Kenya 175 for 2 (Obanda 79*, Ouma 46) beat Bermuda 174 (Cann 52, Ongondo 3-16) by eight wickets

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BERMUDA were crushed by Kenya yesterday in the first of three one-day internationals in Nairobi. Kenya cruised to an eight-wicket win and Peter Ongondo led the way with the ball as his three wickets knocked the stuffing out of Bermuda's batting line-up. After that Alex Obanda, the impressive 19-year-old, made short work of the target.

This comes on top of Uganda beating Bermuda in a warm-up.

Bermuda certainly have not impressed those in the cricket world as Cricinfo described Bermuda as "struggling to justify its status as a leading Associate".

The influential website said after the Uganda defeat that: "Bermuda's problems continue to grow by the day," adding, "only a spirited 73 from Lionel Cann saved them from complete humiliation. Even for a team which has been embarrassed many times over the last year, this was a new low. What should worry Bermuda and encourage Uganda is that while Bermuda's average age is 27, Uganda's is under 23. The oldest Ugandan player is 27. Seven of the Bermuda side are over 30. It is not hard to see where the future lies."

Yesterday Ongondo began the rout with his seventh ball when Steve Outerbridge edged a rising delivery to second slip and thereafter Bermuda were unable to cope. Irvine Romaine chased a wide one and edged to the keeper and when David Hemp drove a half volley into the covers they were 51 for 5 and sinking rapidly.

Some respectability was ensured with a sixth-wicket stand of 61 between Lionel Cann and Janeiro Tucker as Cann crunched 52 off 32 balls before missing a drive at Jimmy Kamande. Bermuda's lower order showed more fight than their earlier colleagues with Rodney Trott (22) and Malachi Jones (21) adding 35 for the ninth wicket as the total edged to 174.

Kenya, though, were barely troubled in the run-chase despite David Obuya's golden duck when he padded up to Kevin Hurdle. Maurice Ouma eased along at a run a ball, adding 105 with Obanda who again showed his range of strokes. Captain Steve Tikolo dominated the unbroken third-wicket stand of 70 as he and Obanda completed a professional display with more than 21 overs to spare.