Kenya's T20 Cricket World Cup hopes extinguished by rampant Zimbabwe

Kenya men’s national cricket team's hopes of securing a spot at next year’s T20 World Cup were crushed as they came unstuck against Zimbabwe in the decisive semifinal of the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers at Harare Sports Club on Thursday, 2 October.

Kenya, who were seeking a route back to the big dance for their first time since 2007, won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 122-6, a total that was, at the end, not enough to take the win as the hosts rallied to complete the run-chase with 30 balls left.

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Rallied by a jubilant support, the Chevrons, with their seven-wicket victory, put to bed their disappointment from two years in Windhoek behind them, making a return to the T20 Cricket World Cup for the first time since 2022, when they made it to the Super 12.

Going by the earlier assertions of skipper Dhiren Gondaria, the expectation for the visitors was that by batting first, Kenya’s bowlers would make use of a slow wicket to reel in Zimbabwe, handing them the advantage.

Those sentiments were immediately drawn down by his opposite number - Sikandar Raza - who, in familiar surroundings, claimed the opposite effect was true, and how he was proved right.

As had been the case for Kenya all through their warm-up matches and two group stage contests down south, the top order collapsed in the biggest of occasions, with opener Gondaria going down for one after just seven balls.

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The lanky Blessing Muzarabani - who was described in Kenya’s cricket circles as no village trundler - after making one of the tournament’s highlight catches in the first wicket, was himself off the mark in the fifth over as he uprooted Pushkar Sharma’s stumps.

All of a sudden, Kenya, without their openers, were up against it.

One of the nation’s most consistent performers - in a good way - Rakep Patel calmed tensions a tad with another half-century, but for his 47-ball 65 effort, there was a rotating line of unsteady batsmen, who made no advances in making game-changing partnerships.

In between his knock, Rakep saw Sachin Bhudia come and go for one, and Sukhdeep Singh enter and exit with six.

When finally caught and bowled by Richard Ngarava, Kenya were staring at a fairly low total, and that was ultimately the case despite Sachin Gill making 19, before being run out.

With a fast wicket to bat on, Zimbabwe were all but destined to successfully run the chase down, and would have been delighted by the fielders dropping a good chance at a catch early on.

In contrast to the visitors, Zimbabwe relied heavily on their openers - Brian Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani - to take a big chunk of the total, as the duo combined for 70 runs.

Kenya’s first wicket came with the score at 76, and at no point were they close to causing an upset.

If the signs were not clear, then a look at Lucas Ndandason conceding six fours in the fourth over was the answer.

Ryan Burl would take the final run to wrap up a seamless display from the hosts, but a disastrous one for their sorry tourists.