Kenya target Qatar after stunning Denmark in Cricket World Cup Challenge League A

By  Victor Otieno

Reporter

NMG Sport

Hosts Kenya are looking to carry their winning momentum in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League A into their next match against Qatar on Saturday.

Kenya’s coach Joseph Angara said he was impressed with the team’s 103-run victory over Denmark at Nairobi Gymkhana Club on Wednesday.

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League A is a pathway to the 2027 World Cup to be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

At the end of the six-nation tournament on October 31, the top two teams will be promoted to the World Cup qualifier playoff while the bottom two sides will be relegated to the Challenge League playoffs. With Kenya ranked second last, Angara admitted that the hosts have little chance to keep alive their 2027 World Cup dreams and will hence focus on avoiding relegation.

To keep alive their dream of retaining their status in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League, Angara, who is a former national team player, said they would seek to replicate that impressive performance when they take on Qatar at Ruaraka Sports Club Ground from 9:30am.

“We want to pick it up from where we left off, and we just want to get our basics right,” Angara said on Thursday. “The wickets are now dry, so we are just looking at putting out an impressive total score board on the board. We batted well yesterday (Wednesday), it was a good performance from the team and every individual,” he added.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Kenya posted an imposing 324 for seven in 50 overs of their innings, with a century from Irfan Karim laying the foundation for the victory by the hosts.

Denmark were bowled out for 221 in 44.1 overs of their innings.

Karim starred with 106 off 115 balls, striking nine fours.

Rakep Patel also impressed with 57 off 65 balls, while Sachin Gill and Subham Patel were also instrumental with 49 from 41 balls and 48 from 55 deliveries, respectively. In reply, Denmark found resistance through captain Hamid Shah, who scored 55 from 67 balls.

With the victory, Kenya avenged their defeats in the first and second round of the competition. In Nairobi in 2024, Kenya fell by four wickets to the European nation, while in Jersey last year, coach Angara’s boys suffered a humiliating 188-run defeat.

Kenya defeated Qatar by three wickets in the first round but lost to the Middle East nation by eight wickets in the second round.

Jersey, Kuwait, and Papua New Guinea (PNG) are the other nations featuring in the competition. Ahead of Thursday's matches, Jersey and Kuwait lead with 17 and 14 points respectively. Kenya was ranked second last with eight points. Kenya’s last appearance at the World Cup was in 2011 (ODI) which was co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Previously, Kenya competed at four World Cups: ODI -1996, 1999 and 2003 and T20 (2007). Kenya's best performance at the World Cup was in the 2003 edition where they reached the semi-finals.

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