Kenya registered their second win of the 2018 Rugby Africa Gold Cup, which doubles as World Cup qualifiers, when they beat Zimbabwe 45-36 at the Union of East Africa (RFUEA) Grounds in Nairobi on Saturday.
Kenya, who beat Morocco 28-26 away in Casablanca in their previous match, took a 33-17 into the halftime break before the visitors returned to push them all the way. Skipper Davies Chenge scored three first-half tries, while Tony Onyango also had his name on the score sheet for Simbas.
Zimbabwe captain Denford Mutamangira, Fortunate Chipendo, Farai Mudariki, David Makanda and Mathew Mchivab dotted down for the Zimbabwe Sables, but Fortune Chipendu was sin-binned for foul play.
Dalmus Chituyi scored two late tries to make sure Kenya keep the pressure on log leaders Namibia.
"I am disappointed that we made the same mistakes and did not keep it tight. We failed to maintain our lead in the second half," a disappointed Zimbabwe coach Peter de Villiers said after the game.
Kenya's coach Ian Snook said he was happy with the fighting spirit exhibited by his team. "We looked like the Zimbabwe team was running over us, but the boys fought back well and won the game," said Snook.
Kenya moved to eight points, while Namibia lead the log with 10 points. Kenya will next host arch-rivals Uganda Rugby Cranes on July 7th in Nairobi. The Ugandan team lost their opening match 55-6 to Namibia.
In Saturday's other match, Namibia moved one step closer to World Cup qualification when they beat Morocco 63-7 in Morocco.