Cricket/Inter-Continental Cup: Conceding 400 runs, taking just four wickets and spending a hot day chasing leather around a field is never a cricketer's idea of fun, but when you lose your skipper and main strike bowler to injury in the process, it can make you feel that you were just not destined to bring home the cup after all.

From the time that captain Trent Johnston lost the toss, it was clear it was going to be a long first day for Ireland in the final of the Inter-Continental Cup here.

On a pitch so flat it would make any Irish wicket look like a cabbage patch (even the few that aren't), the Irish bowlers knew that they would have to show great consistency to give themselves a chance of dismissing this Kenyan side inside their allotted 90 overs.

Unfortunately, such consistency was lacking. With the exception of Johnston's first two spells and, to a lesser extent, Kyle McCallan, Ireland could not build the pressure enough for the Kenyan top order to do anything rash.

Then, after Johnston had bowled 10 probing overs for 25 (and taken the wicket of Tony Suji), he copped a ball on the tip of his right ring finger and a subsequent X-ray revealed a fracture.

After receiving various injections and strappings, Johnston returned, bowled one over for 18 runs and promptly left the field again, this time for the remainder of the innings and, one suspects, the match.

"When I was running in to bowl, the finger was wobbling. It felt like it was on a piece of string," said Johnston ruefully.

So with Paul Mooney already out with a back injury, Ireland had to operate for most of the day without their two main strike bowlers. And it showed.

In the end, only four wickets were taken for 401 runs, meaning Ireland had just two bonus points to Kenya's eight when the Africans took to the field. It is odds on now that this game will be decided on points, with an outright victory for either side unlikely, so every bonus point is going to be crucial.

Whatever about the benevolence of this pitch, it must be said that the Kenyans batted beautifully on it. Kennedy Obuya set the tone at the top of the innings with an accomplished 72 before being trapped lbw by Adrian McCoubrey.

Although Maurice Ouma (run out for 8) and Suji (caught by Conor Armstrong in gully for 11) failed, there is no shortage of talent in this Kenya side.

Steve Tikolo, who scored 220 in the semi-final against Bermuda, has all the timing of a comic genius and he stroked his way to 177 not out (off 170 balls) without, it seemed, really stretching himself or looking like he would get out.

He was ably supported by Hitesh Modi (106), and the pair put on 267 for the fourth wicket, a record partnership for any team against Ireland.

Ireland lost Dominick Joyce just before the close, lbw to Thomas Odoyo.

But this is an Irish side packed full of batting and no one doubts that they can get close to matching Kenya's total. Just how many wickets they lose in the process will more than likely determine whether the Inter-Continental Cup will go up the road to Nairobi or will return with the Irish contingent to Dublin at the end of the weekend.

At stumps, Ireland were 37 for 1, with Jeremy Bray not out on 28 and Eoin Morgan yet to score.

Afterwards, coach Adrian Birrell expressed his disappointment at how little pressure his bowlers were able to exert on the Kenyans, but he was still confident Ireland could come away with the cup.

"We back ourselves to get what they scored," said Birrell. "The wicket is flat and it will just take our batsmen to apply themselves.

"The two batsmen in and the next one to come have just scored big hundreds, so there is no reason why they can't do that again," he said.