Obuya turns out to be the show-stopper at Nairobi bash

The tag of minnows may never sit comfortably with lesser-teams and Kenya is no exception. And when ICC president Malcolm Gray had announced during the 2003 World Cup that a Test status for Kenya is at least five years away, there were no prizes for guessing why Kenyans were a fired lot when they took on a Sri Lankan side that was coming off a run of three straight wins.

Kenya had someone like Kennedy Otieno who was prepared to throw his bat around at the Gymkhana Club Ground after they were asked to bat first by Sanath Jayasuriya. A swatted six off Vaas on the on-side showed the confidence of a man who was not going to allow the Sri Lankan bowlers settle into any kind of rhythm.

Otieno’s aggression at the top of the order was the key to Kenya posting a score of 210 for 9 in 50 overs. His innings assumed a lot of value considering Kenya’s next second-best score was 26 apiece from Hitesh Modi and Maurice Odumbe.

The match was soon turned into a family picnic. Otieno’s younger brother Collins Obuya bowled a dream spell of leg-spin bowling to stifle the Sri Lankans to doom. Of course, he should be indebted to his seamers for prising out openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu early not to forget their razor-sharp fielding which meant that Sri Lankans had to work hard for their runs.

The 21-year-old leg-spinner snared Hashan Tillekaratne, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumara Sangakkara to bog down the Lankans. Aravinda de Silva was the only one to offer resistance with a 53-ball 41 but he too became Obuya’s fourth victim when he went back to cut one and was snapped up by the keeper.

Obuya reached his most-cherished moment snaffling a 5-for getting rid of Chaminda Vaas. His 5 for 24 from ten overs set up a famous Kenyan win as Sri Lanka plunged from a healthy 71 for 2 to 119 for 7 before being bowled out for 157 off 45 overs.

“Obuya was excellent. I think he bowled the spell of his life,” Kenya captain Steve Tikolo said about his effort. And too many guesses weren’t required as to who the Man of the Match was.

The frustration of a major Test playing nation losing to a lesser-playing nation was apparent in how Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya summed up the match. “I think it’s one of the worst matches I’ve ever played. We did not play like professionals today, we played like amateurs.”