ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

KENYA v IRELAND This, the last match in the league phase of the 2007-08 tournament, was crucial in that its outcome decided who would play Namibia in the final. Ireland needed an outright win, i.e. all 20 points, whereas Kenya required only a first-innings lead or to draw the match. Surprisingly, on a good batting pitch, Steve Tikolo invited Ireland to bat first. Kenya achieved early success when William Porterfield shouldered arms to a ball from Peter Ongondo, only to find it was not missing the off stump after all. Alex Cusack adopted the anchor role whilst Niall O’Brien scored freely but sensibly, reaching his century off 171 balls. The pair stayed together until the over before tea when Cusack, having survived a missed stumping by Maurice Ouma off the bowling of Hiren Varaiya, fell to a catch by the wicketkeeper off the same bowler. Cusack’s 42, at a strike rate of 23.5 and with five boundaries, contrasted with Niall O’Brien’s hundred at a strike rate of 58.4 and including 14 fours. The second-wicket partnership of 146 was followed by a stand of 70 between Botha and Niall O’Brien, which ended when the latter’s only false stroke resulted in a catch to mid off. Thereafter Andre Botha and Kevin O’Brien continued the solid work for Ireland with a further 47 runs before the close, Botha benefiting from three dropped catches. Although Kenya could not make the breakthrough and took only three wickets in the day, their bowlers kept a tight line and length and conceded only 2.87 runs per over. Ireland added 57 in the first hour on the second morning and Botha reached his hundred through a misfield, having been dropped in the slips when on 98. A few overs later, he was stumped, but this only brought Andrew White to the crease. Kenya had no more success as Kevin O’Brien and White put on 214, White hitting ten fours and O’Brien bringing the total for his innings to seven fours and twelve sixes. Kevin O’Brien’s undefeated 171 was made at an impressive strike rate of 79.5 whilst White managed 65.2. Two overs after tea, Porterfield declared, deciding not to wait for White to reach his century and, instead, give more time to make inroads into Kenya’s batting in an awkward evening session, with the clouds gathering and rain threatening. There was no doubt that Kenya’s players were tired after more than ten hours in the field and wickets fell at regular intervals. Rain gave the batsmen thirty minutes of respite and bad light ended play three overs early, but Peter Connell, Boyd Rankin and Kyle McCallan were all economic. Kenya were restricted to 62 runs from 29 overs but, more importantly for Ireland, had lost three wickets. Kenya took their score to 94 before Tikolo edged Regan West to the wicketkeeper. Varaiya, the nightwatchman, did his job well, defending for 78 balls before Kyle McCallan induced an edge. With the bowlers able to extract some turn from the pitch, Kenya’s later batsmen failed to show the same degree of patience as Tikolo and Varaiya had done, and the innings folded remarkably quickly. Only Thomas Odoyo threatened much resistance but his effort ended when he lofted the ball into the hands of mid on. By tea, Kenya were all out and 392 runs in arrears. Even though the Irish spin bowlers were tiring, Porterfield had no hesitation in enforcing the follow-on. Seren Waters and Kennedy Otieno gave a far better display with an opening stand of 63. Connell conceded 32 runs in four overs and Waters hit Rankin for 16 in one over. A change of bowling brought results, however, as Otieno mispulled Trent Johnston to Rankin at long leg. Alex Obanda offered little but Tikolo and Waters not only prevented any further Irish success but batted with a clear intent making the match a draw. Ireland took three wickets in the first quarter of an hour on the last morning. Johnston made a superb low catch off his own bowling to remove Tikolo, Ouma fell to a good catch close to the bat by Cusack and Waters gave a tame catch to Porterfield, a disappointing end to an otherwise defiant effort of 75 runs with 11 fours, made at a strike rate of 46.0. These set-backs inspired the Kenyan middle order who kept Ireland at bay for another two and a quarter hours. Odoyo added 74 for the 6th wicket with Rakep Patel and a further 56 for the seventh wicket with Jimmy Kamande. Even after West extracted sufficient turn to remove Odoyo, caught off an outside edge at slip, the Kenyan resistance continued. Although they scored few runs, Varaiya, Lameck Onyango and Ongondo all survived sufficiently long to cause Ireland concern, especially as Kamande was looking particularly secure. It was only with 20 minutes to spare that Ireland finally achieved victory when Ongondo was trapped leg-before by West. On paper, the match looked like a comfortable victory for Ireland but, in reality, Kenya were only one wicket away from making the final. 170 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08