Australia prevail against fighting Kenya

By Jamie Alter

 

It wasn’t the bloodbath many had expected it to be, and you can thank Collins Obuya and Tanmay Mishra for that. The match as a contest was finished by the half-way mark when Australia, powered by fifties from Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey, racked up 324.

By Jamie Alter

 

Bengaluru: Mar 13, 2011

 

It wasn’t the bloodbath many had expected it to be, and you can thank Collins Obuya and Tanmay Mishra for that. The match as a contest was finished by the half-way mark when Australia, powered by fifties from Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey, racked up 324. There was simply no way Kenya were going to overhaul that target but their response, thanks to industrious innings from Mishra and Obuya, was refreshingly positive.

 

After Ryan ten Doeschate and Kevin O’Brien, Collins Obuya rallied for the Associates with an unbeaten 98, an innings reeking of defiance and positivity. It’s a shame it took so long in the tournament to come, but from Kenya’s perspective it was a bold statement. Australia’s inability to steamroll Kenya will worry Ricky Ponting. His battery of fast men was challenged, the spinners went wicketless, and the manner in which Shane Watson was carted effortlessly for four sixes highlighted the lack of depth in the attack.

 

Chasing 325 at an asking rate of 6.50, Kenya suffered three early knocks in their reply. However Mishra, who on the eve of this match spoke about “doing the basics right” and “batting positively”, stroked the ball effortlessly around the wicket. Coming off a fighting fifty against Canada, he flicked and drove with pleasure, fortified by the company of Obuya. The pair added 115 in 25.5 overs, running between the wickets well and constantly looking to score rather than just play out 50 overs.

 

Mishra, playing with fluency sorely missed all tournament, drove and cut with precision. His footwork, against pace and spin, was assured and more than once he went over the top with success. Smith’s second over went for ten as Mishra rocked back to pull over midwicket, and Clarke and Jason Krezja were also taken for boundaries as Mishra’s fifty came up off 63 balls. Clarke made the vital breakthrough in the 36^th when he nailed the stumps to cut Mishra off on 72.

 

With every passing over, the required run-rate was creeping too far away from the realm of the manageable, and Kenya fell comfortably short of the target. But that didn’t stop them from swinging merrily. Once he crossed fifty, off 91 balls, Obuya upped his tempo. Teeing off with a golfer’s swing, he collected three sixes off Watson’s unthreatening pace and slashed Tait with glee. Odoyo joined the fun too, damaging Watson’s figures with a six as well, until Tait yorked him for 35. Two boundaries took Obuya to 96, and though he was unable to reach the landmark, his innings ensured Kenya were not embarrassed.  

 

Earlier, Haddin led the surge after Watson failed to cash in on a good batting deck, playing himself in while picking off the loose balls as Australia raised their fifty in the 12^th over. With Ponting, who scratched his way to 36 before being adjudicated lbw by a referral, Haddin stitched together 89 for the second wicket. Haddin’s main mode of scoring was to make room and drive inside-out or dab behind point, and he thus collected 32 of his 65 runs square of the wicket.

 

Then, completely against the run of play, he attempted to loft Jimmy Kamande over mid-wicket and picked out the sweeper. Ponting fell four runs later, and when Kamande bowled Cameron White for two, Australia were in a spot of bother.

 

Hussey led the fightback, with a cover-driven four, and then began hustling between the wickets. Clarke refused to be perturbed by the double-strike and the sharp spin that Kamande got, and relied on cuts and steers off the canny spinner. Hussey and Clarke proved adept at rotating the strike by stealing singles, and the pair’s get down-and-dirty approach ground the Kenyan fielders down.  They dabbed, nudged, stroked and occasionally biffed their way to a 114-run partnership off 97 balls.

 

A flurry of strokes powered Australia to 200 off 36 overs, and two boundaries off the next over signalled the batsmen’s’ intentions. Hussey and Clarke both fell attempting big shots, Clarke for 93 off 80 balls, before Smith and Johnson pair swung the bat around to add 20 in 11 balls.

 

The scorecard will show that Australia extended their unbeaten World Cup run to a mindboggling 33, but they were made to work for it.

 

Brief Scores: Australia 324 for 6 in 50 overs (Michael Clarke 93, Brad Haddin 65, Michael Hussey 54, Ricky Ponting 36; Jimmy Kamande 2 for 46, Nehemiah Odhiambo 3 for 57, Collins Obuya 1 for 33) bt Kenya 264 for 6 in 50 overs (Collins Obuya 98*, Tanmay Mishra 72, Thomas Odoyo 35; Shaun Tait 2 for 49, Brett Lee 1 for 26).

 

 

(Jamie Alter is a freelance cricket writer, having worked at ESPNcricinfo and All Sports Magazine. His first book, The History of World Cup Cricket, is out now)

 

Pictures © Getty Images

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