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Kenya outclassed Bangladesh at their own den yesterday.

The African lions gave the over-rated Bangladesh boys a true cricketing lesson at the Bangabandhu National Stadium when they slapped the hosts with an eight-wicket defeat.

Steve Tikolo and Maurice Odumbe showed the hosts how to bat supreme while their bowlers taught their opponents how to maintain a tight line and length in a limited-overs match. The day-night match was the second of the tri-nation Meril International tournament.

The two class players got their act together to produce 118 runs for the undefeated third wicket as Kenya, chasing a modest Bangladesh total of 213, reached 215 for two in only 43.5 overs.

Tikolo scored an unbeaten 106, his maiden hundred in one-day cricket, and Odumbe remained not out on a run-a-ball 58 to give the Kenyans their fourth win in five meetings against Bangladesh after both were awarded the ODI status in 1997.

The two experienced batsmen made a mockery of a contest when they took the depleted Bangladesh attack to the sword after Kenya were reduced to 97 for two in 26.2 overs.

One-down Tikolo reached his 50 off 66 balls with a lofted cover drive against Khaled Mahmud. The dapper right-hander, who smashed 13 boundaries in his chanceless 111-ball knock, reached the three-figure mark with a savage pull against Hasibul that raced down to the mid-wicket boundary. Tikolo, who was declared man-of-the-match later for his brilliant hundred, then fittingly ended the chase hitting the next ball over extra-cover for four.

An ever-energetic Odumbe, who in an abject lesson to the Bangladeshi batsmen turned the ones into easy twos with great running between the wickets, hammered a quartet of fours in his workmanlike innings.

With this win Kenya bounced back into real contention after their 133-run defeat last Friday against fancied Zimbabwe in the inaugural match of the tri-nation tournament. Bangladesh will take on Zimbabwe today at the same venue.

Earlier, winning the toss, Bangladesh skipper Aminul Islam sent his two contrasting openers - Shahriar Hossain and Javed Omar, out there to lay the foundation of a could-be challenging total on a benign batting strip.

Shahriar, an attacking player at his best, dominated the frustrating first-wicket partnership of 77 with Javed, a talent-limit batsman in a over-limit match.

Javed, who was picked ahead of Mehrab Hossain for this match, showed the luxury of wasting balls virtually without any score, putting additional pressure on his free-scoring partner.

He hung on to the crease without any purpose for long 114 minutes and wasted 61 balls to score a super-sedate 25. Due to the alliance of the odd couple, the 50 for Bangladesh came in 16.3 overs and 100 in 29.4 overs.

Kenyan spinner Mohammad Sheikh meanwhile dashed the local crowd's only joy of the day. The left-arm bowler denied both Shahriar Hossain and Bangladesh of what could have been our maiden century in one-day cricket.

The 23-year-old, with five runs away from that elusive hundred, tried to cut a Sheikh delivery that was spinning back to his off-stump only to be judged leg-before wicket by Pakistan umpire Javed Akhter in 43rd over.

The dejected right-hander, who, however, became the highest scorer of an innings for Bangladesh, despite an injury, trudged off with his visibly-shaken 'runner' Al-Shahriar Rokon, much to the frustration of the capacity crowd, who were eagerly waiting to party on the big moment.

The previous highest of 82 was scored by former opener Athar Ali Khan against Pakistan in the 7th Asia Cup in Colombo two years back.

Shahriar, who made his debut in international cricket against Kenya in 1997, played 145 balls, clubbed eight fours and stayed 145 minutes at the crease to score his chanceless first half-century, the 10th for Bangladesh.

The Narayanganj-based batsman, whose previous best was 16, smacked five fours off 80 balls to reach his fifty in the 22nd over bowled by off-spinner Maurice Odumbe. He played another 58 balls to cross Athar's 82 in the 39th over and with the help of three more boundaries.

Skipper Aminul Islam scored 20 off 28 balls before becoming the first victim of Sheikh. But when everyone was expecting the arrival of a free-scoring Akram Khan after the departure of Aminul, the team management first sent hard-hitting Mohammad Rafique and then Hasibul in a bid to accelerate the scoring rate. But their bizarre sagacity was ridiculed as their pinch-hitters were punched back to dressing room in quick succession.