Kenya’s fairy-tale faces reality check against India

DURBAN: Sourav Ganguly and his Indian lineup will be more surprised than anyone if Kenya continues their fairy-tale run at the Cricket World Cup and reaches the March 23 final.

India, on a seven-match winning roll, are against the African minnows in a semi-final at Kingsmead tomorrow. Kenya are the first non-Test nation to reach the semi-finals at a World Cup, and are concerned less about who they play than how will they play. The Kenyans managed something of a dress-rehearsal for the “semis” when they met India at Newlands, Cape Town, on March 7 in a Super Six match. Although Kenya lost by six wickets, they took enough heart out of that match to lift themselves for a victory over Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein on March 12 to seal their place in the penultimate round. Now, the thinking in the Kenyan camp is that a hard match against Australia in the final Super Six match of the tournament at Kingsmead on Sat-urday has prepared them for what seems to be an impossible task in the rematch with India.

However, the Indians have lifted themselves to a new level since their last match with Kenya, and look as if they can take on and beat any team. “We have the best batting lineup in the world,” said offspinner Harbhajan Singh. With Sachin Tendulkar spearheading that lineup with a World Cup record 586 runs so far, there aren’t many who’d disagree. Ganguly and Virender Sehwag add extra explosiveness, while Rahul Dravid brings solidity to the middle order in an extraordinarily well-balanced batting list.