an unbeaten 46-ball 41 that included two boundaries and shared a 32-run seventh wicket partnership with Pravin Kannah who chipped in with 16 off 12 balls that included a boundary and a maximum as the two together sought to put respectability to the total.

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As a pair they improved the total from 45 for 6 to 77 for 7 off just 27 deliveries at a strike rate of 118.51. The pair was separated when Kannah found Hemang Ruda with a chipped shot of the bowling of Rohit Hirani who claimed 2 for 37 from 5 overs.

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From there on, Yash Talati further combined with Aarnav Patel for a run-a-ball 11 to move scores past the 100-run mark and then with Jiyan Patel (10 off 12 balls) to take the total to 122 before his elder brother Dhir Talati (1 off 5 balls) became the last man out for Star Field as they folded up on 126 from 24 overs.

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In reply, Cutchi Leva were quick out of the blocks to overhaul the total with 8.3 overs to spare racing to 127 for the loss off two wickets. Dylan Shah was the pick of the Star Field bowlers with 2 for 33 off his five overs. He was the team’s sole wicket taker on a day when the speedsters found the going tough at the top of the Cutchi Leva innings.

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Shah’s return for Star Field was the best bowling performance of the team with all bowlers conceding at economy rates beyond 7.5 an over. The introduction of the spin trio of Aarnav, Yash Talati and Akshith Sekar did not slow down the Nairobi West based side that got off to a flyer and maintained the tempo throughout their innings.

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Man of the match Ankit Bhanderi hit the winning runs while bringing up his half-century in the process off a single midway through the 17th over.