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Preview: Canada vs Kenya

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Kenya's Collins Obuya. (AFP)
Kenya's Collins Obuya. (AFP)
New Delhi - In a battle of the true minnows, both Canada and Kenya will look to achieve their first win yet in the World Cup.

There is not much that separates the sides. Both have conceded 300-plus totals, and while that may be in keeping with the trend this tournament, they haven't managed to bat themselves past 150 in a single game.

Kenya looked to be on their way to do that against Sri Lanka, but were blown away by Lasith Malinga's yorkers.

Kenya would like to think they have the better pedigree, but Canada have displayed more spirit so far. Jimmy Kamande, Kenya's captain, has instead had to deny reports of a rift between the coach Eldine Baptiste and some players. He has admitted it is difficult to keep motivating a side that has consistently under-performed.

Given how little there is to choose between the two, the odds are that there might not be a familiar batting collapse at the least.

Form guide

Canada LLLLW

Kenya LLLWL

Pitch and conditions

The Feroz Shah Kotla has so far lived up to its reputation for low bounce and taking turn, so it's likely that today's deck will be no different. The weather is expected to be moderately warm by Delhi's hot standards.

Watch out for…

Collins Obuya laboured to a half-century against Sri Lanka. That was what his team needed after a couple of early wickets had fallen. He should find it easier against Canada. He has been Kenya's most prolific batsman of late, and possesses a game that can be altered depending on the situation.

Balaji Rao enjoyed his battle against Pakistan's heavyweight middle order, and snapped up Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal. The legspinner was unafraid to flight the ball, and though he went for some runs, he tested a line-up that plays spin very well. Kenya don't, and Balaji will be itching to have a go.

Team news

Canada: John Davison, Nitish Kumar/Ruvindu Gunasekera, Ashish Bagai (wk/capt), Zubin Surkari, Rizwan Cheema, Jimmy Hansra, Tyson Gordon, Khurram Chohan, Harvir Baidwan, Balaji Rao, Parth Desai.

Kenya: Maurice Ouma (wk), Seren Waters, Collins Obuya, Steve Tikolo, David Obuya, Tanmay Mishra/Rakep Patel, Thomas Odoyo, Jimmy Kamande (capt), Nehemiah Odhiambo, Shem Ngoche, Elijah Otieno.

Stats and trivia

The Canada squad has scored a total of 4359 ODI runs. Steve Tikolo alone has made 3399.

The sides have played against each other in 12 ODIs, Kenya winning seven of them, including their two encounters at the 2003 and 2007 World Cups.

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