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Zimbabwe brought the curtain down on their ICC Cricket World Cup campaign in style, pulverizing fellow Africans Kenya by 161 runs to pick up their second win of the tournament. The match had only academic relevance with the quarter-finalists of Group A already determined, and only meant that Zimbabwe finished in 5th place while Kenya were last with no points to show for their World Cup adventure.

Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bat first on a belter of a track at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. They made the most of the opportunity, powering their way to 308/6 in their 50 overs courtesy of half-centuries from middle order batsmen Tatenda Taibu (53), Vusi Sibanda (61) and Craig Ervine (66), the latter pair getting their runs at quicker than a run a ball. Zimbabwe started slowly, but wickets in hand and players capable of clearing the ground meant that they were able to effectively double their score in the last 20 overs. Kenya in their reply only managed 147, bowled out in the 36th over with the Zimbabwean bowlers sharing the wickets between them.

Zimbabwe got off to a sedate start in the morning, losing Regis Chakabva (9) in the 9th over to a Nehemiah Odhiambo delivery that just seamed away from the batsman. Elijah Otieno made it a double blow for the Kenyans, striking from the other end, removing the dangerous Brendan Taylor for 26. Vusi Sibanda joined Tatenda Taibu out in the middle, and with both batmsan on naught there was a rebuilding job that needed to be done.

Zimbabwe added 47 runs in a steady 10 over period with the two new batsmen at the crease and made their way to 83/2 at the 20 over mark. Sibanda opened his shoulders against the bowling of James Ngoche in the following over taking 10 runs from it, but another sedate period followed till the batsmen launched themselves into Steve Tikolo, captaining the side today in the absence of the injured Jimmy Kamande. Taibu hit the veteran allrounder for two boundaries before Sibanda brought up his 13th half-century with a massive 6 over long-on.

That over signalled the opening of the flood gates, and though Sibanda fell for 61, run out, a couple of overs later, the batsmen kept the momentum going. Tatenda Taibu was trapped leg before by Ngoche, but Craig Ervine had already got into his stride and took charge of the innings. Kenya had their chances though, missing catches, a stumping and numerous run out opportunities. The Zimbabwean batsmen took full toll of the extra lives as Ervine smashed 9 fours and a six on his way to a 54-ball 66. Skipper Elton Chigumbura was not quite as quick, hitting 3 boundaries and two maximums but also playing a number of dot balls on his way to 38 from 41. Their dismissals in the end stages didn't affect the run flow with Greg Lamb smashing 17 from 10 deliveries and Prosper Utseya getting 19 from just 6 to take Zimbabwe to a match winning score.

Kenya got off to the worst possible start in their response losing David Obuya for a second ball duck in the opening over by Chris Mpofu. They then suffered a massive blow, losing arguably their best batsman of the tournament, Collins Obuya. The 30-year old was run out for just 1 thanks to some sharp work in the field by an alert Sibanda, as the team slid to 10/2. Steve Tikolo restored some smiles in the Kenyan dressing room hitting Mpofu for a couple of boundaries in the 5th over. The 39-year old made his way to 10 before a straight ball from Ray Price trapped him plumb in front of the stumps to bring to an end a glorious 129 match career that had seen some fantastic times for Kenyan cricket including the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup.

Tanmay Mishra came out to join Alex Obanda, who was losing partners far too quickly for the Kenyans' liking. Mishra had been in good form in the World Cup, scoring a couple of half-centuries, but failed to get going today, top edging a sweep off Prosper Utseya straight down the throat of the fielder at short fine leg. At the other end, Ray Price picked up his second wicket, trapping Obanda in front for 23 to leave Kenya in complete tatters at 44/5.

Kenya got their first semblance of a partnership as Thomas Odoyo and Rakep Patel added 29 runs for the 5th wicket, but Zimbabwe brought that to an end soon enough winning an Umpire Decision Review after Umpire Dharamasena had given Odoyo not out initially. The allrounder fell for 14 to Greg Lamb and with the ball spinning viciously, the end looked nigh for Kenya.

Rakep Patel and Nehemiah Odhiambo added another 22 to help Kenya edge closer to the 100 run mark and save them the embarrassment of a two digit score. Patel made a handy 24 before being caught on the boundary off Greg Lamb. Peter Ongondo came in to bat at no. 9 and smashed the first ball he faced for a 6 and then fell leg before to Graeme Cremer on ball 2.

The tail continued to wag, batting around Nehemiah Odhiambo. Zimbabwe lost Otieno to a run out to go 9 down with 124 runs on the board, but Odhiambo continued to milk the bowling, making his way to 33 before Zimbabwe surprisingly opted to take the bowling powerplay. James Ngoche decided to get adventurous and smashed a 6 but fell trying to repeat the stroke as Zimbabwe wrapped up the Kenyan innings for 147. Odhiambo remained unbeaten at the other end with a team high 44 from 47 balls, unfortunate to be batting so low down the order to run out of partners.

Zimbabwe will now head back home having enjoyed their adventure, rubbing shoulders with the elite of international cricket once again. They will be looking forward to returning to the Test arena later this year and it is nice to see that the hard work having been put in by the Zimbabwe Cricket Board is paying off in the end. Kenya on the other hand end their subcontinental safari without a win in 6 games and with the ICC keen to limit the sides to participate in future editions of the World Cup to just 10, it may be a long time before we see Kenya compete in the 50-over format on the World stage again. 

Teams:

Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor, Regis Chakabva, Tatenda Taibu, Vusi Sibanda, Craig Ervine, Elton Chigumbura, Greg Lamb, Prosper Utseya, Graeme Cremer, Ray Price, Chris Mpofu.

Kenya: Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Tanmay Mishra, Thomas Odoyo, Rakep Patel, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Peter Ongondo, Elijah Otieno, James Ngoche.

Mini Scorecard:

Zimbabwe 308/6 in 50 overs (6.16rpo)
Craig Ervine 66 (54) Elijah Otieno 2-61
Vusi Sibanda 61 (57) Peter Ongondo 1-53

Kenya 147 all out in 36 overs (4.08rpo)
Nehemiah Odhiambo 44* (47) Ray Price 2-20
Rakep Patel 24 (37) Greg Lamb 2-21

Zimbabwe won by 161 runs with 14 overs to spare

File Photograph

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