Kenya bounce back to beat Denmark

Cricket365
November 18, 2013

A resurgent Kenya unit trumped Denmark by eight wickets in Monday's World Twenty20 fixture at the ICC Academy in Dubai.

Beaten by Nepal last week, despite batsman Rakep Patel's quickfire century, the African unit had little trouble in undoing a dour Dutch XI.

Danish captain Michael Pedersen's choice to bat first after winning the toss amounted to a mere total of 84 for eight, with Pedersen's 21 the highest score.

Only four boundaries were struck and the the final tally, in fact, would have read considerably poorer were it not for a 32-run alliance for the sixth wicket between the skipper and the right-handed Taha Amed.

New-ball seamers and Ragheb Aga and Nehemiah Odhiambo were the pick of the bowlers in an eight-man attack, securing figures of two for eight and three for 15 respectively. Two run-outs, meanwhile, did not help Denmark's cause.

Kenya were brisk and confident in reply, romping to triumph with all of 10 overs and five balls to spare on the back of former captain Steve Tikolo's aggressive 48 not out and fellow opener Alex Obanda's complementary 30.

Tikolo, who left retirement for this competition and a potential berth in next year's World Twent20 in Bangladesh, struck seven boundaries and faced just 30 deliveries.

The result saw the Kenyans move to sixth position in the Group B, while the Danish remain rooted to the bottom of the eight-team pool. Kenya's next match is against Scotland, while Denmark will face the Netherlands. Both fixtures will take place in Dubai on Tuesday.