Kenya under-19 registered their second win in the ongoing International Cricket Council (ICC) under-19 Global World Cup qualifiers when they beat highly rated Canadian under-19 team by 15 runs at the Hills ground in Dublin, Ireland.
The Kenyan lads won the toss again and skipper Kennedy Ochieng’ chose to bat for the second time in the tournament. The batting did not begin exactly as planned as Canadian Nitish Kumar quickly accounted for two early dismissals to reduce Kenya to 47 for 4 in the 12th over.
However, top order batsman had other ideas as he maneuvering his way with some controlled aggression and calmness to reach his maiden century in this tournament. Allan’s 103 came from 130 deliveries and included 8 hits to the fence and 3 maximums.
He came in to replace skipper Kennedy with the score on 5 and held his own at one end before finding a willing partner in Joseph Ochieng’ with whom they built a fifth wicket 136-run partnership to steady the ship for Kenya. Joseph’s contribution of 73 provided Allan’s inning with good impetus after the early dismissals in the top order. Joseph’s innings were curtailed when he tried to find the boundary again as he looked to up the run-rate in the final overs to add on to his one six and 5 fours, Kenya eventually finishing on 215 for 7 off 50 overs.
Allan derailed the Canadians chase when cleaned up danger-man Kumar for just 6 runs. Canada then recovered to cross the 100-run mark for the loss of only one wicket, but the Africans found the breakthrough they desperately at that stage when Rahul Vishram picked up thei second wicket and from then on the young East Africans pushed their advantage home to register a crucial win and gain two more valuable points that counts towards qualification for the U19 World Cup proper.
Emmanuel Ringera was the destroyer in chief, picking up 4 wickets for 44 runs in his impressive 10-over spell. He instigated a middle-order collapse and ensured that the Kenyans kept their advantage throughout the match and bowled their opponents out for 200 in the final over. The teams take to the field on Sunday after a day’s rest, when Kenya takes on Asian contenders Nepal at the Railway Union ground.
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