August 16, 2006	Wednesday	Rajab 20, 1427

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NAIROBI, Aug 15: World Cup semi-finalists Kenya were no match for Bangladesh as the tourists clinched the third and final One-day International by six wickets on Tuesday to win the series 3-0.

Medium-pacer Mashrafe Mortaza acted as the chief destroyer of the Kenyan batting line-up taking 6-26 for his total haul of 13 wickets in the three-match series. He was adjudged Man-of-the-Match as well as Man-of-the-Series.

Fellow pacer Syed Rasel had negotiated the early collapse when he trapped the out-of-form opener Kennedy Obuya for a duck with the first ball and Morris Ouma was the next to go when he was clean bowled by Mohammad Rafique.

The only Kenyan player to put some resistance was Thomas Odoyo (29) but he could not repeat the same performance of the second match. Odoyo became Mashrafe’s fourth victim to fall in his opening seven-over spell.

In reply, openers Shahriar Nafees and Mohammad Ashraful scored quick runs for Bangladesh to close the gap before the lunch but after their departure soon after the break meant the match would last longer than expected.

The visitors also endured some anxious moments when two of their batsmen Tushar Imran and Saqibul Hasan were both run in the 17th over. It was Imran who was given out.

In the end the onus of clinching victory fell on the young shoulders of Saqibul Hasan and Farhad Reza, whose fifth-wicket partnership stand of 53 took Bangladesh to victory in the 27th over.

Scoreboard

KENYA:

K.O. Otieno lbw b Rasel 0

M.A. Ouma b Rafique 14

M.L. Patel lbw b Mashrafe 15

S.O. Tikolo c Abdur Razzak b Mashrafe 14

T. Mishra b Mashrafe 12

T.M. Odoyo c Mashud b Mashrafe 29

C.O. Obuya lbw b Mashrafe 8

B.J. Patel c Farhad b Mashrafe 1

N. Odhiambo lbw b Abdur Razzak 0

P.J. Ongondo b Rasel 14

J.S. Ababu not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-9) 11

TOTAL (all out, 41.2 overs) 118

BOWLING: Syed Rasel 8.2-1-18-2 (5w); Farhad Reza 3-1-8-0 (1w); Mohammad Rafique 6-0-16-1 (1w); Mashrafe Mortaza 10-0-26-6 (1w); Abdur Razzak 6-0-20-1 (1w). Saqibul Hasan 8-0-28-0.

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-35, 3-40, 4-63, 5-67, 6-83, 7-87, 8-89, 9-110.

BANGLADESH:

Shahriar Nafees c Otieno b Odoyo 18

Mohammad Ashraful c Tikolo b Ongondo 15

Aftab Ahmed c Tikolo b Ongondo 15

Tushar Imran run out 2

Saqibul Hasan not out 25

Farhad Reza not out 41

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-5, NB-5) 14

TOTAL (for four wkts, 27 overs) 120

FALL OF WKTS: 1-38, 2-43, 3-45, 4-55.

DID NOT BAT: Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel.

BOWLING: Odoyo 8-0-20-1 (2nb, 2w); Ongondo 10-4-37-2 (3nb); Odhiambo 6-1-27-0 (1w); Ababu 3-0-32-0 (2w).

RESULT: Bangladesh won by six wickets to clinch series 3-0.

UMPIRES: S.R. Modi (Kenya) and K. Hariharan (India).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama (Sri Lanka).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mashrafe Mortaza.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Mashrafe Mortaza.—AFP