Kenya: 210 (Mishra 66, Varsani 57, Sarwar 5-23)
United Arab Emirates: 119 for 8 (Ali 30, Bhudia 5-21)
Kenya win by 66 runs (D/L method)
A commanding bowling performance saw Kenya register a comfortable win over United Arab Emirates in the first of their back-to-back Intercontinental 50-over matches in Nairobi. Rajesh Bhudia's five-wicket haul helped Kenya contain the UAE batsmen after a fourth-wicket stand of 133 between TanmayMishra and Rajesh Varsani saved Kenya from a batting disaster.
Kenya chose to bat but were in trouble early on and lurched to 21 for 3 in the 10th over. New captain Collins Obuya was among the first three wickets to fall, scoring just one. Mumbai-born Mishra and local-lad Varsani batted together for more than 30 overs, crafting a careful partnership. They scored relatively slowly with Mishra's 66 coming off 92 balls and Varsani's 57 taking 100 balls but steered Kenya to safety.
After they departed, both with the score on 154, the Kenya lower order had little to offer. Opening bowler ShoaibSarwar tore through the remaining batsmen to end with a five-for and ensure Kenya were bowled out with three balls left in their innings.
The UAE batsmen were no match for the Kenya bowlers and were pegged back to 11 for 4 in the 7th over. Bhudia claimed three of the first four wickets to fall. Three of UAE's top five batsmen were out for ducks and they were not able to recover from that collapse.
Amjad Ali's 30 (off 31 balls) and Ahmed Raza's patient 29 (off 69 balls) showed some promise but both needed to push on to have any hope of getting UAE back into the game. The highest partnership of the UAE innings was a 33-run eighth wicket stand between Raza and Nasir Aziz but by then it was too late. Rain stopped play after 35 overs with UAE on 119 for 8, well behind on the Duckworth-Lewis calculations.
