ICC T20 Qualifiers: Sachin Bhudia powers Kenya past Rwanda to maintain unbeaten start

Kenya men’s cricket team took a huge step towards making it out of the ICC men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Qualifier B after securing their second victory of the tournament, this time beating Rwanda by five wickets at the Nairobi Gymkhana Grounds on Sunday.

Kenya, who beat Mozambique by 111 runs (DLS method) in their opening game on Saturday, looked to be in trouble earlier into their innings after two top-order batters Pushkar Sharma and Rushab Patel were dismissed for a combined one run in the first over.

Opener Neil Mugabe was later run out by Yves Cyusa after 3.3 overs, leaving the hosts in a tight spot after allowing Rwanda record a target of 100 runs in the first innings.

After a rather decent spell on the crease from Saturday’s hero Rakep Patel - who scored 13 runs off 17 balls - and Irfan Karim (30 not-out), it was Sachin Bhudia who defined the game, coming on at the top of the eighth over to score an impressive 39 from 21 balls.

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By the time he was bowled out by Martin Akayezu, Kenya were 97/5, only needing a boundary that his replacement - Sachin Gill - delivered with the very next ball.

In the first innings, sloppy fielding looked to have creeped back into the Kenyan team, as fielders struggled to execute, with a pivotal moment seeing Vraj Patel drop Didier Ndikubwimana at 20, with his looped ball going over for four.

Lucas Ndandason however picked two wickets, with skipper Shem Ngoche, Sharma, Peter Langat and Gill taking one each in the long innings.

With the two wins, Kenya are second on the six-team standings with four points, but with a lesser net-run-rate than leaders Zimbabwe, also unbeaten after two games.