We are not here by default: Patil

Kenya coach Sandeep Patil came up with a novel illustration of his team's growing status in world cricket on Tuesday.

"It's good to see four television cameras here," Patil told reporters at a news conference before Wednesday's World Cup Super Six match against Zimbabwe.

"When we arrived in Sri Lanka for the ICC Champions Trophy in September there was no-one. I was asking (Kenya captain) Steve (Tikolo) questions and Steve was asking me."

Kenya, who have gained many supporters with their exuberant style of play, were given an invaluable push-start towards the Super Sixes when New Zealand forfeited their match in Nairobi over security concerns.

The Kenyans did the rest themselves, however, by beating Test sides Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. They need one more win to reach the semi-finals, with Zimbabwe and Australia to play.

Kenya have never beaten Zimbabwe but former India Test player Patil said: "Before this tournament we also hadn't beaten Sri Lanka.

"Anything is possible in one-day cricket, as we have already seen in this World Cup. We are not here by default, we are here because the boys are playing good cricket.

"The facilities in Kenya are not top class. To keep the boys in the right frame of mind for four years, and coming into this World Cup having played just 18 one-day internationals, was...something like asking for the moon."