Maurice Odumbe’s Kenyans came up with one of the most famous upset victories on February 29, 1996 at Nehru Stadium
The Kenyan team celebrate their victory over West Indies in Pune on February 29, 1996.
Mighty vs Minnow face-offs are not every journalist’s dream assignment. But I looked forward to the February 29 West Indies vs Kenya 1996 Wills World Cup clash even if it meant travelling to Pune by road not many hours after reporting on the India vs Australia game at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
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I had followed the Kenyans ever since they landed in Mumbai to tune up for their big opportunity on the world stage.
They played two games against The Netherlands at the Cricket Club of India, losing the first and winning the second.
The start of their World Cup was, as expected, not sizzling. India, Australia and Zimbabwe beat them before they took on the West Indies, who were led by Richie Richardson.
West Indies’ 73-run defeat turned the cricketing world upside down and this could well be the mother of upsets in World Cup matches in which babes were pitted against former champions.
Steve Tikolo who top-scored for Kenya with 29.
It must be emphasised that Kenya had not figured in one-day cricket before their opening World Cup game against India at Cuttack.
Here are 25 aspects of Kenya’s upset win in Pune and their players:
1. Richie Richardson won the toss and sent the Kenyans in. Their four-pronged pace attack included Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Ian Bishop and Cameron Cuffy.
2. Dipak Chudasama, who opened the Kenya innings with Tariq Iqbal, is a dentist by profession. He slammed two fours in the first over bowled by Ambrose and was out the next over – caught by Brian Lara - off Walsh for 8.
3. Steve Tikolo top-scored with 29 which included three fours and one six. But Mr Extras totaled 37, an indicator of how inaccurate the West Indians were.
4. Maurice Odumbe who was putting on a fine partnership with Tikolo, stepped on to his off stump while playing a shot off Bishop - out hit wicket for 6.
5. Jimmy Adams had a hand in five dismissals behind the stumps, not bad for someone who was playing his first World Cup game, taking over the big gloves from Courtney Browne.
6. West Indies were set a 167-run target and the first runs on the board came up with four leg byes which came off Richie Richardson’s pad on the last ball of the second over.
7. Tariq Iqbal was nightmarish behind the stumps. The chunky wicketkeeper could just drop his head in despair at times in the first half of the innings.
8. Brian Lara, who came in at the fall of Richardson’s wicket, started off with a imperious square drive but provided Iqbal his best moment of the day when he snicked one off Rajab Ali. Tariq fumbled with it a bit but caught it finally to put a huge nail in West Indies’ coffin.
9. Keith Arthurton’s poor show at the World Cup continued when Hitesh Modi threw down the stumps before the left-hander made his ground, attempting a single. He had scored just one in the previous game against Zimbabwe. A duck in Pune was followed up with another duck against Australia. One run against South Africa was before the duck against the Australians in the semi-final at Mohali. So his sequence of scores during the tournament read…1, 0, 0, 1, 0.
10. Odumbe marshaled his troops well and led by example by sending back Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Adams and veteran Roger Harper. When Kenya were one wicket away from victory, he told me that he prayed to the almighty for that one last wicket.
11. Rajab, who claimed three wickets in the game, revealed that he had watched several videos of Lara in the company of team coach Hanumant Singh to “find ways to induce him into making mistakes.”
12. Rajab’s uncle Zulfiqar Ali too played World Cup cricket – for East Africa in the 1975 edition held in England.
13. Odumbe’s words to the team after West Indies lost their seventh wicket: “It’s not over until the last ball. Let’s strangle them, let’s choke them.”
14. The match featuring the Kenyans attracted a lot of East African students studying in Symbiosis, Pune.
15. The match was witnessed by some of the greats of the game. MAK Pataudi was the match referee while fast bowling stalwarts Michael Holding (commentator) and Andy Roberts (coach) were around too. Australia’s aggressive former opening batsman Keith Stackpole was part of the commentary team as well.
16. Odumbe told the story about how he had gone to watch the West Indies vs Glamorgan game during their 1991 tour of England. He approached Lara to pose for a photograph but the request was turned on. In Pune, the great West Indian spent close to half an hour talking to Odumbe.
17. The West Indies were not the most popular team going around. They, with the possible exception of Jimmy Adams, did not oblige many autograph seekers in Pune.
18. The late Hanumant was overjoyed without going overboard. He praised his side but emphasised that the tournament was far from over and there was a need for more such efforts.
19. The Kenyan team’s manager was Harilal Shah, who had led East Africa in the 1975 World Cup. The win only vindicated his pre-tournament view that of his side being well prepared for World Cup challenges.
20. Balvinder Singh Sandhu, the 1983 World Cupper, helped the Kenyans too. Like the others in the team, Tikolo was grateful to Sandhu. “He has always been there for us, helping us along the way. He taught me how to use my feet while facing the spinners,” Tikolo told me.
21. The Kenyans did not celebrate with champagne in the Nehru Stadium dressing room. Only tears flowed…tears of joy.
22. The crowd couldn’t believe what they had just seen. They were all delighted. Even the ones who had brought in ‘Lara Kya Mara’ banners.
23. In his post-match conversations with the Kenyan players, Lara revealed to them that there were problems in his team. He said to Hitesh Modi that he saw him often in the hotel lobby the previous evening but his teammates just kept to themselves in their rooms.
24. Reams of newsprint were used up praising the Kenyans for their Pune triumph. MiD-DAY, along with the victory stories, had a Page 1 comment piece which was headlined, ‘Shed a tear for West Indies cricket.’
25. Richie Richardson, who began his career when the West Indies were in their pomp, brought the curtains down on his career after the tournament. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that they reached the semi-finals, losing to the Australians, who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat at Mohali.
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