Wise Tikolo edges thriller for Kenya

Kenya 169 for 9 (Tikolo 89*, Trott 4-46) beat Bermuda 167 (Edness 72, Varaiya 3-10) by 1 wicket
Scorecard

Steve Tikolo drew on all his experience with a masterful 89, remaining unbeaten at the end, to take Kenya to a tense one-wicket win over Bermuda in the final one-dayer in Nairobi. In doing so, Kenya swept the series 3-0.

Tikolo won the match with an emphatic six off Rodney Trott over long-off, but Bermuda's bowlers were well on top for much of Kenya's innings. Tikolo eventually found good support in Jimmy Kamande (22) until Trott, the pick of the bowlers, bowled him around his legs. And 131 for 5 quickly became 134 for 7 when Nehemiah Odhiambo was bowled through the gate by Dwayne Leverock's sharply turning offbreak, leaving Kenya struggling.

Tikolo was fast in danger of being stranded once Hiren Varaiya's careless slog handed Trott his fourth wicket. But with 14 required, and one wicket remaining, Tikolo finally took command and picked off nine runs off a wayward over from Malachi Jones. A huge six over long-off ended the match and the series.

Bermuda's bowling performance was encouraging, and certainly an improvement on the previous two ODIs, but again their batsmen let them down. Four registered ducks (including three of their top five) and five batsman were bowled, either shuffling across their stumps in the case of Stephen Outerbridge, or misreading the turn ala Janeiro Tucker. Only Jekon Edness, the young wicketkeeper, seemed prepared to battle with a fine 72.

Kenya and Bermuda's Intercontinental Cup clash begins on November 1 at the Gymkhana.