Doeschate propels Netherlands to narrow win

Seren Waters' knock of 126 not out for Kenya went in vain © Associated Press Enlarge

Powered by a knock of 98 not out from 92 balls by Ryan ten Doeschate, Netherlands beat Kenya by two wickets in a close World Cup warm-up match at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, on Tuesday. After tottering at 130 for 7 in the 30th over, Netherlands chased down 264 with five balls to spare thanks to ten Doeschate's innings and useful lower-order cameos.

Winning the toss and batting, Kenya built their innings around opener Seren Waters. While wickets fell around him, Waters steadily piled on the runs, scoring 126 not out in 150 balls with 12 fours. A 129-run partnership for the fifth wicket - the best in the match - between Waters and Rakep Patel took Kenya past the 250 mark. The stand was broken in the last over of the innings by Pieter Seelaar, but not before Patel had boosted Kenya's run-rate (57 runs came in the batting Powerplay) with 64 off 59 balls.

Netherlands got the start they wanted chasing 264, with an opening partnership of 67 in 10.1 overs between Alexei Kervezee and Eric Szwarczynski. But five wickets - most courtesy Steve Tikolo, who took four in the match - in the space of 28 runs put Kenya ahead. It was left to ten Doeschate, who had Netherlands' best bowling figures of the match, to take his team home. He timed his innings to perfection, scoring a measured 50 off 69 balls in crucial partnerships with Atse Buurman and Mudassar Bukhari, before opening up. He went from 50 to 98 in 23 balls, displaying some of the hitting ability that has bought him places in overseas Twenty20 teams like Essex, Tasmania and Canterbury.