IT turned to be an easy outing for India. After scoring a resounding win against South Africa at the Supersport Park, Centurion, the Indians put up, as described by coach John Wright, "a professional performance". The only thing that went right for the Kenyans was the toss. Their captain Maurice Odumbe won the toss and elected to bat. The Indians did not lose time to take charge of the match. By the time Ajit Agarkar had bowled his first spell, everyone knew which way the match was heading. In the end India won by ten wickets with a new opening pair in Deep Dasgupta and Virender Sehwag scoring 91 runs in just 69 balls.
Needless to emphasise it was the real smart work of the Indians that showed the Kenyans in poor light for the second time in two matches. They had made 159 against the South Africans in their first match. Agarkar, who made it to the team in the eleventh hour for the first part of the South African tour, bowled an excellent spell and ran through the top order. The ball might have kept a little low, but it was the line and length that Agarkar managed to maintain right throughout his spell that prevented the Kenyan batsmen from making any headway.
There was no way the Indians were going to change the bowling combination that underwent a major change after the defeat against the South Africans at 'The Wanderers'.
They went in with two specialist seamers in Javagal Srinath and Agarkar and two spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Virendra Sehwag had proved to be very useful with his off breaks at The Centurion. But neither Harbhajan nor Sehwag had to be called upon to play a major role.
Agarkar has been under pressure to perform after the selectors failed to retain him for the Test series in Sri Lanka.
The Indian captain Sourav Ganguly tried to impress upon the selectors about the need to have Agarkar in the squad. It was at his instance that the selectors picked him after a trial at the Wankhede Stadium two days before the team's departure to South Africa. "He will be keen to prove a point or two," said Wright before the commencement of the tri-series.
After bowling decent spells in the first two matches, Agarkar, ran into form taking three quick wickets in his first spell in which he conceded only nine runs. He bowled Ravindu Shah, David Obuya and had Steve Tikolo caught behind by Dasgupta. The three batsmen together made one run. The Kenyans never recovered after they lost much ground in the first hour. In the top half, opener Kennedy Obuya was the top scorer with 14 before he was leg before to Kumble.
Kumble turned out to be the second tormentor for the Kenyans. He trapped Odumbe and Thomas Odoyo leg before and finished his quota of ten overs giving away only 14 runs.
Agarkar returned for his second spell and picked up his fourth wicket. It was one of the best spells bowled by the Mumbai seamer in recent times. Ganguly gave himself five overs and introduced Harbhajan only in the 29th over. "Well, Agarkar and Kumble were bowling well and taking wickets," said Ganguly.
As it transpired, Srinath, called for his second spell, took the wickets of tailenders Jimmy Kamande and Peter Ongondo for Kenya to be bowled out for 90 in 37. 1 overs. Extras contributed 14 runs, the same as opener Kennedy Obuya made. To see the fine bowling display by the Indians were a small band of schoolchildren from a black township. It was a slick showing by the Indian bowlers who had five batsmen leg before, four batsmen bowled and one caught at the wicket. "He got a good wake up call and he (Agarkar) has responded well. It's a confidence-boosting performance," said Wright of Agarkar's four-wicket spell.
Ganguly sprang a surprise by sending Sehwag and Dasgupta as the opening pair. The target was nine short of a hundred runs. The Indian captain defended his move saying: "They bat lower in the order and must get opportunities to bat." It turned to be a successful move because Sehwag and Dasgupta made the required runs in under 12 overs which gave the Indians an extra bonus point.
Sehwag was the more experienced of the two and had tasted success against teams like Australia and Sri Lanka. His utility as a bowler was evident at The Centurion against South Africa, but at the Goodyear Park, he played shots that came off the middle of the bat and beat the fielders hands down. It was as an opener he had scored his first century against the Sri Lankans. It was good of him to grab another opportunity, and score an unbeaten 55 when the target was less than a hundred runs. The Indian run chase had begun well before lunch time and ended little after the interval.
The match ended in less than 50 overs. The unfortunate part of it was a poor turn out, quite a contrast to a full house at the adjacent rugby stadium. "The UCB should not have scheduled a non-South Africa match at Bloemfontein. This match should have been played at Durban where there is a big Indian population," said a former international cricketer and now a commentator.
The Indians took their points tally to nine from three matches. "Well, Kenya is a young nation. It'll take a long time before it can compete with the established ones. But the good thing was that we did not allow things to happen after Ajit Agarkar's (Man of the Match) first spell. It was a thoroughly professional show by us," said Wright.
The scores:Kenya: K. Obuya lbw b Kumble 14; R. Shah b Agarkar 0; D. Obuya b Agarkar 0; S. Tikolo c Dasgupta b Agarkar 1; M. Odumbe lbw b Kumble 6; T. Odoyo lbw b Kumble 12; M. Suji lbw b Agarkar 1; T. Suji (not out) 18; C. Obuya lbw b Harbhajan 16; J. Kamande b Srinath 5; P. Ongondo b Srinath 3; Extras (lb-3, nb-5, w-6) 14. Total (in 37.1 overs) 90.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-5, 3-13, 4-25, 5-41, 6-44, 7-50, 8-73, 9-86.
India bowling: Srinath 7.1-1-13-2, Agarkar 10-2-27-4, Ganguly 5-0-15-0, Kumble 10-4-14-3, Harbhajan 5-1-18-1.
India: D. Dasgupta (not out) 24; V. Sehwag (not out) 55; Extras (nb-10, w-2) 12. Total (for no loss in 11.3 overs) 91.
Kenya bowling: M. Suji 4-1-23-0, T. Odoyo 4-0-37-0, Ongondo 2-0-12-0, T. Suji 1.3-0-19-0.
AJIT AGARKAR bowled one of the finest spells by an Indian in recent times in a one-day international. Proof of it was evident in his first spell of six overs in which he conceded only nine runs and sent three top order batsmen to the pavilion.
He bowled Ravindu Shah and David Obuya and induced Steve Tikolo to drive and edge to wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta. His opening burst was the first big show against Kenya; the second coming from leg spinner Anil Kumble immediately after the incisive spell by Agarkar, who picked up one more wicket in Kenya's total of 90. The match adjudicator rightly chose Agarkar for the Man of the Match award.
Obviously the award, with which also came some useful cash, must have made Agarkar a happy man. It has been a tough phase for the fast medium bowler with twinkling feet, especially after the Zimbabwe tour. He had very little role to play in the Coca Cola series in Sri Lanka. The selectors dropped him for the three Test series. They did not heed to the requests of the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly to get Agarkar in Sri Lanka after Javagal Srinath returned home following a hand injury. After India won the Kandy Test, Ganguly pressed for Agarkar's inclusion for the Colombo Test. Once again the selectors said: Forget Agarkar, Take Mohanty. It appeared that Ganguly was having a running battle with the selectors, who in the home series against Zimbabwe, refused to include Harbhajan Singh; they chose Sarandeep Singh for the second Test in Nagpur. Ganguly was proved right when the senior of the Punjab off spinners, Harbhajan, was recalled for the home series against Australia. And now Agarkar has vindicated Ganguly's stand because left to the selectors, Mohanty might have been the replacement for Ashish Nehra. In fact, Agarkar was asked to rush to Mumbai from Nairobi, for a trial with Mohanty and Rakesh Patel.
South Africa has been so far good to the Mumbai seamer. Even in the tri-series opener at 'The Wanderers', he was the best among the seamers. In the second match against South Africa at 'The Centurion' he dismissed Hershcelle Gibbs to give the breakthrough. He was in top form against Kenya. There is no denying the fact that Agarkar has been India's main strike bowler in one-day internationals since he made his debut against Australia three years ago. He has had his quota of injuries, but he appears to have overcome all that, and primed himself to prove a point, to the selectors in particular.
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