Greatest Match Of All Time

It has been a long time coming, but finally a team has managed to score more than 400 in an ODI. Having put on a massive 4-434, Australia could have been forgiven for thinking they had the game won. Hirschelle Gibbs however led a fantastic run chase for the South Africans to overhaul the target with 1 ball and 1 wicket to spare.
Why am I posting on this here? First, it is a phenomenal achievement from both batting line-ups. To get past 400 is a huge milestone, and both teams did what no one else has so far done convincingly. This would not be a self respecting cricket site if I didn't give it the recognition it is due. Second, it relegates to third place, what had been an embarrassing record for Kenya: conceding the most runs in a match. Previously, the record stood at 398, conceded by Kenya at the hands of Sri Lanka in 1996. After yesterdays performances, and what is already being dubbed 'the greatest match of all', Kenya no longer holds this unwanted title. India hate to be outdone in cricket, and with their line-up would be a good pick for the next team to reach 400, and Australia will want to remove their name from this record too. Soon, Kandy and 1996 will be but a hazy memory. Excellent news for cricket, and excellent news for Kenyan pride.

V.O.C Draw first Blood in Nakuru

Nakuru's domestic 45-over competition kicked off yesterday with Akshar 'B' taking on V.O.C at the NAC ground in Nakuru.

Akshar B won the toss and decided to bat on a wicket holding a lot of overnight moisture. V.O.C capitalised with some great Left arm In swinging yorkers by Batuk and a hostile Right arm spell from Ketan, both of whom finished with 4 wickets for the innings. A late fightback from Dipesh and Marvin gave Akshar some respectability, but in the end they were all out for 111. In reply, Ravi gave V.O.C no shortage of trouble, also taking 4 wickets, but Akshar gave away far too many extras to defend a small total, and V.O.C reached the target with 4 wickets still remaining.

Askar 'B' Innings:

Hiren……………....Bowled Batuk………00
Sunil………………..Ct Naren B Batuk…24
Samrat…………….Ct Kirti B Batuk ….00
Ravi………………...Bowled Ketan……...05
Anal………………...Bowled Ketan……...00
Raju ( Menen)….Ct Naren B Ketan…05
Jignesh…………….LBW Ketan………....00
Jaiman…………….Bowled Batuk……...13
Vipul………………..Not Out……………...00
Dipesh……………..Bowled Shanti……..12
Marvin……………..St. Ketan B Shanti.29
Extras……………….......…………………….23
All Out……………………………......111

VOC Innings:

Ketan……………….LBW Ravi………….....14
Naren………………Run Out /Jaimin…..15
Minesh…………….Bowled Ravi………....03
Shanti……………..Bowled Ravi………....01
Jayesh……………..Bowled Ravi………....17
Kirti…………………St Ravi B Vipul…….23
Batuk……………….Not Out……………....06
Khilan………………Not Out……………...00
Extras……………………………………........36
Total for 6 wickets………………..115

VOC Won by 4 wickets

Points for the match:

Akshar 'B':
1 batting point, 2 bowling points.
Total points: 3

V.O.C:
1 batting point, 4 bowling points, 12 points for win.
Total points: 17

Kenyan Players Ranked In Top 100

It is always nice to be pleasantly surprised. I honestly didn't expect to find any Kenyans in the top 100 when I checked the ICC One Day Rankings. However, I see that after the Zimbabwe tour, there are three Kenyans in the top 100 for both batting and Bowling.

The batsmen are:
Steve Tikolo on 402pts, who has moved up 12 places to 82nd (his best was 535 in 1999)
Kennedy Otieno on 369. He comes back into the top 100 at 94th place (his best 461 pts in 1997).
And just sneaking in, Thomas Odoyo in equal 99th spot with 374 pts (his best 455 in 2001).

Kenya's bowlers rank slightly higher:
63rd Thomas Odoyo on 448 pts. Up 13 places. (his best is 493 in 1999).
79th Peter Ongondo on 387 - this is a career highest after his sterling performance in Zimbabwe.
91st Steve Tikolo on 340 (his best 398 in 2003).

These places may not mean a great deal at present, but they will be an indicator of how the Kenyan team improve over the next year. Hopefully, the Bangladesh series will raise the existing players higher on the list, and maybe even bring in a couple of new names. It would be great to see Collins Obuya get back on, and maybe Tanmay Mishra with the bat.

Kenya Tour To Bangladesh Preview

Kenya are due to fly out tomorrow for the four match tour of Bangladesh. After a fairly successful tour to Zimbabwe, I thought it time to assess our chances against our oldest rivals. Kenya and Bangladesh go back a fair bit, and the rivalry has steadily grown since they first played each other back in 1996. Over the last 10 years, the teams' fortunes have ebbed and flowed. For a full history, you could do worse than take a look at Martin Williamson's article on Cricinfo under the title 'Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe - A History'. Don't worry about the title, it is actually about Bangladesh and Kenya (good to see even cricinfo sometimes have an oopsie when it comes to editing).

Overall, Kenya holds a 6-1 advantage in terms of ODI wins, and they have also won the most recent meeting between the two countries. Sounds good doesn't it? The problem is, that last match was way back in 2003, during that wonderful couple of weeks where we made the World sit up and take notice as we qualified for the World Cup Semi Finals. Since then, Kenya have played a grand total of 6 ODIs, 4 of which were in the recent Zimbabwe tour. Effectively, Kenya has been out of International cricket for 2 years. In that time, Bangladesh have improved in leaps and bounds. They have now won ODIs against both Australia, and just recently Sri Lanka. They have been playing Test cricket, even winning their first ever match. So what if it was Zimbabwe; doesn't matter, it is still a Test win. They have an active national domestic league. The team we face over the next four matches is a very different one from the one we beat at the World Cup. Oh, and they will be playing at home. Most Bangladesh supporters seem to think Bangladesh will whitewash us, and several journalists around the World have expressed similar beliefs.

Now that any semblance of overconfidence should be well and truly shredded, lets have a look at what might happen from a Kenyan point of view. Some things should be considered about this series that I don't think everyone who has commented so far has taken into account.

First is that our captain Steve Tikolo, plays his club cricket as a professional in Bangladesh. Not only does he know the strengths and weaknesses of their players, he was also one of the leading batsmen in their last season. He thinks Kenya will win a couple of matches at least. It would be a fool who takes his words lightly.

Second, Kenya always raise their game against Bangladesh. I don't know how or why this happens, but we seem to hold them in the same light that the Aussies and England hold each other - they are enemy No.1, and we will put in great efforts to beat them.

Third, we love being the underdogs and past history notwithstanding, in the eyes of the rest of the World, that is exactly what we are this series.

Fourth, Bangladesh have it all to lose: Test credibility, their position in the top 10 on the ICC table, their place in the first round of the Champions Trophy, you name it. Kenya have nothing to lose. We are not expected to win this series, many don't even expect us to be able to compete. If we win a match, we will put the heebie-jeebies on Bangladesh. Win two, and all sorts of questions are going to be asked of them. Pressure on the Bangladesh team will be immense. From their board, their fans, the rest of the cricket World, and of course our players. If I was neutral, and had to pick a team to play for this series, it would sure as hell not be the Tigers.

All the above being said, I think the cricket will be riveting. Bangladesh have a lot more talent than we are used to seeing from them, and Kenya are a better outfit than most give credit for. Both teams have potential match winners in their ranks, but both teams also have the capability to implode. Indeed, this may end up being the decider between the sides. If Bangladesh can withstand the pressure, they are going to be a very hard team to beat on home soil. If they let it get to them, or someone like Tikolo or Odoyo truly fires for Kenya, we could make it a very uncomfortable time for our hosts. Let's hope that the cobwebs were blown away in Zimbabwe and that it will be the latter. My prediction for the series? I would love to go with my heart and say 3-1 to Kenya, but realistically I will plump for a hard fought 2-2.

Are you going to follow suit Mr Kibaki?

Hardly likely that the Kenyan president will follow this example (Story on BTTW by Will)- he would probably claim to have hundreds of higher priorities. Imagine though how good it would be for Kenyan cricket to get a similar boost from government. Bermuda's premier has pledged $11million to the sport over the next five years. A great act, and one that will do a huge service to them in the struggle for supremacy at the top of the Associate ladder. Other teams, Kenya included, will have to watch this space very carefully if they cannot find a way to match this sort of funding. Maybe that lottery we were discussing for kenyan sports could figure in this...