Kenya, which is just a rung below Afghanistan in the group having played only two games thus far, will attempt to win its third match on the trot, having put in a solid performance against Canada in its tournament opener and squeaked past Oman on Saturday.
Ruvindu Gunasekera and Rizwan Cheema, the Canada openers, put on a quick 83 before Kenya fought back with James Ngoche and Nelson Odhiambo taking two wickets apiece. It required a stunning unbeaten half-century from Irfan Karim, who ended with a 54-ball 74, to take Kenya through to a seven-wicket win.
Ngoche shone against Oman too, taking 3 for 25 in a successful attempt to defend a 143.
Given that bowling is a particular strength for both sides, it may boil down to how the respective batsmen fare. The Afghanistan batsmen have held their own in all three matches, but Kenya will need its misfiring top ORDER to bounce back strongly on Monday.
Teams (from):
Afghanistan: Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Javed Ahmadi, Aftab Alam, Mirwais Ashraf, Sharafudin Ashraf, Hamid Hassan, Nawroz Mangal, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Mohammad Shahzad, Samiullah Shinwari, Dawlat Zadran, Najib Zadran, Shahpur Zadran.
Kenya: Rakep Patel (capt), Emmanuel Bundi, Narendra Kalyan, Irfan Karim, Karan Kaul, Lucas Ndandason, James Ngoche, Shem Ngoche, Collins Obuya, Eugene Ochieng, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Nelson Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Morris Ouma, Gurdeep Singh.
