Those who doubted Kenya’s right to a place in the World Cup semi-finals might have been given pause for thought at Kingsmead last night as the east Africans gave mighty Australia a run for their money in the tournament’s last Super Six match.
Although nothing was at stake in the match, Kenya made the Australians battle for their win after posting a moderate 174 for eight in their 50 overs. Adam Gilchrist hammered out a 43-ball 67 to give Australia a rollicking start, but after his dismissal in the 12th over at 98 for two, Australia skidded awkwardly into a mid-innings collapse before getting home by five wickets.
Left-arm spinner Aasif Karim snapped up the wickets of Ricky Ponting, Darren Lehmann and Brad Hogg in the space of eight balls and Australia had slipped
suddenly to 117 for five. Astonishingly, the 14 000 crowd began to scent a massive upset, but the Kenyans were unable to force home their brief advantage.
Andrew Symonds and Ian Harvey settled the innings and with Symonds opening his shoulders, Australia got home in the 32nd-over. Symonds was unbeaten on 33 with Harvey on 28. Although there were no further wickets for Karim, he returned one of the most extraordinary analyses in World Cup history – 8.2-6-7-3.
It was a remarkable comeback for the Kenyans after a Brett Lee hat-trick had demolished their top-order. Lee blasted out Kennedy Otieno (bowled off his elbow as he tried to shoulder arms. He took no further part in the match, but should be available for Thursday semi-final against India), Brijlal Patel and David Obuya with the fourth, fifth and sixth balls of his second over to have Kenya reeling at 3 for three.
Ravindu Shah and Steve Tikolo rebuilt the innings with a 79-run stand for the fourth wicket, but Lee’s early inroads ensured that Kenya were never quite able to break free of the shackles. Shah made 46, Tikolo 51 and Hitesh Modi an unbeaten 39, but while Kenya managed to bat out their 50 overs, they were unable to set the Australians a challenging target. Forty or fifty runs more would have given Australia rather more to think about, but after Gilchrist’s early onslaught, Kenya were always chasing the game.