Kenya eye win against Gambia in T20 World Cup qualifiers
Kenya national cricket team player Pushkar Sharma trains on November 17, 2023 at Ruaraka Sports Club.
What you need to know:
- The Gambia, having missed their first two matches, are yet to earn any points and remain at the bottom of the table. The West African nation arrived in Nairobi on Sunday night.
- After thrashing Mozambique by 111 runs (DSL method) on Saturday, Kenya maintained its perfect start of the competition with a five-wicket win over Rwanda on Sunday.
Kenya will on Tuesday be seeking to boost their bid to seal their spot in the 2026 Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup by securing a win over minnows the Gambia in the Africa Sub-regional qualifiers “B” at Nairobi Gymkhana.
The match, which will start at 1:50pm, will be preceded by the clash between Seychelles and Mozambique at the same venue.
Zimbabwe, the tournament’s favourites, will face Rwanda at 1:50pm at Ruaraka Sports Club. Aiming to qualify for their second T20 World Cup after their first appearance in the 2007 edition in South Africa, Kenya, coached by former player Lameck Onyango, is taking all its matches in the Africa Sub-regional qualifiers “B” seriously.
The top two teams at the end of the tournament played in a single round-robin format, will progress to the Africa regional qualifiers, where the top two sides will clinch tickets to the upcoming World Cup, to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
After two matches, Zimbabwe top the table with four points, similar to second-placed Kenya. Rwanda and Seychelles follow with two points each, while Mozambique are fifth with zero points.
The Gambia, having missed their first two matches, are yet to earn any points and remain at the bottom of the table. The West African nation arrived in Nairobi on Sunday night.
After thrashing Mozambique by 111 runs (DSL method) on Saturday, Kenya maintained its perfect start of the competition with a five-wicket win over Rwanda on Sunday.
Going by the International Cricket Council World rankings, Kenya are outright favourites heading into Tuesday's match since they lie a massive 62 places above the Gambia. Kenya are ranked 33rd, while the Gambia are 95th.
The East Africans also enjoy an impressive form compared to the Gambia.
While Kenya have won their last four T20 matches, Gambia have lost their last four matches. Apart from the walkovers to Seychelles and Rwanda in the Africa Sub-regional qualifiers “B”, The Gambia lost to Rwanda and Ghana by eight wickets and 98 runs respectively in the 2023/24 East-West Africa Cup qualifiers in December last year in Benoni, South Africa.
Against Gambia, Kenya will be hoping for a steady start in their batting after they began poorly against Mozambique and Rwanda.
In their encounter with Mozambique, Kenya’s opening batsman Pushkar Sharma was dismissed inside the first over, having delivered just one run from three deliveries. The Indian-born Kenyan cricketer was not lucky against Rwanda, as he was dismissed for a duck.
His partner Neil Mugabe followed him immediately to showers with only three runs from seven deliveries to his name, while third batsman Rushab Patel managed just one run from three balls.
Experienced all-rounder Rakep Patel was the man-of-the-match in Kenya’s win over Mozambique as he delivered 120 runs from 55 balls. Patel had a bad day against Rwanda as he managed just 13 runs from 17 deliveries.
Tuesday’s matches
Mozambique v Seychelles - (Nairobi Gymkhana 9:30am)
Kenya v Gambia- (Nairobi Gymkhana 1:50 pm)
Zimbabwe v Rwanda - (Ruaraka Sports Club 1:50 pm)
