Rampant Kenyans rout dismal Bermuda

Kenya 137 for 0 (Obuya 74*, Ouma 56*) beat Bermuda 133 (Minors 52, Ongondo 3-23) by ten wickets
Scorecard

Dean Minors on his way to 52 - only two other batsmen reached double figures © ICC

Hosts Kenya made a rousing start to the World Cricket League at Nairobi's Jaffreys Sports Club, destroying a dismal Bermuda by ten wickets in as one-sided a contest as the tournament is likely to produce. That they won with more than 31 overs to spare told the whole story.

Bermuda, one of the outsiders, only arrived in the country on Friday, and stuck in on a hazy and warm day, they looked extremely rusty as three wickets from the lively Peter Ongondo reduced them to 44 for 4. Had it not been for Dean Minor's stoic 52, the innings would probably have fallen apart. As it was, he stood firm and finally found support from Janeiro Tucker, the pair adding 50 for the fifth wicket.

As may well be the case throughout the tournament, the spinners were hard to get away on the spin-friendly Kenyan surfaces. The fast-improving Hiren Varaiya made the breakthough to remove Tucker, and an over later Steve Tikolo took a return catch to end Minor's knock. Soon after, Delyone Borden perished to a direct hit from Tanmay Mishra, although the batsmen was entirely at fault as he sauntered towards the non-striker's end.

When Malachi Jones looked to mow Tikolo out of the ground and was bowled, Bermuda were 108 for 9, and only some late clubbing from Kevin Hurdle, including two towering sixes over long-on off Tikolo, enabled them to muster something remotely defendable.

The gulf between the sides was even more apparent when Kenya batted. David Obuya cut loose from the start, savaging the opening bowlers, while Maurice Ouma, in need of runs to secure his place, initially adopted a more circumspect approach. Obuya was already on 32 before Ouma got off the mark, but thereafter it was an unremitting onslaught from both men.

Obuya brought up his fifty with a towering six over long-on, losing the ball in the process for the second time in 20 minutes. Ouma almost caught his colleague up by the end - it was effortless and disdainful. But, being brutally honest, Bermuda were utterly dreadful, repeatedly bowling short and appearing to throw in the towel long before the end.

Kenya's fielding was very impressive all day, and they looked committed, athletic and skillful. Sadly, Bermuda were less so, and their dire performance suggested that the criticisms leveled at them in recent months regarding their lack of professionalism have not been taken on board.