Pakistan will kick-start their ICC 2011 World Cup campaign with the match against minnows, Kenya at the Mahinda Rajapakse Stadium in Hambantota on Wednesday, February 23. But for Kenya this is their second game of the tournament following their humiliating loss in the hands of New Zealand in Chennai on Sunday.
Pakistan will go into this game as a confidence lot. The match fixing allegations, the delay in the announcement of the team and the captain for the tournament and the injury to Sohail Tanvir have not seemed to affect them as them had a wonderful series in New Zealand just before the start of the tournament. They beat the Kiwis 4-1 in the six match series and also won the Test series.
The return of Misbah Ul Haq to the team and to form has inspired Pakistan. He has continued his good form in the Tests to the one day games as well and his experience lends solidity to a batting lineup that looks young. He, along with Younis Khan, will be expected to hold the innings together before the likes of Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Abdur Razzaq explode in the final overs.
The bowling too looks balanced with a three man pace attack and two main line spinners in Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal. Afridi too will be more than a handful in the slow, turning wickets.
For Kenya, this could be another game in which they are shown the gulf in class between the Test nations and the Associate Nations. They were humiliated in their last game against New Zealand and a similar fate awaits them at Hambantota. They will be looking to bat much longer this time and that depends on the experienced duo of Steve Tikolo and Collins Obuya.
Pakistan are the dark horse in this tournament and would want to start the tournament without any mishaps. However, it is tough to see this Kenyan team offering any resistance to a strong looking Pakistan outfit.