Related Links : World Cup 2007 : Scorecard
A classy Steve Tikolo was too good for Canada in the opening match of Group C at Gros Islet. The Kenyan Skipper guided his side to a comfortable 7-wicket win with 40 balls to spare.
Steve Tikolo had earlier won the toss to invite Canada to take first strike who were bowled out for 199 in exactly 50 overs. Geoff Barnett, the opening bat was the top scorer for Canada scoring 41 from 50 with 9 fours. Canada were off to a promising start but the Kenyans were strongly back in the game. Ian Billcliff and Sunil Dhaniram contributed 34 runs each while skipper John Davison disappointed by making just 8. The Canadian innings was pegged back by the off breaks of Jimmy Kamande and Steve Tikolo. Kamande took 2 for 25 in his 10 overs while Tikolo’s figures were 2 for 34 in 9 overs.
In their chase of exactly 200, Kenya lost David Obuya and Ravindu Shah early but a solid 67-run stand for the next wicket laid the platform for an easy victory. It was opener Maurice Ouma, who is also the wicket keeper sharing that partnership with Steve Tikolo. Ouma fell after scoring 58 from 89 with 7 fours and a six. The match was wrapped up by an unbroken stand of 84 between Tikolo (72 from 76 with 7 fours and a six) and Tanmay Mishra (35 from 54 with 3 fours). Anderson Cummins, the former West Indian all rounder looked impressive for Canada and at the ripe age of 40 years bowled pretty quick in the mid 130 kmph. Steve Tikolo was understandingly the Man of the Match for his all round show.