After falling to Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the Four-Nations Quadrangular Twenty20 tournament, the focus of Kenya’s national team now shifts to the ICC World Cricket league (WCL) championships.
The Kenyans have Hong Kong lined up next on November 19 and 23 as they seek a World Cup qualification.
Kenya had a successful outing winning the 50-overs series, but failed to shine in the T20 series and beat Uganda only.
Kenya are fighting it out against Hong Kong, UAE, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Scotland and Nepal to get the slot from the WCL that will qualify for the World Cup.
National team coach Thomas Odoyo told Feverpitch they are targeting a top-four finish which will move them closer to the global event to be held from May 30 to 15 July 2019 in England and Wales.
READ MORE
Where is Stella Taraja? A teacher allegedly taken from her house in Saudi Arabia
Yemen leader declares 90-day state of emergency
Court rules Saudi envoy not immune from prison in labour abuse row
“We have some positives from the wins and losses in the two competitions and we intend to build on that. We need to work on consistency because we lack that even at the individual level,” Odoyo said.
His sentiments were echoed by skipper Rakep Patel who said that they need to stop playing catch-up cricket and control the proceedings so they can win.
“We lack consistency and our records from these tournaments are clear, none of us was steady.
“One could play well in one match then fizzle out in the next and that was our major undoing,” Patel said.
Bowler Nelson Odhiambo said that all players need to embrace team work as well as individual effort in their forthcoming assignments.
“We need to take responsibility and play our parts well above all we need to put the team and country first because the Kenya is greater than each one of us,” Odhiambo said.
Kenya are currently fifth on the WCL standings and need to win their remaining matches to increase their chances of returning to the global crease. Other matches lined up for Kenya are against table leaders Netherlands, second-placed Scotland and Nepal who are below them on the log.
Kenya have met three opponents this far winning 2-0 against Namibia, playing to a 1-1 stalemate against United Arab Emirates and losing 2-0 to Papua New Guinea.
Odoyo, a former national player who has been to five World Cups said that qualifying for the global event is all he desires.
“I yearn to see Kenya return to the world event and we are working very hard towards achieving that feat. I believe that it is possible and it can be done,” he said.
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia yesterday beat Qatar by seven wickets in the finals of the T20 series at the Jaffrey’s Oval.
