COLOMBO, Sept 16: Kenya captain Steve Tikolo says West Indies will be under pressure when they go up against his side in their Champions Trophy pool 3 encounter on Tuesday.

After losing their first match to South Africa, West Indies know their only chance of progressing to the semifinals is to beat Kenya convincingly and then hope the Kenyans can spring a major surprise by beating Shaun Pollock’s team.

This is a situation Tikolo feels his players can exploit.

“We know the West Indies position but it doesn’t affect our game plan,” he said on Monday.

“They are the ones under pressure to try and bowl us out cheaply or get a lot of runs. In the process they might make mistakes and that might work in our favour.

“We still have two games left and they have already played one and lost one and the pressure is back on them,” he said.

West Indies captain Carl Hooper is equally aware of the situation but promised his side would not be taking Kenya lightly.

“I don’t think we’re in a position where we can afford to be complacent,” he said.

“They are in a situation where everyone expects us to win so they will come out and give it a good shot and we have got to be ready to play some good cricket.”

West Indies have good reason to be focussed going into the match at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

In 1996, they were involved in one of the biggest upsets in cricket history when they lost to Kenya by 73 runs in a World Cup match in Pune, India.

Since then, in August 2001, West Indies have played a three-match one-day series in Kenya and won it 3-0.

Given that recent form, Hooper was keen to play down the significance of the World Cup result, but he stressed the need for a professional performance from his players.

“I haven’t got the World Cup of 1996 in my mind,” he said. “But I can remember a number of games where shocks have taken place like Bangladesh beating Pakistan in 1999 and if we turn up on the day not focussed and play poorly we will get beaten.”

Kenya come into the match after an encouraging display in the recent tri-series against Pakistan and Australia.

Their major weakness might be the lack of a cutting edge with the ball but Tikolo feels the absence of a genuinely quick bowler could work to Kenya’s advantage.

“I’ve watched the few games so far and the wickets have played pretty well in the first session but then get slower and turn as the match goes on,” he said.

“With our bowling line-up that could work in our favour.”

Both sides have no reported injury problems and are at full strength. West Indies have yet to confirm their final eleven but Hooper said it was likely to be the same one that played South Africa.

Teams:

Kenya: Steve Tikolo (captain), Joseph Angara, Hitesh Modi, David Obuya, Thomas Odoyo, Maurice Odumbe, Collins Obuya, Kennedy Obuya, Ravindu Shah, Martin Suji, Tony Suji.

West Indies (probable): Carl Hooper (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Brian Lara, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ramnaresh Sarwan.—Reuters