Bangladesh beat Kenya by 5 wickets

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Two fine knocks by debutantes Nazimuddin and skipper Mohammad Ashraful steered Bangladesh to a five-wicket victory over Kenya with 14 balls to spare in the four-nation Twenty20 Cricket tournament at the Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi today (Saturday), reports UNB.
After restricting hosts Kenya to 138 for 7 in 20 overs, opener Nazimuddin hammered 43 runs off 37 balls with three fours and two sixes while Ashraful made 36 off 20 balls with two fours and a six as Bangladesh reached the target of 139 runs in 17.4 overs losing five wickets. Nazimuddin was later adjudged man of the match.
Middle order Alok Kapali and vice captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza remained unbeaten on 17 and 7 runs respectively.
PJ Ongondo grabbed two wickets for 21 runs in four overs while TM Odoyo, LN Onyango and JK Kamande shared the other three wickets.
Earlier, sent into bat first, Kenya posted 138 runs for seven wickets in the allocated 20 overs. Number three Tanmay Mishra contributed team highest 38 runs off 41 balls with two fours and a six.
Skipper Steve Tikolo made 2nd highest 24 runs while opener DO Obuya 23 and TM Odoyo were the other contributors for the hosts to post a reasonable total.
Pace spearhead Mashrafe, medium pacer Farhad Reza and left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak Raj claimed two wickets each while captain Mohammad Ashraful took the other wicket.
Meanwhile, in the opening day's other match, hot favourites Pakistan trounced Uganda by 148 runs at the same venue.
The Bengal Tigers will play Pakistan tomorrow (Sunday) and Uganda Tuesday before leaving for South Africa on Sept 6 to take part in the Twenty20 World Championship.
Bangladesh, placed in Group A of the twenty20 Championship along with hosts South Africa and West Indies, will play their first match against West Indies on Sept 13 at Johannesburg.
Bangladesh will play South Africa on Sept 15 at the same venue.
Scorecard
Kenya innings:
DO Obuya c Farhad Reza b Mashrafe Mortaza 23
JS Jesani c Syed Rasel b Mashrafe Mortaza 1
T Mishra b Farhad Reza 38
SO Tikolo c Mahmudullah b Ashraful 24
TM Odoyo b Farhad Reza 22
CO Obuya not out 14
JK Kamande st Rahim b Abdur Razzak 6
RL Bhudia st Rahim b Abdur Razzak 0
LN Onyango not out 4
Extras: (lb 1, w 5 6
Total: (7 wickets; 20 overs) 138
Did not bat: PJ Ongondo, HA Varaiya
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Jesani, 2.2 ov), 2-29 (DO Obuya, 4.6 ov), 3-71 (Tikolo, 11.5 ov), 4-113 (Odoyo, 16.2 ov), 5-114 (Mishra, 16.4 ov), 6-121 (Kamande, 17.4 ov) and 7-121 (Bhudia, 17.6 ov)
Bangladesh innings:
Tamim Iqbal c CO Obuya b Ongondo 11
Nazimuddin c Bhudia b Kamande 43
Aftab Ahmed c Odoyo b Onyango 17
Ashraful c Odoyo b Ongondo 36
Alok Kapali not out 17
Mahmudullah c DO Obuya b Odoyo 2
Mashrafe Mortaza not out 7
Extras: (lb 1, w 4, nb 1) 6
Total: (5 wickets; 17.4 overs) 139
Did not bat: Farhad Reza, wicketkeeperMushfiqur Rahim, Syed Rasel, Abdur Razzak
Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Tamim Iqbal, 3.4 ov), 2-61 (Aftab Ahmed, 6.1 ov), 3-87 (Nazimuddin, 10.2 ov), 4-115 (Mohammad Ashraful, 13.2 ov) and 5-128 (Mahmudullah, 16.1 ov)
Toss: Bangladesh, who chose to field first
Player of the match: Nazimuddin (Bangladesh)