KENYA: CRICKET - Hosts Kenya defeat Netherlands in the ICC League

Kenya had little trouble in registering their second successive victory at the ICC World Cricket League, beating the Netherlands by seven wickets at Gymkhana on Wednesday (January 31). The damage had been done in the morning and, in effect, the match was over as a contest from an early stage. Having been invited to bat, the Dutch made just 131 all out, a score that was never going to trouble a side that contains such proven batting performers as Steve Tikolo, Maurice Ouma and David Obuya. As poorly as the Netherlands batted, the toss was always going to be vital and captain Luuk van Troost came out on the wrong side of that. Overnight rain and cloudy early morning conditions meant the ball was always likely to dart around a bit off the seam and swing through the muggy air. And so it proved. Thomas Odoyo and Peter Ongondo put the ball in the right areas and the conditions did the rest. Bas Zuiderent - the hero of the Netherlands' first match against Canada - was out lbw for six while Darron Reekers (7), Ryan ten Doeschate (5), Alexei Kervezee (0) and Tim de Leede (3) did not last long either. Only Dan van Bunge (29) and Billy Stelling (24) showed anything like the tenacity required to stick around while number 10 batsman Jeroen Smits chipped in with an unbeaten 19 at the end. Although the conditions suited them, the Kenyan bowlers certainly made the most of it. If Odoyo (three for 29) and Ongondo (three for 13) made the initial breakthroughs, Hiren Varaiya and Steve Tikolo turned the screw. Varaiya ended with figures of two for 19 off 10 overs, while captain Tikolo was his usual consistent self, ending up with one for 16 off 8.2 overs. When it came to Kenya's turn to bat, they didn't mess around and with conditions getting easier, Ouma and Obuya made the Dutch suffer. The same pair had put on an unbeaten stand of 137 to beat Bermuda by 10 wickets on Monday and they picked up where they left off as the Netherlands' bowlers were consistently punished for over-pitching. Ouma was out for 47 and Obuya for 37 having put on 89 for the first wicket. Ravi Shah fell cheaply but Tikolo and Tanmay Mishra saw their side home with seven wickets and 17.5 overs to spare. Kenya have now convincingly beaten two teams in the competition so far and it is difficult to look past them for one of the two places in the final, which will take place in Gymkhana on February 7. In other matches on Wednesday, Scotland beat Canada by seven runs while Ireland defeated Bermuda by four wickets. Thursday is a rest day for all the teams. On Friday, Kenya play Ireland while Netherlands take on Scotland.

ITN Source | February 2, 2007

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