ICC T20 Qualifiers: Kenya confirm place in regional finals despite falling to unbeaten Zimbabwe
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Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 24.10.24. | 19:42
With four wins in five, Kenya will join seven other nations in next year's final qualifiers phase for a spot in the 2026 T20 World Cup
Kenya men’s cricket national team concluded their 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Sub-regional Qualifier B tournament with a 61-run defeat to overall champions Zimbabwe in a final tie played at Nairobi Gymkhana Grounds on Thursday 24 October.
The loss was Kenya’s first in five games and meant that they finished in second place with eight points, effectively booking a slot into next year’s 2025 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Regional Finals at a yet-to-be-announced venue.
Having won the toss, the tourists elected to bat on what Zimbabwe team skipper Sikandar Raza referred to as “a variational wicket”, and put the hosts to the sword with an impressive total of 163 runs for the fall of seven wickets.
Despite seeing their total dip below the historic 344 they set against the Gambia on Wednesday, the Chevrons were somehow lucky that their top run-scorer and eventual Man-of-the-Match Ryan Burl had been dropped at 30-odd, and ended up racking up 61 off 43 balls.
It was his partnership with Raza that steadied the Zimbabwe innings after Lucas Ndandason had caused an early scare dismissing both Brian Benett (13 off 10 balls) and Dion Myers (duck) in the third over.
The lower-order duo of Clive Madande (17 off 14 balls) and Tashinga Musekiwa (14 off 9 balls) showed care-free batting late on to add to the score, which was a tad higher than what the Kenyans expected.
The second innings was therefore a platform for the youthful visitors to show their superb fielding, as they cut through the Kenyan batting attack to send them all out for a paltry 102 and with five balls remaining.
Trevor Gwandu and Raza took three wickets each in the “seamers’ show”, with Brandon Mavuta adding a couple.
Ndandason’s 24 off 19 balls was the highest score for Kenya, who will be pretty disappointed, but definitely soothed by the prospect of going one step closer to the World Cup in 2026.
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