OBUYA RULED OUT

The Kenya team, for so long at the pinnacle of Associate cricket, is reeling from the defeat it suffered at the hands of a Gerrie Snyman-inspired Namibia in the ICC Intercontinental Cup last week. Snyman hit a remarkable 230 out of Namibia’s second-innings total of 282 before Kola Burger ran through the Kenya batting to make sure the south-west Africans beat their continental rivals by 101 runs. And it hurt Steve Tikolo and his men.Preparations for the match have been hampered due to the fact that Collins Obuya has been ruled out due to a knee injury.

SNYMAN SCORES DOUBLE HUNDRED

Namibia has gone top of the ICC Intercontinental Cup table after a dramatic victory over Kenya at Sharjah Stadium this week. An outstanding innings from Gerrie Snyman batted his side to a 101-run victory in just three days. Whenever someone makes 230 runs it turns heads but when that contribution makes up 81.56 per cent of your team’s innings total, it is truly remarkable.With the rest of the Namibia batsmen making just 52 runs between them in their second innings, Snyman stood firm at the other end, making his maiden double-hundred.

COACH PLAYS DOWN

Kenya coach Alfred Boi Njuguna is delighted to see his team on top of the ICC Intercontinental Cup table but said it means very little to him as the event has not even reached the halfway stage. “Obviously we are very proud of what we have achieved so far and we can take out a lot of positives from our first two matches,” said Njuguna.Kenya still has five of its matches to play in the round-robin format but finishing as one of the top two sides is essential as only those two teams will go forward to play in next year’s final.

OBANDA INJURY DOUBT

Kenya is sweating on the fitness of batsman Alex Obanda while Bermuda is hoping for an improvement in form as the two sides prepare to go head-to-head in the ICC Intercontinental Cup match in Nairobi from Thursday. 19-year-old Obanda, who averages over 45 from eight first-class matches, was carried off during the second ODI against Bermuda last Saturday after twisting his right ankle after stepping on the rope.

COACH PLEASED WITH WIN

Kenya’s interim coach Alfred Boi Njuguna has hailed his team’s performance in a difficult ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Canada and has urged his boys to maintain the same standards in the upcoming matches. Kenya put behind it the let-down of two sub-standard displays at September’s ICC World Twenty20 by brushing aside Canada by nine wickets in Nairobi inside three days to collect a maximum 20 points in its tournament opener.