Legends of Sports

Kenya were World Cup semi-finalists in 2003 but now they can't even beat Canada. And the pain isn't over for the African minnows as they prepare for Sunday's Group A clash with unbeaten defending champions Australia in Bangalore. Indian-born Jimmy Hansra came to the crease at 3-48 in New Delhi and hit a fine 70 as Canada defeated Kenya by five wickets. Canada’s other World Cup triumph was achieved against Bangladesh in Durban in 2003.The North Americans reached 5-199 to win with 27 balls remaining on Monday.

Hansra added 132 for the fourth wicket with his captain Ashish Bagai after paceman Henry Osinde claimed 4-26 in Kenya's innings of 198.Hansra had struck seven fours and two sixes when he was lastly out with Canada 19 runs short of victory. He had been dropped by Seren Waters before he'd scored and made the Kenyans pay with his first career ODI half-century. Australia will also play Canada in Bangalore on March 16 in a two-game stretch of clashes with minnows before their final Group A match against Pakistan in Colombo three days later.

Jimmy Hansra top scored for Canada in its successful chase against Kenya.

Kenya had been 5-57 but Tanmay Mishra scored 51, sharing consecutive half-century partnerships with captain Jimmy Kamande (22) and Thomas Odoyo (51).Canada fast bowler Henry Osinde (4-26) struck early with a burst of 3-7 to trigger Kenya's middle-order woes. It was Kenya's highest total of the tournament but the result was a huge blow for the Africans."I won't hide it. Today is the most unsatisfactory performance we've had at the tournament," Kamande said.

"We could have done much better against Canada. It's very, very upsetting now."Although we had 198, we still believed we could defend that. One crucial catch was dropped and the guy capitalized on that. I won't blame anyone."Bagai said Canada had built themselves up for their clash with their fellow cellar-dwellers in Group A."We are hoping we can use this to spark us for the next two games," he said. Canada play New Zealand in Mumbai on Sunday before tackling Australia three days later.