NAIROBI, January 22 – Kenya will be gunning for the top spot in the ICC Intercontinental Cup when they take on leaders Scotland in their top-of-the-table clash in Nairobi next week, coach Eldine Baptiste said on Friday.The former West Indies all-rounder believes the Kenyan team had shown a big improvement to their game since their five-wicket loss to Zimbabwe XI last October, and were in strong contention to challenge for their first title in the tournament.
Since taking over in September, Baptiste had made several changes to the squad by bringing in seven young players who will feature in both the four-day match and the five Twenty20 warm-up matches against Scotland and Uganda.
"The players know they have to work hard to be number one. There is no room for second place," he told AFP. "The area we have had to work big time is the performances of the players".
"We lost the match to Zimbabwe because of missed catches and losing easy wickets but we have corrected our mistakes," added Baptiste.
Former skipper Steve Tikolo, who holds the highest number of runs in the tournament with 417, has returned from Zimbabwe where he plays franchise cricket for the Southern Rocks, to bolster the side.
Scotland heads the standings with 29 points after two matches while Kenya, which has played three games have 23 points.
