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By Peter Della Penna in Abu Dhabi (on Twitter)
Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary
Kenya’s pace attack combined to take 9 for 64 in 15.2 overs as the
USA batting lineup was shot out for 90 before losing by nine wickets on
Monday at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Abu Dhabi. Nelson
Odhiambo was named Man of the Match after taking 3 for 13 in 3.2 overs.
Kenya moves into a tie with Italy for fourth place at 3-3 and still has
an outside chance of finishing in the top three while USA remains in
seventh place in Group B at 1-5.
“Today was a disappointing loss. We didn’t expect to be outdone by
Kenya in this manner,” said USA captain Sushil Nadkarni after the loss.
“When I look back, you basically have three departments in the game: the
bowling, fielding and the batting. I feel like our top order batting is
seriously lacking in the tournament right now. We’re just not clicking
as a unit. The next two games, we’re looking to give opportunities to
the youngsters so that they get exposure at this level.”
After a week’s worth of hot weather, USA won the toss on a cool
morning with a temperature in the low 60s and elected to bat first. Andy
Mohammed was brought into the starting XI in place of vice-captain
Aditya Mishra, who was being rested according to Nadkarni.
USA lost a wicket on the third ball of the match when Steven Taylor
was bowled by Nehemiah Odhiambo without scoring. Mohammed came in at
three and struggled to get the ball away as Nehemiah bowled tight lines
along with Elijah Otieno. Nadkarni was given a life on 9 when Nehemiah
hurried him with a bouncer that was spilled at square leg by Shem
Ngoche. Mohammed finally got out for 3 off 12 balls, caught at point off
Nehemiah to make it 19 for 2 in the fifth.
Orlando Baker was out for 8, loosely flicking a leg stump delivery
from Ragheb Aga to Ngoche at deep midwicket. Japen Patel went three
balls later for 4, edging behind an attempted drive against Nelson
Odhiambo to make it 45 for 4. Ryan Corns lasted five balls for his 1,
bowled through the gate by Duncan Allan to make it 54 for 5 as the
batting techniques of several USA batsmen were exposed by the Kenyan
pace attack.
“We don’t play enough cricket on turf back home and as a result any
young cricketer who is looking to develop his game is not going to get
that experience playing on turf,” said Nadkarni. “When you play on turf,
game to game you get different kinds of wickets. Sometimes they’re nice
batting wickets where you can go in and start stroking the ball. Other
times there are seaming tracks like today and you have to play a
different game on seaming tracks. That’s where we probably have a lot of
gaps in our techniques in our batting because our guys are just not
used to playing on turf wickets.”
USA’s
hopes of posting a defendable total rested on the shoulders of
Nadkarni, who had been carrying USA all innings. He made it to 41 before
attempting his third six, but was caught at deep midwicket off the
bowling of off-spinner James Ngoche to make it 73 for 6 in the 14th and
it wasn’t long before USA folded completely.
Adil Bhatti was bowled by Aga for 4 and three balls later Aga cleaned
up Abhimanyu Rajp with a slower ball yorker to make it 76 for 8 after
15. Elmore Hutchinson dangled his bat outside off to give David Obuya
his second catch behind the stumps and Nelson his second wicket to make
it 84 for 9. Nelson teamed up with the wicketkeeper one more time to get
rid of Ghous for 1 to wrap up USA’s innings in 18.2 overs for 90, USA’s
lowest score of the tournament. Nehemiah put the pressure on at the
start with two maidens in his first three overs and finished with 2 for
17. Aga finished with 3 for 16 in a supporting role.
Kenya sent Allan and Alex Obanda out to open and they made short work
of the target. Usman Shuja conceded just three singles in the first
over, but from then on USA’s bowlers were victimized by the Kenyan
batsmen.
Obanda hit three boundaries off Shuja in the third, the second of
which went through Ghous on the third man boundary when he tried to stop
the ball by kicking it with his feet instead of putting in a slide. It
was the first of several misfields during USA’s 10-over stay in the
field. USA missed a chance to nab Allan on 9 when Hutchinson beat him
for pace on a short ball and the right-hander top edged a pull toward
Mohammed at mid on, but Mohammed misjudged the ball off the bat and ran
back late getting only fingertips to the ball. Allan took the next ball
outside off and pulverized it over extra cover for 6 as USA continued to
look lifeless in the field.
Obanda took a special liking to Patel’s bowling, hitting him for
three fours and a six in the fifth over to take the score to 54. Ghous
made the only breakthrough for USA, getting Obanda to edge behind for 34
off 19 balls. Collins Obuya continued the assault with Allan, finishing
off the match by hitting four boundaries in five balls off Ghous in the
10th over, with a lofted drive over mid-on for the winning runs. 68 out
of Kenya’s 93 runs came off fours and sixes.
USA’s final game in group play is against Scotland at the ICC Global
Cricket Academy on Tuesday. Live coverage begins at 5:45 a.m. EST on
DreamCricket. DreamCricket.com’s tournament coverage is made possible in
part by the New Inning Foundation.
Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary