Odumbe blames loss on lack of homework

Kenya cricket captain Maurice Odumbe has blamed lack of "homework" for his team's crushing 10-wicket defeat against India in Friday's triangular one-day series match.

"I think we'll just have to do our homework and see where we are going wrong. At the moment there are a lot of things that are going wrong and we have to work on that," Odumbe said, summing up his team's performance.

India rolled over the Kenyans in a one-sided affair bowling them out for a paltry 90 runs in 37.1 overs. The Indians notched up the winning score in just 11.4 overs without losing any wicket.

"Playing against a team like India which is a world class side and just coming back after their emphatic win over South Africa was going to be a tall order for us," Odumbe, who had predicted a score in the region of 230 before the start of the match, said.

The win has boosted India's chances of making it to the final of the series having already defeated South Africa Wednesday.

In Friday's match, which finished some three hours before schedule much to the disappointment of spectators, India opened its innings with Virender Sehwag and Deep Dasgupta instead of the usual pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly.

Odumbe hoped that his team members would be able to rectify certain aspects of their game under celebrated coach Bob Woolmer who is credited largely for the success of the South Africans. Woolmer would be taking over as Kenya's coach shortly.

"He (Woolmer) was here today and he will remain for the rest of the tournament. I think having someone like Bob Woolmer in our camp will truly help us a lot. Maybe he might give us a few tips about South Africa's players," Odumbe said after the match. Kenya will meet South Africa Sunday.

While the Kenyan skipper was left licking his wounds after the defeat, his Indian counterpart basked in the team's success. Indian captain Saurav Ganguly admitted that it had been a mistake to leave out Harbhajan Singh, who performed well on Wednesday and had been named Man of the Match in the first game against South Africa.

"I think we all bowled pretty well. Ajit bowled well at Centurion, so did Srinath. We bowled a better length and a better line. They are top class spinners and it is expected of them. It was a bit of a mess to leave Harbhajan out of the first game but it's good that he's come back and bowled well. But we've got some areas that we need to cover if we are to be a good side and we are working on that."

"We worked hard in the nets after the first match. We got our line and length correct and it's paid dividends, I hope we continue to do that because whether it's one-day cricket or Test cricket it's the length you hit that matters," Ganguly remarked after the match.

Ganguly also congratulated the Kenyans for their sportsmanship.

"The Kenyans are still learning. They have got a lot of time to improve, they've got the talent, and we've got to improve our game as well to compete with the best sides in the world."

Hinting at the composition of the team for the next match, Ganguly said opener Shiv Sunder Das, who got a knock on the head against South Africa Wednesday, will play the next match, which would mean Jacob Martin would have to sit out.

"Shiv is still in a bit of a bother and we don't want to take a chance. We'll get him checked up totally and he'll play in the next game," Ganguly said. He also praised Sehwag's innings.

"He's a quality player who has done well for India. He and Yuvraj are probably the two best young batsmen around and I hope they do well for India and play a long time for the country," the Indian skipper said.

Meanwhile, Indian ace spinner Anil Kumble, batsman Sehwag, speedster Jawagal Srinath and medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar received the Bluebean dot.com bowling awards. Agarkar had bee named Man of the Match in Friday's game.

Indo-Asian News Service

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