Tikolo confident ahead of ICC Intercontinental Cup finals

Kenya captain Steve Tikolo says his side's confidence is sky-high ahead of their ICC Intercontinental Cup semi-final against Bermuda on Sunday.

Kenya are clear favourites for the Event, the first-class tournament for non Test-playing countries that culminates in a final in Windhoek, Namibia starting on 27 October.

They warmed up for their three-day encounter with Bermuda by thumping Zimbabwe A in three matches and Tikolo says Kenya's preparations could not have been any better.

"It has been a hectic ten days for us," he said. "But we have had a good series in Zimbabwe with some exceptional performances and morale is very high in the team."

Tikolo then went on to underline one reason for his side's optimism.

"In the past our strength as a team has always been our batting and fielding but at the moment I am happy to note that our bowling has grown in leaps and bounds," he said.

"Our bowlers have put in a lot of work in the nets and [in] practice matches at home and are now reaping the fruits."

Those fruits were not only those wins against Zimbabwe A but also victory over Uganda and a draw against Namibia that were enough to see them to this stage of the competition.

However, although everyone within the squad is full of self-belief about Kenya's chances, Tikolo cautioned against complacency.

"Even though the three departments [batting, bowling and fielding] are now all coming to the fore we can't afford to rest on our laurels," he said. "We still need to keep working hard on all aspects of the game."

Tikolo also took time out to echo the thoughts of Kenya Cricket Association Chairman Samir Inamdar, who earlier this week said a good performance by the side in this Event was vital for the future of the game in their country.

"The ICC Intercontinental Cup is important to us because it is a tournament that gives countries outside the Test arena the opportunity to play the longer version of the game in a competitive atmosphere," said Tikolo.

"And with no disrespect to the other countries taking part in the tournament, Kenya is ranked top among the Associate countries which underlines the importance for us to do well."

The Kenya captain, whose ICC Trophy debut came back in 1994, has almost reached the veteran stage of his career now but he said he and his side had still been able to benefit and learn from the tournament's format of three-day matches.

"Having been brought up in a culture dominated by the shorter version of the game, playing three-day international cricket has benefited us immensely in a short period of time," he said.

"We have learnt to work at our game as a team and as individuals. We have worked hard at batting for longer periods of time, bowling consistently to the right areas and to our field placings, [on] our catching and fielding, tactics against opposing batsmen and bowlers and, to a large extent, on our physical and mental fitness."

"We believe we are a better team now [and] due to this I urge the ICC to have a programme in place which will allow us play more matches in a year as opposed to the current two before the semi-finals," he added.

That issue raised by Tikolo is something that is currently being addressed by the ICC's management, not just on behalf of Kenya but with a view to providing a whole group of Associate countries with competitive cricket on a regular basis.

In the short term, the attention of Tikolo and his entire squad will be focused on their upcoming semi-final.

And the player whose 149 against Uganda in their Africa group qualifying match is the highest score of this year's Event admitted his side had not got a great deal of information about the other sides in Namibia, with Ireland and the United Arab Emirates completing the semi-final line-up.

"At the moment we have not made any special plans for any of the opposition due to the fact that we haven't played any of the teams that have qualified for the semi-finals in a long time," said Tikolo.

"If my memory serves me right it is five years since we played any of the other three teams. This might mean the playing stuff might have changed from the last time we played them.

"In such a case we make a plan based on doing the basics right and concentrating on our strong points.

"As the match progresses we try to stay ahead of the opposition by quickly picking up their strengths and weaknesses and adjusting to this immediately with the help of the technical bench," he added.

The semi-finals:

Semi-finals:

Semi-final 1: Ireland v United Arab Emirates, Wanderers Sports Club, 23, 24 & 25 October - Umpires: Roger Dill and Russell Tiffin

Semi-final 2: Kenya v Bermuda, United Sports Club, 23, 24 & 25 October - Umpires: Paul Baldwin and Tony Hill

Final:

Wanderers Sports Club, 27, 28 & 29 October - Umpires: Tony Hill and Russell Tiffin

There will be a new name on the ICC Intercontinental Cup this year following Scotland's success in the inaugural Event, in 2004, when they defeated Canada in the final.