India score a dour victory

BANGALORE, May 20: A singular absence of excitement marked India's four wicket win over Kenya in the Coca Cola Cup Triangular cricket tourna...

BANGALORE, May 20: A singular absence of excitement marked India8217;s four wicket win over Kenya in the Coca Cola Cup Triangular cricket tournament tie at the KSCA Stadium on Wednesday.

The Indian batsmen8217;s inability to take the Kenyan bowling by the scruff of the neck was a major reason for the damp showing. But in the end it hardly mattered for India despite inducing artificial excitement by losing a clutter of wickets on the threshold of victory, cantered to their second win from as many matches.

Gagan Khoda, Rahul Dravid and skipper Ajay Jadeja all got amongst the runs as India successfully chased 224. But none of them dominated the bowling on the day. Tendulkar was sorely missed, particularly for his exhilarating batsmanship.

Still, the win, India8217;s second in as many matches succeeded in putting the Kenyan cricketing prowess in the right perspective. They have lost both their matches.

Earlier, the visitors made the most of Stevan Tikolo8217;s excellent innings after being put in to bat.

But theirfinal tally of 223 for nine was never going to be enough given their threadbare bowling and the Indians8217; relatively stronger batting line-up.

Opener Gagan Khoda, who batted well in patches, lost his partner Saurav Ganguly 9 early, but with Rahul Dravid getting into his groove, helped push the score along.

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Earlier, Kenya8217;s top batsman Steven Tikolo rose to the occasion in magnificent fashion to keep his team in the fray.

The stocky number three batsman, Kenya8217;s lone professional he plays in South Africa batted with a touch of arrogance to announce his ability against an indifferent Indian bowling attack.

The Indian bowling, without Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble looked pedestrian.

SCOREBOARD

KENYA: D Chudasama b Robin Singh 32, K Otieno b Agarkar 0, S Tikolo c Laxman b Sanghvi 77, M Odombe c MSK Prasad b Agarkar 47, H Modi b Sanghvi 17, R Shah c amp; b Kanitkar 21, T Odoyo c Dravid b Kanitkar 1, A Suji run out 8, A Karim b Robin 6, M Suji not out 1, Md Sheikh not out 2. Extras 6lb, 3 nb, 2 w 11.

Total for 9 wickets, 50 overs: 223

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Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-70, 3-152, 4-175, 5-186, 6-199, 7-211, 8-215, 9-220.

Bowling: Agarkar 10-2-36-2 1 w, Mohanty 9-0-44-0 2 nb; Robin Singh 8-0-24-2 1 nb, Sanghvi 10-0-52-2, Kanitkar 10-0-46-2 1 nb, 1 w, Ganguly 3-0-15-0 1 nb.

INDIA: G Khoda c amp; b Tikolo 89, S Ganguly b M Suji 9, R Dravid b Karim 49, A Jadeja c Tikolo b Sheik 50, Kanitkar run out 1, V Laxman c amp; b Sheikh 1, Robin Singh not out 2, MSK Prasad not out 11. Extras b 2, lb 2, w 8: 12.

Total for 6, 47 overs: 224

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-119, 3-197, 4-200, 5-207, 6-209.

Bowling: Suji 7-0-22-1 2 nb, Tikolo 10-0-46-1, Odoyo 7-0-34-0 2 w; Karim 10-0-39-1, Odumbe 6-0-38-0 3 w, Md Sheikh 7-0-41-2 3 w