Cricket: Kenya seek redemption in ACA T20 Cup
Kongonis Cricket Club's Emmanuel Bundi celebrates bowl out during their friendly match against Marylebone Cricket Club at Nairobi Club on November 4, 2023.
What you need to know:
- As a redemption to their poor performance in the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Regional qualifiers in Windhoek, Namibia last month, Kenya are keen to win the ACA T20 Cup.
- They will thus be out to continue with their winning streak in the competition against Malawi at Willowmoore Park.
Fallen cricket giants Kenya will on Monday clash with minnows Malawi in the semi-finals of the 2023 Africa Cricket Association (ACA) T20 Cup in Benoni, Gauteng in South Africa.
Kenya reached the penultimate stage of the men’s competition by virtue of winning all their Group “B” matches to top with six points. Botswana, Sierra Leone and Ghana are the other teams in the pool.
Ahead of the pool’s final match Sunday afternoon between Sierra Leone and Ghana, Botswana was second with two points from three matches.
With Sierra Leone third on two points, a win over Ghana was expected to earn them a semifinals berth at the expense of Botswana.
Group “A” comprises defending champions Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique and Rwanda. Uganda and Malawi qualified for the semi-finals after finishing first and second respectively in the pool with four points each.
The Cricket Cranes have a better net run rate than Malawi.
As a redemption to their poor performance in the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Regional qualifiers in Windhoek, Namibia last month, Kenya are keen to win the ACA T20 Cup. They will thus be out to continue with their winning streak in the competition against Malawi at Willowmoore Park.
The match will either bowl off at 10am or 2:30 pm Kenyan time.
On the road to the semi-finals, Kenya defeated Sierra Leone and Ghana by eight wickets each, before flooring Botswana by 40 runs.
Kenya’s Emmanuel Bundi was crowned the Man-of-the-Match in their win over Sierra Leone on December 12 after he took three wickets in four over where he earned a maiden and conceded 12 runs.
Against Ghana on December 13, it was Peter Langat who starred for the coach Lameck Onyango's side with four wickets from three overs where he conceded eight runs.
Teenager Vishil Patel starred for Kenya against Botswana on Saturday with four wickets from four overs where he conceded 21 runs.
Batsmen Irfan Karim, Collins Obuya and Nelson Odhiambo have also been instrumental in Kenya’s perfect run.
Karim top-scored with 39 runs and 52 runs against Botswana and Ghana respectively. Odhaimbo also delivered 45 runs from 28 balls in the match against Ghana while Obuya top-scored with 43 runs from 16 balls against Sierra Leone.
For Malawi to book a date with Kenya in the competition’s penultimate stage, after losing by seven wickets to Uganda on December 13, they bounced back to winning ways with a six wicket-romp over Mozambique on December 14.
They defeated Rwanda by 46 runs in their last pool match on Saturday.
Malawi’s skipper Moazzam Baig is among the players Kenya should be wary about. He has taken eight wickets including six in their match against Rwanda.
At last year’s ACA T20 Cup that was also held in South Africa, Kenya defeated Malawi by 52 runs.
Kenya will be praying that Uganda are stunned by their opponent in the semi-finals so that they can stand a good chance of winning the title.
The Cricket Cranes have lately dominated the fixture against Kenya, their latest win being in the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Regional qualifier in Windhoek where they won by 33 runs.
Uganda finished second in the seven-team competition with 10 points to qualify for the upcoming World Cup to be co-hosted by the United States of America and West Indies in June.
Peerless Namibia qualified as the top team with 12 points while Kenya, who also lost to Namibia by Zimbabwe by six wickets and 110 runs respectively finished fifth with six points.
