On this day in 1996: Kenya’s first-ever international match; pitted against India
The 1996 Cricket World Cup was a spectacle in a lot of sense. It was only the second time, coloured clothing was being used at the World Cup and it was the first time that was being experienced by the sub-continent. One of the significant changes which this tournament saw was that it had the most number of teams competing in a World Cup ever, 12. Along with the nine Test-playing nations at the time, Holland (the Netherlands), Kenya and the United Arab Emirates made their way into the tournament.
It was exciting times for international cricket as the sport was becoming more and more global. It all came down to February 18th,1996. Introduction of new teams does mean less competitive cricket and the sport had always been conservative in allowing new teams to come and play international matches. Hence, adding three teams all at once to the global stage, was something which the game had not done previously. UAE had gone down badly to South Africa while Holland had a similar fate against New Zealand.
But, at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, the scenes were slightly different. Kenya was going to feel a lot of pressure playing this match against India, way more than what UAE or Holland felt while playing their matches in Rawalpindi and Ahmedabad respectively. They were up against one of the major hosts at a packed stadium. But, Kenya managed to put up a good show. They didn’t go down without a fight.
Batting first, Kenya had a slow start, but their no.3 and arguably their best cricketer ever, Steve Tikolo played a thoughtful knock of 65 from 83 balls. His knock along with some contributions allowed Kenya to reach a total of 199 for 6 at the end of their 50 overs. Anil Kumble produced a good spell of bowling where he picked up three wickets for just 28 runs.
India were not going to face a lot of difficulty in chasing the total and the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar made sure there wasn’t any hiccup along the way. He produced one of the most sublime knocks one can witness with his famous straight drives. He made 127 runs and carried the Indian team to a well-earned victory.
Though Kenya lost their first match at the World Cup, they surely had made a great impression. They went onto upset West Indies a few days later but it must be admitted that the sparks of being a good side had been noticed during their first match in Cuttack itself.
