Varaiya and Tikolo lead rout

Kenya 97 for 5 (Tikolo 29*) beat Canada 94 (Barnett 35, Varaiya 4-25, Tikolo 3-14) by 5 wickets
Scorecard

Kenya won the second of two ODI matches with Canada at the Toronto Cricket Club on Sunday by 5 wickets, thanks to seven wickets from Steve Tikolo and Hiren Varaiya. Canada looked to be heading for a solid total when poised at 65 for 1, but the wickets began to tumble - and fast - and they were soon all out for 94 runs.

"I am at a complete loss," admitted a desperate Andy Pick, Canada's coach, after the match. "We made a start then it was almost as if we wanted to self-destruct. If it was a technical problem, I could work on teaching a solution but it is not. Some players keep making the same mistakes."

Geoff Barnett top-scored with 35 and he put on 65 with Desmond Chumney before Barnett was out for 35. This proved a major turning point for the match, with Hiren Varaiya steaming in to take 4 for 25 and Tikolo grabbing 3 for 16. Ashish Bagai provided the only resistance of the latter batsmen, making 16 runs.

The early end to the Canadian innings resulted in Kenya batting before the lunch interval.

Kennedy Obuya (19) and Brijal Paterl (27) shared an opening partnership of 46 runs and, under pressure, Canada introduced the spinners to their attack. The game took an amazing twist just before lunch.

Kenya went into the break at 47-4, having lost Obuya, Patel, Jimmy Kamande and Hitesh Modi in quick succession, and an upset was on the cards. There was a palpable buzz around the ground as Canada headed to lunch.

But Tikolo stood firm to take Kenya to ultimate victory with an unbeaten 29. This proved the mainstay of the Kenyan batting as the score moved from 48 for 4 to 69 for 5, with the fall of Collins Obuya for 14. It was left to Tikolo and Tanmay Mishra to steer Kenya to victory.

The slow-left arm bowler Sunil Dhaniram took 2 wickets for 18 runs in his ten-over spell, while the offspinner John Davison took 3 for 43 in 9 overs.

Canada next face Bermuda in a 4-day game at Maple Leaf CC in King City, starting next Satuday, August 12. They then meet Bermuda in ODIs at Toronto CC on August 19 and 21.