Kenya upset mighty Lankans

JOHANNESBURG: Kenya remained the upset kings of World Cup cricket by outplaying unbeaten group leader Sri Lanka by 53 runs yesterday while Australia sailed relentlessly on to the second round.

Seven years after shocking West Indies by 73 runs in India, Steve Tikolo’s men bowled 1996 champion Sri Lanka out for 157 in front of their own fans at the Gymkhana Club in Nairobi after scoring 210 for nine. Legspin bowler Collins Obuya took five for 24 after his brother, Kennedy Otieno, had top scored with 60. “Initially I thought we were 30-40 runs short,” Tikolo said. “But again the bowlers came and did the job for us with some excellent fielding. I think (Obuya) bowled the spell of his life today to win the match for us.” With 12 points and a match against Bangladesh to come, cricket minnows Kenya now have a chance of reaching the Super Six second round, expected to be the domain of the powerhouse teams. The result meant that Sri Lanka lost their unbeaten record at the top of Group “B” while Australia made it four wins in a row in Group “A” by outplaying Zimbabwe by seven wickets amid tight security in Bulawayo.

The Aussies, who only flew into the country on Sunday, were accompanied by a strong military guard because of threats to disrupt the match from those opposed to the government of President Robert Mugabe. The England players decided not travel and forfeited their match for security reasons. Apart from a peaceful protest by a group of Christian church leaders, who held up a banner, the match passed off without incident. Zimbabwe threatened an upset with its highest World Cup score of 246 against the Aussies but Ricky Ponting’s team reached 248 for three with Adam Gilchrist (61 runs), Darren Lehmann (56 not out) and Damien Martyn (50 not out) all scoring half centuries. The fact that their victory came in Nairobi made it even more special for the Kenyans. Because New Zealand decided not to travel to the country fearing a repeat of November’s terrorist attack on a Mombasa hotel which killed 15, yesterday’s match was the only World Cup match that Tikolo’s men hosted. Opener Otieno hit 60 as the Kenyans defied the Sri Lankan bowlers and reached their highest score of the championship despite four for 28 by star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and three for 41 by leftarm seamer Chaminda Vaas.

It should have been an easy target for the Sri Lankans who had won their first three matches against New Zealand, Bangladesh and Canada with ease. But their powerful batting lineup tumbled to the legspin of 21-year-old Obuya, who took five for 24, a national record in a one-day fixture. Only Aravinda de Silva made anything like a score with 41 before he became a victim of the brothers —- caught wicketkeeper Otieno, bowled spinner Obuya. “It was one of the worst matches I ever played in, I think,” said Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya. The World Cup returns to South Africa today with just one match, Pakistan desperate to score an easy victory over the Netherlands, to maintain any chance of making it to the second round.