ICC World Cup 2011: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kenya-c752 in opening encounter
New Zealand started their ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 campaign on a high, courtesy some strong bowling performances by youngsters Hamish Bennett and Tim Southee. The Kiwis crushed Kenya by 10 wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
The wicket in Chennai was very good for batting. There were a few cracks in the wicket, which suggested that the ball would turn a bit. However, there was nothing too concerning for the batsmen.
Kenyan captain Jimmy Kamande won the toss and elected to bat first without any hesitation. However, Kenya were all-out for just 69 runs in 23.5 overs. In reply, the Kiwis chased down the target in just eight overs without losing any wicket.
Alex Obanda and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Seren-Waters-c89209 started the innings for their team but struggled to get going. New Zealand opted to attack with Southee and off-spinner Nathan McCullum and this combination seemed to work for them. After struggling to score six runs off 19 balls,
Obanda was trapped leg-before-wicket (LBW) and Kenya were 14 for one in seven overs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Collins-c51521 Obuya then joined Waters at the crease and the pair looked to settle down. They took the total to 40 with a 26-run partnership, but things got difficult for the batsmen when Bennett came into the attack. Waters was dismissed after scoring 16 runs
off 42 balls in the 12th over. He never looked comfortable in the middle. The fall of his wicket brought former Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo to the crease.
The most experienced Kenyan batsman lasted only two balls. He was out after scoring just 2 runs off 2 balls. Obuya followed him and was dismissed after scoring 14 runs from 19 balls. Rakep Patel was the only batsman, other than Waters and Obuya, to reach
double figures. He remained unbeaten on 16 from 23 balls until he ran out of partners at the other end.
Bennett was the star of the show for New Zealand as the youngster took four wickets in the match. He got good support from Southee and Jacob Oram, who both grabbed three wickets each. New Zealand bowling Coach Allan Donald would have been quite pleased with
the performance of his young fast bowlers.
The Kiwi batsmen had no difficulty when they came out to bat. Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum smashed the Kenyan bowlers to all parts of the ground and guided their team to an easy victory. Guptill top scored in the match with 39 runs off just 32 balls
while McCullum amassed 26 from 17 balls.
Kenya tried four different bowlers but none of them was able to provide a breakthrough. The bowlers didn't have enough runs of the board to defend and would like a better show from their batsmen next time around.
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