Worried by complacency

India faces minnow Kenya in World Cup semifinal

Sourav Ganguly says his lineup will encounter some tough opposition. AP

DURBAN, South Africa (AP) -- Behind the veil of overwhelming confidence, India is worried about its history of topsy-turvy performances against minnow Kenya ahead of Thursday's World Cup semifinal at Kingsmead.

After a sub-par performance against Kenya in their Super Six encounter two weeks ago, India is seeking to eradicate the complacency of playing a rank outsider.

On a seven-match winning roll, Sourav Ganguly's Indians are bidding for a first World Cup final appearance since Kapil Dev team of 1983 clinched the title against all odds.

Two decades later, India is tipped for a title showdown with defending champions Australia, and Ganguly said Wednesday his team was confident of getting past the Kenyan barrier.

Aspiring to turn the dream of lifting the World Cup into reality, Ganguly is aware that no team playing the World Cup semifinal is a cakewalk, even if a country like Kenya, which isn't among the 10 test playing nations.

"We'll have to play our best cricket to get past Kenya, they're a competent side and have done extremely well to get to the semifinal," Ganguly told reporters. "No team wakes up from sleep and finds itself in the semifinal.

"Kenya's playing in the World Cup semifinal, no one should expect them to be weak."

In 11 previous matches against Kenya, India has twice crashed to embarrassing defeats. Both the defeats came after resounding victories against the Kenyans, pointing toward a sense of complacency that the current Indian team is being warned about.

"We can't expect to win this match as a right," asserted coach John Wright.

Ganguly echoed those sentiments.

"This isn't the time to afford any experiments," he said.

Kenya first stunned India during a low-key tri-nation series in 1998 when it rebounded from a four-wicket loss to triumph by 69 runs eight days later.

Similarly, during a 2001 tri-nation series in South Africa, India seemed to have relaxed after its 10-wicket win over Kenya, only to be stung by a 70-run drubbing five days later.

Both the Kenyan wins came under floodlights. The India-Kenya semifinal is a day-night match, which irks Ganguly, because the Australia-Sri Lanka semifinal was a day match, where conditions hardly change.

India's request to schedule both semifinals as day matches was rejected by World Cup organizers two weeks ago, mainly because TV deals were firmly in place.

The Indian team's focus remains on the final against Australia, but on the way there's a fear of the unknown, especially with torrential showers threatening to play a part in the outcome.

The weather factor, which hastened host South Africa's exit from the tournament in Durban, is again in play as the city on the east coast was hit by heavy downpour starting Tuesday night.

With more rain forecast for Wednesday and intermittent showers on the match day, the Duckworth-Lewis system of deciding matches could favor the freewheeling Kenyans.

Rain will give the Kenyans license to bat with the kind of abandon that can make a shock result a possibility.

Kenya is the first non-test nation to reach the semifinals at a World Cup, and is concerned less about who it plays than how well it performs.

The Indian captain says his lineup will encounter some tough opposition.

"We'll have to play tough if we're hoping to go through to the final," Ganguly said. "At the end of the day, the team that plays well will win this one."

Kenya gave India a tough run in their Super Six contest, which India won by six wickets after Ganguly scored an unbeaten century to make amends for a top-order collapse.

"They fought hard in the Super Six contest at Newlands ... We were 50 percent of our potential and even dropped six chances," said Ganguly. "We've got to make sure that doesn't happen again tomorrow"

Kenya coach Sandeep Patil, a member of India's World Cup-winning squad from 1983, says his team's success reflects the hard work it has put in.

"People have labeled Kenya reaching this stage a big surprise ... But we've capable of pulling off an even bigger one," said Patil.

The Kenyans should be back at full strength after resting veterans Maurice Odumbe and Thomas Odoyo in the five-wicket loss to Australia in the final Super Six match.

Wicketkeeper Kennedy Otieno sustained severe bruising to the arm when struck by a Brett Lee fast ball and didn't return to the field after being taken to hospital for precautionary scans.

Otieno, who opens the innings, is expected to be OK for the make-or-break match against India. After scoring a half century against Australia to get his batting form back on track, Kenya skipper Steve Tikolo couldn't field because of tonsillitis.

The nation's No. 1 batsman is fit and ready for action.

He said Kenya had nothing to fear, because nobody expected the team to go so far in the tournament.

 

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