September 06  
Australia see off Kenya for place in final 

NAIROBI: Australia won a place in the final of the triangular series with an eleventh hour tour de force Thursday, beating hosts Kenya with just five balls to spare in the limited overs match.

Shane Watson hit the killer single off Thomas Odoyo on the first ball of the last of Australia's 50 overs, which ended at 205-5. Kenya, who won the toss, finished their 50 overs at 204-9. 

In Saturday's final, Australia will meet Pakistan, whom they have already thrashed twice in this series. Cheering, flag-waving home team fans believed Kenya had the match in the bag as Peter Ochieng Ogondo opened the second last over, at which point Australia required a daunting 19 runs to defend their unblemished tournament record. 

Jaws quickly dropped and a hush fell over the Nairobi Gymkhana Grounds as Watson and Brett Lee turned up the heat, garnering a six apiece, while a four and a single from Watson plus a no-ball put the two sides level, giving Australia a whole over to make that winning single. Watson ended the day with 77 not-out off 114 balls. 

He shared a gritty 79-run fourth wicket partnership with Andrew Symonds which helped push Australia's score from 83 runs to 162. 

All-rounder Symonds, playing his first match of the tournament after replacing the injured Darren Lehmann for the Kenyan series, had his share of luck in the match, during which he was dropped twice, and survived an lbw before finally being run out with 43 runs. 

Australia had made a shaky start when first-time opener Jimmy Maher was caught by Steve Tikolo off Odoyo, the first of his two wickets, for 16. 

By contrast fellow opener Adam Gilchrist gave a good account of himself when he dug in much longer than he has ever done since the tournament started a week ago. 

Gilchrist contributed 41 runs but there was no chance for the big-hitting batsman Michael Bevan who was caught behind by wicketkeeper Collins Obuya for a duck. 

In the morning, the Kenyans had come out fighting. They looked set to avenge Monday's huge nine-wicket defeat against Australia which consigned them to their lowest total in one-day cricket. 

Kenya's top score was notched up by former skipper Maurice Odumbe, who had 55 runs off 54 ball before being caught by Matthew Hayden off Nathan Hauritz. 

Brijal Patel also did well, earning 42 before being run out, while Steve Tikolo scored 25. If past performance is anything to go by, Pakistan's chances of celebrating their 50 years of test cricket with a victory seem slim. 

At their first meeting with Australia on August 30 Australia won by 224 runs while on Wednesday Australia beat Pakistan by nine wickets.