For one session, it looked like Kenya had buried the ghosts of the immediate past, and were out to prove that they belonged at this level. They won the toss, and opted to bat on a pitch that promised to be a belter. While the early wickets of Kennedy and David Obuya seemed to presage a familiar collapse, the rest of the team clearly had other plans. To start with, there was a discernable shift in attitude. The Kenyans had realised that merely surviving the bowling and waiting for free gifts would get them nowhere; Mohammed would have to go to the mountain. Ravindu Shah and Steven Tikolo played with an aggressive intent that was refreshing, and once they got their respective eyes in, unleashed an assault that made one wonder who really was the 800-pound gorilla here.

Between the 11th and 17th overs they added 42 runs as Kenya reached a promising 78 for 2. Just when the pair threatened to run away with things, a delightful prospect under the circumstances, they were out within seven overs of each other, leaving Kenya at 108 for 4 at the halfway mark.

Normally, Kenya would have panicked or done something silly, but Odumbe and Thomas Odoyo batted with immense maturity, focusing on consolidation rather than heroics. Both of them reached their individual 50s as Kenya paced their innings perfectly, making 71 runs in the last 10 overs to finish 229 for 7, a score that would have seemed beyond them after their execrable capitulation against the Indians on Friday.

The illusion that Kenya could make a contest of it vanished under the varnished afternoon glaze of the second session, as South Africa won comfortably by nine wickets. Kenya, as in previous matches, just did not look like they belonged at this level, or that they believed they did. The spirit they showed while batting mutated back into a familiar listlessness, as they duly turned around for the spanking. Which raises, once again, the very knotty question of what exactly Kenya were doing at this tournament.

It is perfectly reasonable to say that the lesser teams, the ICC associate members, need all the exposure they can get to develop their game. But if Kenya's experience in this tournament is anything to go by, this can backfire on them and be counter-productive. Kenya, despite that one session when their batsmen played so well, are almost certainly going to get thrashed in all the six games they play here. They already look incredibly demoralised, and may well have begun to reflect on why they're playing cricket in the first place. The following of the game in their country certainly won't increase after this debacle, and their presence in a triangular tournament makes two-thirds of the matches, six out of the nine, veritable no-contests. So who really benefits from their presence here? Cricket certainly doesn't.

This does not mean, however, that teams like Kenya should be cast away by the cricketing world, doomed to perpetually playing in a second grade involving teams like Namibia and Holland. Instead, their exposure to the bigger league should happen in phases, and be well planned out. To start with, they could play a lot of cricket with domestic teams of Test-playing countries. Kenya hosted Karnataka last year but, inexplicably, withdrew an invitation to Mumbai later when they realised Tendulkar wouldn't be coming. They did play a one-day triangular against Baroda and Mumbai a few weeks back, where Thomas Odoyo excelled and topped both the batting and bowling averages.

Perhaps the ICC could also consider asking its Test-playing nations to reserve a slot in their domestic leagues for an ICC associate member. Imagine how much Kenya would learn by playing some Ranji Trophy, or how far Holland would go by competing in the domestic one-day tournaments in England. They could also host A-teams of Test-playing countries, and, when they do play the bigger boys, play more evenly matched opponents; like Zimbabwe certainly would be at this point of time. Unleashing Pollock and Kumble on their batsmen, and Ganguly and Tendulkar on their bowlers, is like entering VS Naipaul in a high-school essay competition; Naipaul wouldn't need that kind of confidence boost, and the other entrants would probably just give up writing.

Amit Varma is assistant editor of Wisden.com India.

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