/ 20 February 2011

New Zealand crush Kenya for a perfect start

New Zealand crushed Kenya by 10 wickets in a grossly lop-sided Group A match for a perfect start to their World Cup campaign on Sunday.

New Zealand unleashed their pace trio of Tim Southee (3-13), Hamish Bennett (4-16) and Jacob Oram (3-2) to bundle out rank outsiders Kenya for a meagre 69 in 23.5 overs and returned to overwhelm the target in eight overs.

There was not much room for batting practice chasing a 70-run victory target but openers Martin Guptill (39) and Brendon McCullum (26) helped them to some easy boundaries before completing the chase.

The comprehensive win will lift New Zealand’s morale which had taken a beating after a poor build-up that included whitewash in Bangladesh and India, besides a home series defeat against Pakistan. – Reuters

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