Kenya ready for Scotland test

The way the ICC World Cricket League Division 1 is panning out, Sunday's match between Kenya and Scotland at Nairobi Gymkhana could well be a sneak preview of the final.

As the only two unbeaten sides left in the tournament, both will now feel they can take top honours when the trophy for this inaugural event is handed out at the same venue on February 7.

But Kenya coach Roger Harper insists his side have a lot of work to do before they can start thinking about the final.

"I have said from the start that we are taking one game at a time and nothing is different," said the 43-year-old Guyanan, who won 25 Test caps for West Indies.

"I have been happy with how we have played overall, but there were aspects of the game against Ireland that were not good enough. We managed to win that thriller thanks to some wonderful batting from Thomas (Odoyo) and Hiren Varaiya but the middle order did not do their job."

A feature of the Kenya team so far has been the way they start each innings.

The opening batsmen and front-line bowlers have been particularly impressive, making sure the initial momentum goes with them.

Maurice Ouma and David Obuya constitute a formidable pair at the top of the order and with the likes of Ravi Shah, Steve Tikolo and Nehemiah Odhiambo coming in later, the Scotland bowlers will have their work cut out.

But in the past couple of weeks, Scotland have played four or five very close games against similarly ranked opposition and, crucially, have come out on top in all.

They saw off Canada by two wickets twice in Mombasa in the build-up to the World Cricket League, broke Irish hearts on the opening day of this tournament, snatching victory off the very last ball, and then on Friday they only just managed to beat the Netherlands by two runs in yet another thriller.

"Yes, it's never easy with us," joked Scotland all-rounder Gavin Hamilton.

"We have played very well overall but we always seem to make it difficult for ourselves. But it is a great encouragement that we have come through and won those close games.

"Winning is a habit and we are certainly learning that habit at the moment."

Scotland coach Peter Drinnen agreed: "We'll go in with plenty of confidence, coming off three wins.

"Kenya are a very, very good side. Hopefully we'll put out another solid game. We'd like to think we can beat them.

"We've played them twice (in Mombasa) recently which helps us. But then they've played us as well. They'll know a little bit about us, but we're confident and we hope that we can continue to put out strong performances," Drinnen added.

Whoever wins this match in Gymkhana on Sunday will be assured a place in the final and qualification for next September's inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa.

The other team will have to avoid defeat in their final game to also progress, but on current form these are the two teams that deserve to be there.