By FeverPitch Reporter
Former national team captain Maurice Ouma put on a captains performance as Coast Pekee produced an exceptional batting and bowling display to beat Rift Valley Rhinos by 67 runs in the first match of the East Africa Cricket League at the Coast Gymkhana.
It was a good start for the Coastal side that lost all but one of their matches last year.
The home team elected to bat after winning the toss but struggled to a total of 156 for two.
Coast captain Ouma was the chief tormentor of the visitors bowling scoring unbeaten 100 of 65 balls.
It included six sixes and eight boundaries. Ouma who only played one match last season before falling out with Cricket Kenya over contracts put on 89 for the first wicket with Ifran Karim who made 28.
Their stand was broken when James Ngoche run out Karim. He had hit two fours and a six.
The wicket did not deter Ouma’s quest of giving his side a good start and continued making life hard to Rhino’s bowlers as he added 30 with Nehemiah Odhiambo.
Odhiambo could only make 18 off 13 balls before he was bowled by Nelson Odhiambo.
Jimmy Kamande made his return to national limelight with unbeaten 10 off 10 in a 57 runs stand for third wicket with Ouma.
The visitors had made a dreadful start to their reply, losing Peter Kituku (9) but a 63 runs stand for the second wicket between David Obuya (44) and Joseph Onyango (28) led a partial recovery.
But after Nehemiah Odhiambo bowled Onyango, Rhinos were dead and buried as there was no other meaningful partnership as wickets fell at regular intervals with none of the eight batsmen making double digits. Dipesh Bhandari, Nelson Odhiambo, Peter Ongondo and Hiren Varaiya all went for ducks.
Meanwhile, Duncan Fletcher, the India coach, said it was difficult for his side to follow-up a successful World Cup year with the same “intensity”, citing India’s lack of home fixtures in the past year as the reason for their poor form, after the 4-1 ODI series win over Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Fletcher has had a tough first year since taking over from Gary Kirsten after the 2011 World Cup, with the team losing eight consecutive away Tests, four each to England and Australia.
He said England faced similar problems of relaxing after a successful phase and that the win would provide India with confidence ahead of home matches against New Zealand and England.
“It is always difficult after you have had a very successful year like that when you have won the World Cup,” Fletcher said.
“I have been involved with another side (England) that did the same thing and afterwards, after having had a successful series, to maintain that sort of intensity is quite difficult because sides tend,” he said.
