The last time these two sides met, Zimbabwe were humiliated by
seven wickets, allowing Kenya a passage to the World Cup semi-final.
It was revenge time for Zimbabwe under lights at Sharjah, as they
survived a minor hiccup and ran away winners by five wickets, getting
their first points of this tournament.
The star of the day for Zimbabwe was Doug Marillier, who cracked a
splendid 100 - the first century of his one-day career. His knock was
magnificently paced, and allowed Zimbabwe to make light of a
challenging target of 226, especially after they had struggled at the start
of their innings. Marillier's 130-run stand for the third wicket with Grant
Flower (59) turned the tide, and ensured that Collins Obuya's excellent
spell - 2 for 31 from 10 overs - didn't translate into a Kenyan victory.
Kenya began their defence of the target with their usual enthusiasm
and discipline. Martin Suji and Thomas Odoyo frustrated Marillier and
Craig Wishart, bowling consecutive maidens and allowing just 55 runs
in the first 15 overs.
Collins Obuya then came on and struck twice in quick succession, first
having Wishart caught by Steve Tikolo at slip (56 for 1), and then taking
a return catch off Gavin Rennie (68 for 2). Flighting the ball and getting
appreciable turn, Obuya consistently pitched on good length and
troubled all the batsmen. However, the Marillier-Flower partnership
gradually turned things around.
Marillier, circumspect at the start, played none of the audacious slogs
which have characterised his batting in ODIs. His first fifty took all of
82 balls - compared to 57 for his next - and though it included a few
powerful drives and pulls, there were plenty of dot-balls too.
None of this bothered Marillier, though. With Flower timing the ball
sweetly and rotating the strike, Zimbabwe's innings soon got a
move-on. Flower completed 6000 runs in ODIs, and then proceeded to
sweep Maurice Odumbe and Tikolo to distraction. Marillier struck both
of them for six, and an asking rate which had climbed to more than a
run a ball quickly descended.
But Kenya weren't finished. Flower and Marillier were both snared by
Tony Suji - who was introduced in the 45th over of the innings - in
eight balls, and when Andy Blignaut hoicked Odoyo straight to Joseph
Angara at midwicket, Zimbabwe needed 18 from 15 balls.
Heath Streak, aided by some uncharacteristically sloppy work in the
field - Jimmy Kamande twice misfielded at long-off - made sure that
Zimbabwe didn't mess it up. The end came when Streak tonked Tony
Suji for six over long-off.
Earlier, Zimbabwe had put in a disciplined performance in the field to
restrict Kenya to 225. Kenya's innings was characterised by plenty of
batsmen getting starts, but no-one going on to convert that into
anything substantial.
David Obuya clunked his way to 57 - his first fifty in one-day
internationals - while Odoyo held the innings together at the end with a
workmanlike 46, but the rest of the batting fell away after promising a
lot. Kenya reached the four-an-over mark in the 26th over, with Tikolo
and David Obuya going strong, but then lost three wickets in the next 12
overs, and never quite regained the momentum.
David Obuya and Brijal Patel put together 52 for the second wicket after
Kennedy Obuya was nailed early on by Streak, but the best phase of
Kenya's innings came when Tikolo joined David Obuya in a 59-run
stand.
Obuya swished and missed plenty of times, but also connected with a
few meaty blows, including an effortless six over backward square leg
off Douglas Hondo. Tikolo's was a classy knock. He struck only two
fours in his 37, but rotated the strike superbly with deft flicks and
fluent drives. However, the Kenyan innings began to unravel when David
Obuya hoicked Raymond Price to Gavin Rennie at long-off (114 for 3).
Tikolo was dismissed against the run of play, top-edging a sweep off
Price to Marillier at square leg (131 for 5), while Odumbe - coming off
an excellent World Cup - popped a return catch to Rennie.
Odoyo and Hitesh Modi put the innings back on track with a sensible
partnership, eschewing strokeplay and working the singles around to
ensure that Kenya batted through their 50 overs. But ultimately, the total
of 225 turned out to be about 15 too few.
S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com in India.