KEY POINTS:
ST LUCIA - As English counterpart Michael Vaughan tripped up at practice, Stephen Fleming was yesterday ensuring New Zealand did not stumble into any embarrassing World Cup potholes at Beausejour Stadium.
The contrasting fortunes of the rival captains in Gros Islet was emphasised by New Zealand's practically drama-free progression to the Super Eights stage.
Vaughan's aggravation of a knee injury adds further difficulties to England's troubled campaign.
Fleming was trying to keep a lid on the positive vibe after New Zealand posted a ground record 331 for seven before condemning Kenya to defeat in between rain delays.
There was one downside after New Zealand's first official one-day victory over the Kenyans - when man-of-the-match Ross Taylor strained his right hamstring.
The in-form Peter Fulton is poised to log some batting time against winless Canada tomorrow, which could prove beneficial if Taylor is not fit for the Black Caps' phase two opener in Antigua on March 29.
New Zealand's dominant performance was highlighted by half centuries to Fleming, Taylor, Scott Styris and Craig McMillan.
After reducing Kenya to 36 for four when rain forced the players off for a second time, New Zealand's only anxiety was the weather.
However, when spinner Daniel Vettori raced through the 20th over of the innings to constitute a game, New Zealand were in a no-lose situation as the Duckworth/Lewis equation was always beyond Kenya.
Ravi Shah delayed the inevitable with a frustrating 71 and Thomas Odoyo managed 42 before Kenya petered out at 183 in the 50th over.
The end may have come sooner but Fleming took the opportunity of giving part-timers like McMillan an extended run.
"Once we got the 20 overs in there was a little bit of free falling," Fleming conceded. "We gave some guys some work under their belts. The game wasn't secondary but we were able to go through [work] loading processes - like Macca [McMillan] getting some overs."
Earlier Fleming and Taylor added a measured 105 for the second wicket after Lou Vincent was caught by captain Steve Tikolo for a four-ball duck.
Fleming, whose 60 took 61 balls, ended the stand when he ran himself out. Taylor, who had a life on five, breezed to his third one-day international 50 off 80 balls and looked totally assured until the muscle strain when he was on 72 forced him into slog mode before he patted a soft return catch to Tikolo.
There was no respite for Kenya as Styris' 63 off 62 and McMillan's blistering 71 off 48 made sure a solid platform wasn't wasted. "The whole innings went pretty much to plan, the tempo was just about spot on," Fleming said.
"It was a professional performance. It's tough when you play so-called minnows because they bowl a different length, a different pace and it provides a different challenge.
"You don't practice for this type of player - it's a drop down in pace, you really have to adjust your game and that's where we're happy, we spent a bit of time on that.
"We made sure if we did get in a tricky situation batting first we were smart enough to get out of it, and then once we were one down after 20 you just had the feeling that our hitters were going to come to the fore."
- NZPA
