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Rediff.com  » News » ICC denies investigation into Kenya-Lanka match

ICC denies investigation into Kenya-Lanka match

February 26, 2003 18:46 IST
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Cricket's world governing body Wednesday dismissed reports that its anti-corruption unit was investigating Sri Lanka's upset loss to Kenya.

Both teams said they were disgusted and insulted by the allegation in a media report.

In the biggest shock of the World Cup so far, Kenya bowled 1996 champion and Group B leader Sri Lanka for a paltry 157 at Nairobi to win by 53 runs.

It was a dismal batting performance from the Sri Lankans after easily beating New Zealand and Bangladesh and then bowling Canada out for 36, an all time low in international one-day cricket.

While the Kenyans celebrated a victory that put them in with a chance of reaching the second round, the Sri Lankan loss raised eyebrows in the light of betting scandals that stained the game in recent years.

The International Cricket Council said it had heard a news report suggesting that Paul Condon, the former London police commissioner and head of the ACU, has asked for video tapes of the game to investigate whether the Sri Lankans had deliberately lost.

"The ACU get the tapes of every game," said ICC spokesman Brendan McClements. "All the games have to be sent to them so there's nothing unusual about the fact that the ACU has the tape of this particular match.

"It will go through the usual ACU procedure like all the other matches."

The defeated Sri Lankans reacted with disgust to the report while the Kenyans said it was an insult to their achievement.

"We have never fixed matches, we play for our country all the time," Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya said.

"We don't play to sell matches. The middle order didn't get the runs that day."

Sri Lankan manager Ajit Jayasekera was furious at the allegation.

"It's an insult to this side," he said. "The reason we lost was because we batted badly. It was a gettable total, and the batting let the side down.

"We vehemently deny this allegation. Just because we lost the match to a team like Kenya it is disgusting to be accused of match fixing. I am very annoyed."

Kenya Cricket Association chairman Jimmy Rayani also said he was annoyed.

"What is the point of having a World Cup if everybody knows the results of all the games?" he said.

Rayani said these rumors often circulated when a small team beats a big team.

"Don't insult us every time we beat a big team," he said.

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