Patel five sets up tight win for Kenya
A thrilling ICC World Cricket League Championship match marked the return of the international cricket to Kenya after four years on Friday (November 18). Chasing 200 in 43 overs in a rain-affected game against Hong Kong, Kenya got home by three wickets with 13 balls to spare.
The win, achieved through the Duckworth--Lewis method, stabilised Kenya’s fifth position on the table with eight points in seven games, while Hong Kong stayed put at fourth place with nine points in six games.
Put into bat at the Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi, Hong Kong rode on Anshuman Rath’s 90 to make 222 before being dismissed in 46.2 overs. Rakep Patel was the star for the home side with career-best figures of 5 for 16, and was well supported by Nelson Odhiambo (3 for 16) and Nehemiah Odhiambo (2 for 34).
Kenya’s chase revolved around Irfan Karim (67), Dhiren Gondaria (45) and their second-wicket partnership of 93 runs.
The innings started with Karim and Alex Obanda putting on 47 runs in 8.2 overs before Aizaz Khan had Obanda caught behind for 29. Karim and Gondaria batted for 19.5 overs and hit six fours and two sixes in the partnership.
They showed their intent in the 15th over when Aizaz was taken for 20 runs. Eshan Khan brought Hong Kong back into the game with wickets of Gondaria and Rakep in a space of nine runs, and Karim fell to Rath as Kenya slid to 150 for 3.
Another four wickets fell after that, but an unbroken eighth-wicket partnership of 14 runs in 1.5 overs between Narendra Kalyan Patel and Nehemiah on either side of a small rain-break got the home team past the revised target of 200 in 40.5 overs.
Earlier in the day, Kenya started well with three wickets in the first ten overs of the match. Not long after that, Nelson removed Babar Hayat, the captain, for 24 for his third wicket as Hong Kong became 86 for 4 in 16.2 overs.
It fell upon Rath and Shahid Wasif to stablise the innings with a fifth-wicket stand of 105 runs. They were just starting to up the ante when Rakep, the offspinner introduced into the attack as the seventh bowler, struck with his seventh ball. He had Wasif stumped for 44.
In the first ball of his fourth over, Rakep had Rath caught and bowled. Rath hit six fours and one six in his 92-ball knock. It triggered a collapse as Hong Kong lost its last five wickets for nine runs, unable to play its full quota of overs.
Papua New Guinea is at the top of the table with 12 points in eight games, followed by The Netherlands and Scotland. After Hong Kong and Kenya, the bottom half of the table is made up of Nepal, Namibia and United Arab Emirates. The four top teams will qualify to play in the final round of qualifiers for the ICC World Cup 2019 in England.
