New Zealand crush hapless Kenya by 10 wickets

Hamish Bennett

CHENNAI, (Reuters) – New Zealand thumped Kenya by 10  wickets in a lop-sided Group A match of the World Cup yesterday  that appears to justify bids to trim the 2015 edition of the  showpiece event by leaving out the whipping boys.

Hamish Bennett

The sparse crowd at the MA Chidambaram Stadium witnessed a  total mis-match as New Zealand unleashed their pace trio of Tim  Southee (3-13), Hamish Bennett (4-16) and Jacob Oram (3-2) to  bundle out Kenya for a meagre 69 in 23.5 overs and returned to  overwhelm the target in eight overs.

There was not much room for batting practice chasing a  70-run victory target but openers Martin Guptill (39) and  Brendon McCullum (26) stroked some easy boundaries before  completing the chase.

The outcome strengthens the International Cricket Council’s  bid for a 10-team World Cup in 2015, accommodating the weaker  teams in the Twenty20 World Cup instead.

“I don’t think we expected it to be that easy,” New Zealand  skipper Daniel Vettori told reporters after a perfect start to  the tournament suggested the team was determined to put behind a  poor build-up that included whitewash against Bangladesh.

“To bowl well and allow the batsmen such a small chase is  always pleasing. It was a fantastic efforts by the bowlers.”

Kenya captain Jimmy Kamande won the toss and opted to bat  first before a horror story unfolded in front of his eyes.

Two days before he turns 24, Bennett ran through the top  order as Kenya’s top half was back in the hut even before the  team total had reached the 50-run mark.

Openers Alex Obanda (6) and Seren Waters (16) began  cautiously even if run-rate was nothing to write home about.

Flummoxed batsmen

Southee trapped Obanda in the seventh over before Bennett  suddenly took fancy to beating the blade and hitting the pad of  the flummoxed Kenyan batsmen, claiming three of his four victims  lbw and he expects his performance will help his case for  regular selections.

“Whenever there is a chance, you got to try and take it. I  got a good result and hopefully I can keep pushing for my  selection,” said Bennett, who picked the man of the match award  in his World Cup debut.

Southee dismissed Nehemiah Odhiambo and Shem Ngoche off the  last two deliveries of his sixth over but could not get a chance  to complete his hat-trick as Oram removed Elijah Otieno for a  duck to drop the curtains on the Kenyan innings.

Oram flashed a shy smile as he waved apologetically to  Southee.

Only three Kenyan batsmen — Waters, Collins Obuya (14) and  Rakep Patel (15 not out) — managed double digit scores as Kenya  were bundled out for the lowest score recorded at the  Chidambaram Stadium. It was also the fifth lowest total in ODIs.

“We were nervous today but the New Zealand bowlers really  bowled well,” Kamande said, denying the team was under pressure  to perform to justify their presence in one day cricket’s  biggest stage.

“There was no such pressure. It’s up to ICC to decide  whether they want 10, five or 50 teams in the World Cup but the  thing is the more we get to play against these (test) teams, the  better we become.”

New Zealand missed Kyle Mills’ service through a sore back  but off-spinner Nathan McCullum recovered from fever to open the  attack, a move that is getting increasingly popular among the visiting teams.