Kenya national cricket team

In International cricket matches Kenya is represented by the Kenya national cricket team. As thiis team reached the semi final of the 2003 Cricket World Cup it is regarded as one of the strongest associate member countries of the International Cricket Council. Currently this team has One day International status up to the ICC World cup qualifier to be held in 2009.

In 1951 the International Cricket began for Kenya and the team used to have regular matches against Uganda and Tanzania. The touring teams of various standards have played against Kenya. In 1958 a team of South African Non-Europeans whose captain was Basil D’Oliviera played against Kenya. On this tour the South Africans won both the matches.

In 1981 the Kenya team joined the International Cricket Council (ICC) and is regarded as a strong South African country. In 1986 it began playing first class matches with the first match against Pakistan B.

In 1994 the ICC trophy was played in Nairobi and Kenya qualified for the 1996 World Cup as it finished as a runners-up to the UAE. During this cup Kenya was included in the same group in which Zimbabwe, West Indies, Sri Lanka, India and Australia were present. In one of the most surprising upsets in the records of the World Cup Kenya won by 73 runs against West Indies after bowling them out for 93 runs. Due to the performance in the World Cup the ICC awarded full One Day International status to Kenya. At the beginning of the 21st century Kenya toured Zimbabwe and participated in the ICC Emerging Nations tournament and played against Zimbabwe, Scotland the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark. This tournament was won by Kenya and in the following seven match tour of India Kenya was defeated only in a single game. Till now the best moments in International Cricket for Kenya were in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. In the first match Kenya was defeated by South Africa. However in Cape Town Kenya has a four wicket win against Canada. Kenya surprised everybody by qualifying for the Super Six and in the process became the first non-Test playing country to advance forward from the first stage of the World Cup. During the Super Six stage, Kenya was defeated by Australia as well as India however it defeated Zimbabwe by 7 wickets and qualified for the semi final where they were defeated by India by 91 runs. During the 2007 World Cup Kenya was eliminated from the tournament in the first round. In the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier Kenya must appear in the top six teams so that their ODI status is maintained and they get qualified for the 2011 World Cup.

Major achievements

Highest team ODI total: 318/5 v Bermuda, 1 March 1994 at Nairobi, Kenya Won the 2000 and 2002 ICC 6 Nations Challenge