BY FEVERPITCH TEAM

Kenya started off their ICC World Cup warm-up matches with a win against Afghanistan at the Global Cricket Academy in Dubai on Sunday.

Kenya won the toss and captain Jimmy Kamande decided to bat first. Afghanistan started off on the front foot early in the game, when their captain Hamid Hassan bowled out opener Seren Waters for a duck with his second ball.

This brought Collins Obuya to the crease alongside his brother David. The Obuya brothers batted with great energy, putting together a 60-run partnership, until Gulbadin Naib trapped David Obuya leg before, dismissing him for 18 runs.

Steve Tikolo joined the action and the pair put 30 more runs on the board before Gulbadin struck again, this time dismissing Collins Obuya for 49 of 51 balls, one short of what should have been a well-earned half century.

Tanmay Mishra was next for Kenya, and he, alongside Tikolo, added 103 runs on the board.

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Mishra was undone by the pace of Hamid Hassan in the 38th over and was dismissed for 48 runs with the score of 194 on the board.

Morris Ouma then added an unbeaten 33, setting a total of 289 for the loss of four wickets. The man of the match, however, was Steve Tikolo, who hit an unbeaten 126 runs off 126 balls.

Spoilt party

Afghanistan started their innings in fine form, and were on the attack from the very first ball. Openers Noor Ali and Karim Sadiq were on a mission to get their team close to the 290 run target.

However, Nehemiah Odhiambo spoiled the party in the second over, when he trapped Ali leg before with 15 runs on the board.

Sadiq followed Ali to the pavilion three overs later, when he was dismissed by a Peter Ongondo ball, and a Tanmay Mishra catch.

The pair struck again three overs later, this time combining to get rid of Shabir Noori. The score? …48 for three.

Afghanistan put up a good effort on the field, with their entire batting line up putting together a few partnerships.

However, the bowling of skipper jimmy Kamande and Youngsters Shem Ngoche and brother Nehemiah Odhiambo helped to keep them clear of the target.

Kenya finally won the game in the 43rd over with the score on 240, when Nehemiah Odhiambo and Collins Obuya combined to dismiss Gulbadin Naib.

Kenya’ was to play another warm-up game in Dubai yesterday against Ireland.

They are expected to leave for Sri Lanka today, where they shall play against the West Indies and Holland before the World Cup starts on February 19.

The victory was good news for Kenyan cricket followers after a disastrous tour of India last month in which they lost all their matches against Baroda and Gujarat.