Ravindu Shah dominates day one as Kenya start well

Ravindu Shah and Hitesh Modi, two players of Indian origin held the Kenyan batting together with constrasting half-centuries on opening day of the first four-day unofficial cricket Test against Sri Lanka 'A' at the Saravanamuttu Stadium yesterday.

Choosing to bat first after winning the toss, Kenya finished on 282 for eight with Shah scoring a handsome 94 spiced with 20 fours and Modi, a patient 52 in 208 minutes.

All in all their total was an exceptionally good one considering the fact that their three key players, Kennedy Otieno, Steve Tikolo and skipper Maurice Odumbe made only 20 runs amongst them.

The Kenyan batsmen were not afraid to punish the loose balls on a fast and bouncy pitch that gave both batsmen and bowlers equal opportunities. That more than 60 percent of the runs (43 fours) Kenya scored during the day came from boundaries is a true reflection of how well the ball came onto the bat - pity that such pitches are seldom prepared in Test matches here.

The arrival of the second new ball after 81 overs, not only gave Sri Lanka 'A' the wicket of Collin Obuyo when he was trapped lbw by Ruchira Perera for 16, but also produced 40 runs off nine overs. Obuyo and Otieno Suji added 45 for the ninth wicket in 52 minutes.

The day however belonged to Nairobi-born 29-year-old Shah who held the centre stage for the best part of the morning and into the afternoon compiling 94 off 135 balls. The tall right-hander with an upright stance played stylishly, batting for 195 minutes before he fell at 137 when he mistimed a drive and gave leg-spinner Upul Chandana a low return catch.

He held the Kenyan top order together after they had lost the key wickets of Otieno (13), Tikolo (0) and Odumbe (7) to Perera and Prabath Nissanka. Shah had a reprieve at 51 when Chamara Silva dropped a simple catch at square leg off Perera.

"It was difficult playing under these conditions. It was quite hot out there. The first 20 overs were testing because the ball was bouncing a little bit," said Shah who got a couple of first-class hundreds against state sides on the tour to India recently.

"It would have been nice if we had lost only three or four wickets at the end of the day, but it is a good first day total," said Shah.

Left-handed Modi an experienced campaigner at 30 scored his second half-century against Sri Lanka hitting five fours in his 138-ball innings.

He scored an unbeaten 78 against Sri Lanka in 1996, which is the highest of his four one-day fifties.

Modi shared in stands of 59 and 47 with Shah and Thomas Odoyo who struck seven fours in a quickfire 34 off 39 balls. Perera was the pick of the Sri Lankan 'A' bowlers finishing the day with three for 63.

The other two quicks, Prabath Nissanka and Kaushalya Weeraratne, paid the penalty for over pitching; each being struck for three fours in an over by Shah and Modi respectively.

Weeraratne was playing only his second first-class match after being sidelined by injury since January last year and looked rather ordinary.

Nissanka bowled with pace and bounce but lacked direction. When he was on line he looked dangerous and had the batsmen ducking for cover.

Chandana picked up the wickets of Kenya's two main runs scorers Shah and Modi to end the day with figures of two for 58.