A series of Personal Bests

My round up of the 104 run win in the 3rd ODI between Kenya and Bermuda can be read at here at Cricket Europe - Kenya. One thing does stand out for Kenya other than the fact that we had plenty more to offer than Bermuda and that is that our players are improving almost across the board. Credit to them, Roger Harper and the Winter Training Camp coaches for that.

This tour saw the following players all register personal bests in either first Class (Intercontinental Cup) or ODIs:

I.C:

Thomas Odoyo 5/21

1st ODI:

Nehemiah Odhiambo: 31*

2nd ODI:

Thomas Odoyo 4/25

Nehemiah Odhiambo 2/37

Tanmay Mishra: 64*

3rd ODI:

Steve Tikolo: 111

Malhar Patel: 25

Jimmy Kamande: 3/32

Great to see so many of the team all showing improvement. Sure Bermuda are not the strongest opposition we will face, but these are still official First class and ODI matches and credit to those players who played so well to give us our first ever whitewash on home soil.

All the best too to Maurice Ouma for his recovery.

First Home Series Win

Kenya's 7 wicket win in the second ODI in Mombasa gives Kenya its first ever series win on home soil. It should also silence some of the teams recent critics who have been loudly proclaiming its demise. Both wins against Bermuda were comfortable and Kenya should have enough in the tank to give a couple fo the fringe players a chance to show their worth in the final match. Great to see some of the youngsters really stepping up to the plate and perfoming. Tanmay Mishra got his first ODI half century having come close several times, so now that monkey is off his back, he should be able to really relax and get some big scores. Hiren Varaiya has improved in leaps and bounds this year and gives back that extra edge in the spin department we lost when Collins Obuya fell out of form. Nehemiah Odhiambo has started taking wickets for us and showed he is no slouch with the bat either. If he continues to apply himself and improve, he could well be the next Odoyo for us. Talking of whom, what a great seam of bowling form he is in at the moment. No surprise he and Peter Ongondo are both at the top of the Cricket Europe rankings list for bowlers.

With the World Cup drawing ever closer and also the WCL in January which will decides the associate to qualify for the twenty-20 World Cup, Kenya's key players are beginning to find the form we need. It is now up to Roger Harper to continue to build that momentum through January and into March. All we need now is for a player or two to step up to claim those fringe spots and for the openers to consolidate their progress.