Australia extended their unbeaten streak in the tournament to 33 after they defeated Kenya by 60 runs in their Group A match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. Shane Watson (21) departed in the eighth over but Brad Haddin went on to register his best score in the World Cups with 65 runs from 79 balls. He hit nine fours and a six and raised 89 runs for the second wicket with Ricky Ponting (36). Ponting’s 36 runs from 54 balls and included five fours.
Kenya hit back removing three Australian wickets for just 16 runs. However, Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey revived their innings with a 114-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Clarke blazed to a 80-ball 93 runs and hit seven fours and a six. He was dismissed by Nehemiah Odhiambo just when he appeared like bringing up his maiden World Cup ton.
Mike Hussey, on his return, notched up his maiden World Cup fifty off just 40 balls. He hit a quick 54 runs from 43 balls four fours. Australia finished on 324/6 in their allotted 50 overs. For Kenya, Odhiambo picked up 3/57 while skipper Jimmy Kamande took 2/46 in their quota of ten overs each.
Chasing an unlikely 325 runs to win, Kenya lost Maurice Ouma (4), Alex Obanda (12) and David Obuya (12) with just 46 runs on the board in the 10th over. Collins Obuya and Tanmay Mishra then added 115 runs for the fourth wicket to briefly ignite hopes of an upset. Mishra was played well to bring up his highest World Cup score. He hit 72 runs from 89 balls with eight fours and a six before he was unfortunately run out.
Collin Obuya too played well to bring up his highest ODI score with an unbeaten 98 runs that came from 129 balls and included nine fours and three sixes. He was unfortunate to miss on a maiden ton but deservedly won the man of the match award.
Thomas Odoyo hit a 38-ball 35 runs to lessen the defeat margin as Kenya finished their 50 overs on 264/6. For Australia, only Shaun Tait (2/49) and Brett Lee (1/26) were among the wickets while three Kenyan batsmen were run out.