01 March,2026 08:11 AM IST | Mumbai | Clayton Murzello
Aasif Karim (fourth from left) celebrates the win over West Indies on February 29, 1996, in Pune with his Kenyan teammates. Pic/mid-day archvies
From the time we qualified for the World Cup in 1994, the preparation in every respect was strong. The team were determined to be competitive in our first World Cup. We believed in ourselves. We wanted to do well and not be regarded as just a number in the tournament. So, our mindset was to go and be competitive and make sure we bat for 50 overs, put up a decent score, get as many wickets as possible and make it a competitive match.
When we went to the ground [Nehru Stadium], we were looking at how they were warming up rather than our own warm-up. Their aura was such⦠you wanted to see how they practise. But the thing that surprised me was the West Indies's body language. It was not good for whatever reason. And the thing that baffled me most was when Richie Richardson won the toss and elected to field.
We thought 166 was fine, but of course, you will always feel you should have got 20-30 runs more. At lunchtime in the change room everybody felt this was not going to take too long for these guys to score. We just joked around and I kept asking [our players] how many overs do you think these guys will take to get the runs? Yes, we were mucking around a bit and said, let's finish this game quick. If we finish the game quickly we can go sightseeing.
When they batted, Richardson got out in the third or fourth over and Sherwin Campbell followed. In came Lara. We knew the master has come in. We felt good that we got two wickets, and were not being humiliated. So, we thought we need another two or three wickets and even if we lose by four to five wickets, it will be a decent result. First ball, Lara cover drove for four. I mean, it was a majestic... wow! We felt this guy is going to run through this game very quickly. A few balls later, he was very lucky not to have been run out via a direct hit. The following over, he got out, caught behind by Tariq Iqbal off Rajab Ali. It was a little flashy. And Tariq Iqbal nearly dropped it. I was standing next to him at first slip. I don't think he caught it, the glove caught it (chuckles).
The moment Lara got out, we got together and sensed that this is not just going to be a game to play. This is the moment where we can put pressure on these guys and take the game to the wire. The top-order was gone. There was Shivnarine Chanderpaul left and Keith Arthurton had only one to his name in their last game against Zimbabwe. We ensured our spinners kept the pressure on, employing a slip, bat-pad and fortunately, the spinners did well. We went up a few notches immediately.
Our fielding was excellent. We were a very good fielding team and had worked on our fielding and fitness. We believed that we may be a few notches below in batting and bowling, but if we do a good job in our fitness and fielding practice, we will be up there. We were tight on those aspects. Our coach Hanumant Singh gave us a lot of belief. He kept saying that we guys were good enough and that you are better than what you are. Maurice Odumbe claimed three (Chanderpaul, Jimmy Adams, and Roger Harper). He bowled well, as did Rajab (Richardson, Lara, and last man Cameron Cuffy) to bowl them out for 93 for our 73-run win.
It was touch and go in terms of the man of the match award. Maurice got it, but it could have given to Rajab also for the two frontline wickets. It was decided even before the match that West Indies would organise a dinner for us (after the match). So, they hosted a dinner for our victory. It was a quiet celebration but we felt on top of the world.
It's still regarded as the biggest upset in sporting history. It was a huge moment for Kenyan and world cricket. Kenya's performance provided a sense of belief to younger cricketing nations. Kenyan cricket tangibly or intangibly, played a very important role in world cricket for the associate countries.
Brief scores
Kenya 166 all out in 49.3 overs (Steve Tikolo 29, Hitesh Modi 26, Thomas Odoyo 24; Courtney Walsh 3-46, Roger Harper 3-15) beat West Indies 93 all out in 35.2 overs (Rajab Ali 3-17, Maurice Odumbe 3-15) by 73 runs.
Two
Keith Arthurton, who was run out for a duck against Kenya at Pune, ended up scoring only a couple of runs from five trips to the crease in the 1996 World Cup. He barely opened his account against Zimbabwe and SA.
Who is Aasif Karim?
Aasif Karim (born 1963) was as long-serving as they come. Apart from figuring in three World Cups - 1996, 1999 and 2003, the tall left-arm spinner was part of the ICC Trophies in 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1997. In 34 ODIs, he claimed 27 wickets. The last three of those wickets were claimed in the 2003 World Cup game against Australia at Durban. Karim also played Davis Cup tennis for Kenya.
As expected, Kenya treated this win as a significant achievement. Those involved were given a metal scorecard of the Pune match mounted on a frame that also had a metal miniature bat bearing embossed signatures of the team, and another of the captains of all participating teams. Mumbai-based cricket memorabilia collector Amit Gadkari is a proud owner of the collectible.
A few days after the Kenya vs West Indies game, a story appeared in Outlook magazine, where an unnamed source was quoted as hearing Brian Lara say in the Kenya dressing room: "You know, this white thing comes into the picture. We can't stand losing to them." Lara's agent responded with a denial which stated: "He [Lara] insists that he went into the Kenyan dressing room to congratulate them on a famous win and said: âLosing to you guys hurt badly but it wasn't the worst day of my life. The worst was losing to South Africa in the 1992 World Cup because I realised we weren't going to qualify for the semis.' Never at any stage did he mention black, white or any colour." The West Indies played their next game against Australia at Jaipur, won and proceeded to Pakistan from New Delhi.
The team management was stung by the story. Jeff Lepps, a Delhi-based Guyanese-born friend of the WI team, told me on Friday that he was asked by manager Wes Hall to buy all copies of Outlook available in the Delhi hotel where the team were put up so that no one would read the story and ask questions. Lepps, however, could get his hands on only one copy as the newsagents only had copies of the previous week's edition. Lara went on to score a match-winning hundred at Karachi, an innings that helped put South Africa out of the World Cup. After that quarter-final win, Richie Richardson's men lost an exciting semi-final to Australia in Chandigarh.
