ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES v KENYA After putting the opposition in had proved disastrous in the last match, Steve Tikolo opted to bat first this time, but Kenya made a poor start. Both openers fell to catches behind the wicket off the bowling of Fahad Alhashmi, who generated good pace and bounce off a pitch in which the ball was generally slow to come to through to the bat. Tikolo and Alex Obanda adjusted their styles well, however, in a stand of 77 before the former misjudged a ball from off spinner Arshad Ali and was bowled. His 63 runs were entertainingly made at a strike rate of 84.0 and included 13 fours. The departure of the captain had an unfortunate effect as two further wickets fell quickly to put Kenya on 126 for five. Thomas Odoyo, ignoring a foot injury gained in the match against Namibia and which threatened to keep him out of the side, repaired the situation and found support from Jimmy Kamande. They batted for three hours in a cautious but increasingly confident partnership of 121 runs with Odoyo the dominant partner. The Emirates tried seven bowlers before the breakthrough came, Saqib Ali having Kamande caught by Ahmed Raza at wide long on just before the close. Odoyo remained undefeated, having faced 216 balls for his 79, and hit six fours and one six. Odoyo played superbly on the second morning, taking his own score to 137 and helping the last four Kenyan wickets to add a further 71 runs to the total. The last man out, bowled by Khurram Khan’s left-arm spin, his runs came at a strike rate of 50.3 and included nine fours and four sixes. The Emirates began confidently in reply with an opening stand of 67 as the Kenyan pace attack proved innocuous. The introduction of spin changed matters considerably, both openers falling to Hiren Varaiya who extracted considerable turn from an otherwise placid pitch. With support from fellow spinners Kamande and Tikolo, Kenya gained the upper hand as wickets fell regularly, though Nizel Fernandes and Khurram Khan lasted for 53 and 62 balls respectively. By the close, the Emirates were eight wickets down for only 185 runs with Varaiya having taken five for 50. Amjad Khan was the only player successfully to combine survival and run-scoring and he remained unbeaten overnight. The not out batsmen, Amjad Khan and Wasim Bari, extended the partnership to 45 runs but this was only sufficient to narrow the first-innings deficit to 102. On a good batting surface, it was expected that Kenya would quickly build on this but their batsmen failed to take advantage of the conditions. David Obuya and Steve Tikolo fell victims to the pace of Fahad Alhashmi who again bowled well with the new ball. Maurice Ouma attacked the bowling, however, and looked set for a high score but, again, the introduction of spin brought a different challenge. Ouma quickly fell leg-before to Khurram Khan who was especially effective, conceding 26 runs in nearly as many overs and taking four wickets. Ahmed Raza accounted for Obanda and Odoyo and Saqib Ali then helped Khurram Khan run through the tail. The only resistance came from Kamande, who hit six fours in an undefeated and otherwise very restrained 62 made at a strike rate of 38.7. Kenya were dismissed within the day, leaving the Emirates with a feasible target of 274 runs to win. They lost Arshad Ali to Peter Ongondo before the close, but Ahmed Raza, as nightwatchman, held firm with Rashid Khan to leave the match intriguingly positioned for the last day. Ahmed Raza was caught by Tikolo off Ongondo the first ball of the fourth day and Rashid Khan was leg-before to Odoyo soon after. Nizel Fernandes and Saqib Ali began well but Saqib Ali, having struck 26 off 30 balls, became overconfident and missed a straight ball from Ongondo to end up leg-before. The middle order simply capitulated against pace and the Emirates were in a desperate plight at 75 for seven with only Fernandes surviving some tight and accurate bowling. He finally found support from Shoaib Sarwar and, together, they added 109 for the eighth wicket. Shoaib Sarwar was the most aggressive, hitting 61 off 87 balls, whilst Fernandes required 116 balls for his 63. The pair showed what might have been possible if their colleagues had followed their example but, by this time, the target was just too high. Both fell with the total on 184 and it was left to Varaiya to take the last wicket and give Kenya victory by 81 runs. With spin having held sway for two days, it was the pace of Ongondo that did the damage and gave him an impressive return of 12-3-30-5. Thomas Odoyo was the Man of the Match for his century and being the batsman who adjusted best to the conditions. 142 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08