KOLKATA – Craig Ervine, Vusimuzi Sibanda and Tatenda Taibu cracked impressive half-centuries to set up Zimbabwe’s crushing 161-run victory over hapless Kenya in their final World Cup match on Sunday. Zimbabwe showed their batting prowess to post 308-6, their highest total of the tournament, with man-of-the-match Ervine (66), Sibanda (61) and Taibu (53) all making the most of a mediocre Kenyan attack.
Kenya, who have looked out of their depth on the Indian subcontinent, losing all six of their matches, put in another disappointing batting performance, slumping to 147 all out in 36 overs at Eden Gardens. Nehemiah Odhiambo (44 not out), Rakep Patel (24) and opener Alex Obanda (23) were the mainstays of their batting.
Left-arm spinner Raymond Price, who shared the new ball, off-spinner Greg Lamb and leg-spinner Graeme Cremer took two wickets apiece for Zimbabwe. Both African nations were already out of contention for a place in the quarter-finals, but Zimbabwe had the consolation of ending their World Cup campaign with two wins in six matches.
“Today we can take a lot of positives, especially with the bat. I am also happy with the bowling performance,” said Zimbabwe skipper Elton Chigumbura. Zimbabwe were earlier struggling at 36-2 after electing to bat, but Sibanda steadied the innings with a 110-run stand for the third wicket with Taibu, who also completed 3,000 one-day runs during his half-century.
Ervine and Chigumbura (38) then added 105 for the fifth wicket as Zimbabwe plundered 104 runs in the last 10 overs, with Prosper Utseya (19 not out) smashing three fours and a six in seamer Elijah Otieno’s final over. Left-handed Ervine, who cracked one six and nine fours in his 54-ball knock, survived a stumping chance on 15 off spinner James Ngoche as stand-in wicket-keeper Patel failed to collect the ball.
Patel kept wicket for a brief spell in place of regular wicket-keeper David Obuya, who suffered an injury while trying to stop a wide delivery. Veteran all-rounder Steve Tikolo, making his last World Cup appearance, led Kenya in the absence of Jimmy Kamande, who was ruled out of the match due to a knee injury.
Winless Kenya need more exposure, says Tikolo: Kenya need to play regularly against major teams if they are ever to improve at the big tournaments, veteran all-rounder Steve Tikolo said on Sunday. Kenya, who qualified for the 2003 World Cup semi-finals in South Africa, lost all of their six league matches at the 2011 edition with Sunday’s 161-run defeat to Zimbabwe at Eden Gardens completing a miserable campaign.
“In 2003, we had a team that had been together since 1996. We gelled well as players and had been playing good cricket all along then and had fought well against top teams,” Tikolo said after making his last World Cup appearance.
