…Collins  Obuya left two short of century
(REUTERS)-Holders Australia claimed their place in the last eight of the World Cup yesterday but they were made to work surprisingly hard by Kenya who restored pride with a defiant performance despite losing by 60 runs. Collins Obuya in particular had a day to remember, finishing unbeaten just two short of a century for Kenya.
Earlier, opener Brad Haddin had made 65 but Australia found themselves under unexpected pressure at one stage at 143-4.
Michael Clarke (93 off 80 balls) and the returning Mike Hussey (54) then bailed their team out of trouble to help set up a daunting 324-6 before Kenya defied the much-vaunted Australian fast bowling unit to score a respectable 264-6 in Group A.
The win, however, stretched the four-time winners’ unbeaten run in the World Cup to 33 matches.
Skipper Ricky Ponting was just about satisfied with his team’s performance but blamed inactivity — their last game against Sri Lanka on March 5 was washed out — for their lack of sparkle.
“A bit of rust in the team, even with the batting. A few of us were rusty and needed some time in the middle, as you can expect after 16 days with not much cricket,” he said.
“Full credit to Kenya, I thought they fought really well.”

STUBBORN STAND
After four straight losses, Kenya had clearly decided not to go down without a fight and Tanmay Mishra (72) along with Obuya (98 not out) resisted with a stubborn stand of 115 for the fourth wicket.
The pace trio of Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson regularly generated speeds in excess of 140 kph but the Kenyan batsmen gave as good as they got and notched their highest score in the tournament so far.
Three of the six Kenyan wickets to fall were by run-outs as the Australian fast bowlers and spinners almost ran out of ideas to dismiss a batting side which was skittled in their previous four matches.
It had seemed as if the match was headed for a fast finish as Kenya slumped to 46-3 in their 10th over. But as the pitch lost its pace, Mishra took on the role of the aggressor and clobbered eight boundaries and one huge six.
Obuya, however, was more restrained at the start of his innings but accelerated towards the end and singled out Shane Watson for some especially harsh treatment.

AUSTRALIA innings
S. Watson c Ouma b Odhiambo 21
B. Haddin c Patel b Kamande 65
R. Ponting lbw b C. Obuya 36
M. Clarke c Patel b Odhiambo 93
C. White b Kamande 2
M. Hussey c D. Obuya b Odhiambo 54
S. Smith not out 17
M. Johnson not out 12
Extras (b 2 lb 5 w 16 nb 1) 24
Total (for six wickets; 50 overs) 324
Fall of wickets: 1-38 2-127 3-131 4-143 5-257 6-304
Did not bat: B. Lee, J. Krejza, S. Tait
Bowling: Odoyo 10-0-50-0 (1w), Otieno 8-0-75-0, Odhiambo 10-1-57-3 (2w), Ngoche 8-0-56-0 (1w), Kamande 10-0-46-2 (2w), C. Obuya 4-0-33-1 (1nb, 1w)

KENYA innings
M. Ouma c Haddin b Lee 4
A. Obanda b Tait 14
C. Obuya not out 98
D. Obuya run out 12
T. Mishra run out 72
T. Odoyo b Tait 35
R. Patel run out 6
J. Kamande not out 0
Extras (b 2 lb 6 w 12 nb 3) 23
Total (for six wickets; 50 overs) 264
Fall of wickets: 1-12 2-21 3-46 4-161 5-247 6-263
Did not bat: N. Odhiambo, E. Otieno, J. Ngoche
Bowling: Lee 8-1-26-1, Tait 8-0-49-2 (2nb, 5w), M. Johnson 8-1-40-0 (2w), Smith 6-0-36-0, Krejza 8-0-36-0, Clarke 5-0-21-0, Watson 7-0-48-0 (1w)