Kenya run riot over Saudi Arabia

A new hero is born for Cricket Kenya. His name is Dhiren Gondaria. The fans that turned up for the finale of the Four Nation One Day International (ODI) Quadrangular Series between Kenya and Saudi Arabia on Saturday will live to remember the 21-year-old’s heroics eternity.

With an elite cast of Kenyan legends; Steve Tikolo (Uganda coach), Thomas Odoyo (Kenya coach), Maurice Odumbe (former captain), Tariq Iqbal (former wicketkeeper) and Kennedy Obuya (former opening batsmen), the youngster constructed a legendary innings of 126 off 85 to give Kenya their first title in as many years – with a deserved six-wicket win over Saudi Arabia.

The Arabs had set a competitive target of 292 in the first innings but the pint-sized Gondaria blew them away like a Tornado under overcast conditions to lighten up the mood at the Nairobi Jaffery’s Oval in Lavington for his first career century.

“I cannot believe what I have just done,” said Gondaria, who works as a supervisor at Mombasa Cement in Industrial Area - Nairobi, after his first international century that comprised of 14 expertly executed boundaries and five meaty sixes that left the crowd jaw-dropping.

SOMETHING NICE

“This is a big day for me. I was seeing it as a big as a football while in the middle. Everything fell in place and the timing to score for my maiden international ton couldn’t have been better.”

Nicknamed Tom Tom, after another legendary Kenya captain Tom Tikolo, who guided the nation through the qualifiers enroute to their first ICC World Cup appearance in 1996 when they proceeded to beat Brian Lara’s West Indies, Gondaria won a lot of praise from the man he is named after.

“I started calling him by my name because he is very disciplined like me. He has a good mind for cricket and will be even a bigger star if he keeps his head above the water,” said Tom Tikolo, a hard-hitting batsman that captained Kenya for more than 10 years in his heyday.

Coach Odoyo emphasised that Gondaria must be looked after properly if Kenyan cricket is to re-live the good old days.  

“This moment is big for us,” Odoyo said while try to conceal the joy within in vain. “A title is always something nice to win. Now the onus is on the guys to make it a habit. Young guns like Dhiren must continue the hard work and repay the faith of the fans.”

For Saudi Arabia’s Team Manager Sadiqul Islam, it was back to the drawing board.

“That young man (Gondaria) did something that we didn’t expect. We got runs on board but his attacking was too much and our fielding is not yet up to scratch. Kenya have been good hosts with top facilities and we will take good lessons from here,” said Islam.

To start the chase, wicketkeeper Irfan Karim (46 off 57), a man who will surely grow into a Kenyan legend like his father Aasif Karim, had given the innings a flying start before he departed with the job as good as done at 151 for 2 in 20 overs.

And to wrap it up was captain Rakep Patel, Gondaria’s hero, with 32* off 33 balls alongside 2003 World Cup hero Collins Obuya (44* off 35), who heaved two sixes over the cow-corner region to seal the title for Kenya in style with six wickets in hand and 62 balls to spare.

And on a day full of displays of stuff made of legends, maybe Gondaria will live to see his legend rise.