Kenya up for tough match - Kamande

Jimmy Kamande, the Kenya captain, has said his team has put the demoralising defeat to Canada behind it and is looking forward to the challenge of facing world champions Australia.

"It's been tough for us, losing against Canada was tough for the whole team since we thought that was our best chance of winning a game in the tournament," Kamande said a day ahead of the Australia encounter, "but now Canada is history, we have got to move forward, Australia's coming up and that's what we are concentrating on."

Kamande said the team enjoyed pitting itself against the big sides, and said it held out 'hope' in the clash against Australia. "Everybody who hasn't played against Australia thinks this is a very good opportunity because you never know in life you may never get to play against Australia," he said. "So everybody is looking forward to it, the guys are up for it, and as long as the guys givn 110%, I'll be happy. You never know, the team that plays better cricket on the day will carry the day."

The main stumbling block for Kenya has been their batting, which has flopped on each of the four matches they have played in the tournament so far, leading to heavy defeats. "The greatest concern has been the top-order batting, in each and every game, even the last one against Canada, most of the times we have been 100 or less for five wickets," he said. "We have a lot of talent in our team, a few guys who have spent time in the middle, hopefully we can moving forward from one guy doing well to two-three guys doing well in a game."

Kenya already have no chance of reaching the quarter-finals after losing four matches, but felt the remaining games were also important for the experience they will provide. "This tournament is a stepping stone to Kenyan cricket again," he said. "A lot of guys here have never been to the World Cup, we know what it takes to achieve here, whatever we gain, we take it back home with us and try to improve our performance."