Kenya’s senior men’s team are the 2026 Africa Continental Cup champions. The Simbas won seven of their eight matches at the Gahanga grounds in Kigali between 8 and 19 September, and beat Uganda by 39 runs in the final on 19 September.
The final
Kenya won the toss and batted first at the Gahanga International Cricket Stadium. Dhiren Gondaria made 44 from 32 balls before being run out, and Brian Likavu’s unbeaten 41 from 21 balls, with four sixes, took Kenya to 170 for 7. Francis Mutua added 29 from 16.
Uganda slipped to 25 for 5 inside five overs. Lucas Oluoch took three wickets in the powerplay and Sachin Gill finished with 3 for 17. Riazat Ali Shah’s 53 kept Uganda in the game until he fell at 116 for 8, and Kenya bowled them out for 131 in 17.5 overs. Shem Ngoche took 2 for 14 from his four overs.
How Kenya got there
- Beat Sierra Leone by 94 runs (Rakep Patel 58 from 33)
- Beat Rwanda by 2 wickets off the last ball (Gondaria 54)
- Beat Botswana by 10 wickets with 71 balls to spare (Gondaria 57* from 20, Rushab Patel 51*)
- Beat Uganda by 8 wickets, chasing 190 (Gondaria 94 from 47, Rakep Patel 56*)
- Beat Sierra Leone by 9 wickets (Gurdeep Singh 75 from 32)
- Beat Rwanda by 32 runs (Rakep Patel 57, Sukhdeep Singh 57*)
- Beat Botswana by 64 runs (Gondaria 93* from 52)
- Lost to Uganda by 47 runs in the last group match
- Beat Uganda by 39 runs in the final
Leading performers
Gondaria was the tournament’s standout batter for Kenya, with 366 runs in seven innings, including 94, 93 not out and 57 not out. Rakep Patel added 219 runs and Rushab Patel 172 at the top of the order. With the ball, Sachin Gill led the way with 14 wickets, followed by Shem Ngoche (9) and Lucas Oluoch (8).
Full scorecards for every match are in the Match Centre.
