Kenya was a force to reckon with in the world of cricket during the period of the late 90s and early millenium. The team first burned itself into the consciousness of Kenyans in 1995 when they won a four nation tournament that included Canada, Netherlands and UAE to qualify for the world cup. That feat itself was unexpected. At the world cup they performed the shock of the tournament when they beat perennial giants, West Indies by 73 runs. Steve Tikolo, Kennedy Ochieng, Maurice Odumbe played pivotal roles during this campaign.
It was around this time that Kenya achieved test status a fact that allowed them to play against the top teams all over the globe. In 2001, Kenya shocked the world yet again by beating giants India by 70 runs.
2003 was a banner year for cricket in Kenya. Due to the enhanced global status of Kenya cricket, the country was allowed to host some matches of the 2003 cricket world cup. They did not dissapoint the home fans. They beat perrenial giants Sri Lanka by 53 runs in a match played at the Nairobi Gymkhana club. There were also wins over Canada, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh
Team Kenya waves to the crowd during the 2003 World Cup
Those were some good years for Kenya cricket especially considering that cricket is not offered in public schools