NAIROBI, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenya faces a stiff challenge to qualify for the T20 World Cup in Australia and will launch their campaign against the Dutch in a competition that will see the best six teams make the cut.
Ranked 29th in the International Cricket Council (ICC) men's T20I, Kenya is hopeful to reignite their past form and sail through the qualifiers, which start on Saturday in Dubai.
Kenya is balanced on paper, with the experience of captain Shem Ngoche and Collins Obuya who will serve as the steel on which the fringe youth of players such as Sachin Bhudia and Pushpak Kerai will be wrapped around.
Head coach Maurice Odumbe, a former player in his time, feels this is the best side the country has in over two decades since Kenya made the ICC World Cup semifinals losing to India in South Africa.
"We have the experience and technical players we can always rely on to help us progress through. Obuya has recorded some of the finest performances by anyone from Kenya's standards on the world stage. His performances will likely go a long way to making or breaking Kenya's competition," said Odumbe on Friday.
Kenya finished second in the T20 World Cup Africa Regional Finals in Kampala in May to secure their berth among the world's best in Dubai. They finished level on points with Namibia, but behind on net run rate.
Kenya participated in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 but suffered heavy defeats at the hands of New Zealand and Sri Lanka in their two games.
23-year-old Dhiren Gondaria boasts of impressive T20 stats.
"His average of 29.08, paired with a strike rate of 136, readily explains his opening spot in the team," said Odumbe. "The highlight of his career to date was a sparkling 78 run from 47 balls during last year's Africa T20 Cup against rivals Namibia."
Besides stiff challenges from the Netherlands and Scotland, who are seeded top in the tournament, Kenya will play Bermuda, Singapore, Namibia and Papua New Guinea.
