Cricket: Kenya relish ride of a lifetime

Steve Tikolo, a small man with a soft voice, is starting to believe in miracles.

Who can blame him? The Kenyan captain says a victory over Australia at Kingsmead in Durban tomorrow night is not an impossibility, nor is a rematch in the final.

Tikolo's side, a group of naturally gifted cricketers riding their luck and enjoying every second of it, beat Zimbabwe comfortably in a Super Sixes game at Bloemfontein yesterday to go cartwheeling into a semifinal against India next week for a place in the World Cup decider.

First they must face Australia - the side they've modelled themselves on - in the final preliminary game of the tournament, by which time their singing and dancing and joyous celebrations might finally have begun to fade.

"We are playing good cricket and we are confident and happy, and there is nothing to say we cannot make the final," Tikolo said in Bloemfontein yesterday.

"Australia are the top team in the world in the one-day and test arenas and we have tried to copy them, and we know we have to play out of our skins to beat them. But that is not impossible.

"It might sound strange to say, and some people might not believe us, but nobody believed us when we said we could make the Super Sixes, either.

"Now we are in the semifinals."

Maurice Odumbe (38 from 20 balls) and Thomas Odoyo (43 from 60) finished off Zimbabwe in style, hitting six straight boundaries while reaching 135 for three in reply to 133.

Their batting was fluent and technically sound and exhilarating. A hook from Odoyo and a stream of lofted boundaries over cover from Odumbe would have done any batsman proud. Their footwork was quick, their timing was sweet, they had flair.

Tikolo's dream is for Kenya to be awarded test status by the ICC.

Playing a day-nighter at Durban gives Kenya an outside chance against the Indians.

If Kenya bat first and post a decent total, India might struggle on a pitch that becomes devilish in the dark.

Kenya lost to India by six wickets last week, but it wasn't all one-way traffic. Far from it.

Kenya made 225 for six, dismissed Sachin Tendulkar for five and took two more quick wickets to have the Indians 24 for three. But then Sourav Ganguly made a match-winning 107 not out.

"We gave India a lot of trouble and if little things had gone our way in that game we could have won," Tikolo said. "We think we can beat them."

Tikolo is allowed to believe in miracles. He's living one.

Australian bowler Glenn McGrath has attributed Kenya's success to a happy-go-lucky attitude that South Africa lacked while bombing out in the first round.

The grim-faced Proteas were unlucky to miss a place in the Super Sixes, but they were also undeserving, losing key games to the West Indies and New Zealand before a last-gasp tie with Sri Lanka.

McGrath said Shaun Pollock's perennially stressed-out team would have benefited from enjoying themselves as much as Australia and Kenya.

"Their's has been a great effort, a huge effort," McGrath said.

"Fair enough they got four easy points [from the boycott] against New Zealand, but they still beat Sri Lanka and played well for the rest of the series.

"They have done really well. I think it goes to show if you go out there and really enjoy yourself and have some fun, you don't know what you can be capable of.

"Maybe that's one of the things that is happening to South Africa. They don't seem to be enjoying their cricket as much as other teams do."

One of the great moments of the cup was in the opening round when Kenyan leg-spinner Collins Obuya took the wicket of Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas, running all the way to the grandstand to celebrate with his team's supporters.

The Kenyan players got in a huddle and danced while the next batsman walked out.

McGrath said the only problem for Kenyan cricket was a lack of younger players in the team.

Calling them "a good bunch of guys but a bit long in the tooth", he queried whether the next generation would be able to build on the World Cup success.

Kenya have eight players over the age of 30. Australia have nine, including McGrath.

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