BANGALORE: Canada captain Ashish Bagai has won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in their World Cup Group A match here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. Defending champions Australia, already through to the quarter-finals and unbeaten in 33 matches at the World Cup since 1999, were unchanged from the side that beat Kenya by 60 runs on Monday. Canada, who are out of quarter-final contention, made two changes from the side that lost by 97 runs to New Zealand in Mumbai on Sunday, with Nitish Kumar and Karl Whatham coming in for Ruvindu Guneasekera and Khurram Chohan. This match marked 40-year-old Canada veteran John Davison’’s final match before international retirement. Davison set a world record the fastest-ever World Cup hundred in 2003, a mark which has been surpassed by Matthew Hayden of Australia and Ireland’’s Kevin O”Brien who hit a century off 50 balls at this World Cup against England. Australia: Brad Haddin (wk), Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke, Cameron White, Michael Hussey, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Jason Krejza, Shaun Tait. Canada: Hiral Patel, John Davison, Zubin Surkari, Ashish Bagai (captain/wk), Jimmy Hansra, Rizwan Cheema, Nitish Kumar, Karl Whatham, Harvir Baidwan, Balaji Rao, Henry Osinde Umpires: Amish Saheba (IND) and Billy Bowden (NZ), TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM).
Written on March 16, 2011 | Posted in
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PALLEKELE: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is positive of wrapping up a World Cup quarter-final spot on Monday despite another twist in the ongoing Akmal brothers soap opera. Pakistan’’s build-up to the game against Zimbabwe has been dominated by Kamran and Umar Akmal. Ever since Kamran put in a blundering performance behind the stumps in the 110-run defeat to New Zealand last Tuesday, it had been widely-expected that younger brother Umar would take the gloves. Umar was then accused of feigning a finger injury to save his brother’’s job. On Sunday, the 21-year-old Umar managed to sprain his right ankle while playing football during practice although Afridi said the batsman was not seriously hurt. “We want to put everything behind us, the defeat and any other thing which could hurt our preparation. We are in a positive frame of mind and will play for a win,” said Afridi. “Umar is OK. As far as Kamran is concerned he has realised his mistakes and we have given him full confidence and at this moment he is our best option,” said Afridi, ruling out any make-shift changes. Pakistan also still have a problem with their openers whose inability to put on a healthy partnership is straining the middle-order. But despite the headaches, captain Afridi insists his team will not repeat the first round exits of the 2003 and 2007 World Cups. “I have a lot of confidence in my players. We will win against Zimbabwe to reach the quarter-finals,” said Afridi, whose team face defending champions Australia in their last group match on March 19. Pakistan, with six points after four matches, need a win to join co-hosts Sri Lanka into the last eight. Pakistan are likely to rest express paceman Shoaib Akhtar, who went for 71 in his nine overs against New Zealand, and if Umar is ruled out, bring in paceman Wahab Riaz and batsman Asad Shafiq. Zimbabwe still have a slim chance of making the last eight despite having so far collected just two points. But they need to beat Pakistan and Kenya, dramatically improve their run-rate and still hope Australia beat Pakistan. “We”ll believe that if we can play our best cricket then we can proceed but we must not repeat the mistakes of our last two matches,” said Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura, who will celebrate his 25th birthday on match day. Chigumbura said his side will be wary of leg-spinner Afridi, who is the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 15. “With Afridi we have to make sure we look to play him straight. We have noticed that he’’s had plenty of dismissals either bowled or lbw so we must make sure we don”t look to go across the line too much,” said Chigumbura. Pakistan have beaten Zimbabwe in three of their previous four World Cup matches, with the 2003 match abandoned due to rain. Pakistan v Zimbabwe head to head: Head-to-head record for the World Cup Group A match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe at the Pallekele stadium on Monday: Matches: 40 Pakistan wins: 36 Zimbabwe wins: 2 No result/Tied: 2 First meeting: Feb 27, 1992, Hobart – Pakistan won by 53 runs Last meeting: Feb 2, 2008, Sheikhupura – Pakistan won by 7 wickets World Cup teams: Rival squads, officials and pitch conditions for the World Cup Group A match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe at Pallekele stadium on Monday: Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Ahmed Shahzad. Coach: Waqar Younis Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura (capt), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Terry Duffin, Craig Ervine, Greg Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Christopher Mpofu, Tinashe Panyangara, Raymond Price, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Vusimuzi Sibanda. Coach: Alan Butcher (ENG) Umpires: Nigel Llong (ENG) and Tony Hill (NZL) TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA) Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG) Match start: 02:00 PM Pitch condition: Teams will play on the third pitch of the stadium, which has no grass but has bounce. It will help spinners as the game progresses. (AFP)
Written on March 14, 2011 | Posted in
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INDIAN WELLS, California: World number one Caroline Wozniacki breezed past US wildcard Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday at the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters 1000 tournament. Wozniacki had little trouble dispatching the young American, using a steady serve and precision forehand to win in just 68 minutes on the hardcourts. She clinched the match with a running forehand volley into the open court. Top seed Wozniacki, who had a bye in the first round, advanced to the third round, where she will face Spain’’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who beat Simona Halep 7-5, 6-0.
Written on March 13, 2011 | Posted in
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NAGPUR: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni elected to bat after winning the toss against South Africa in a key World Cup Group B match on Saturday. Both teams are already virtually assured of quarter-final places. India made one change from the side that beat the Netherlands by five wickets in the previous match in Delhi, bringing in seamer Munaf Patel in place of leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. South Africa replaced injured leg-spinner Imran Tahir with off-spinner Johan Botha for the only change from the team that lost to England by six runs in Chennai. India currently top the seven-team group with seven points from four games, while South Africa have four points from three matches. India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel. South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Morne van Wyk. Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Simon Taufel (AUS), TV umpire: Billy Doctrove (WI) Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SL)
Written on March 12, 2011 | Posted in
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MOHALI: Big-hitting Kieron Pollard nudged West Indies closer to the World Cup quarter-finals on Friday as Bangladesh were locked in a knife-edge struggle for survival against England. Pollard hammered 94 off just 55 balls and shared an 88-run stand with Devon Smith (107), who hit a maiden one-day century, as West Indies posted 275 before bowling out the Irish for 231 for a 44-run win in Mohali. Pollard belted eight fours and five sixes to frustrate the Irish who won the toss and put the Caribbean side into bat on an easy-paced track at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium. Pollard also took a memorable catch to send back Irish dangerman Kevin O”Brien for five off seamer Darren Sammy, who returned impressive figures of 3-31 off his 10 overs. Ed Joyce, who played for England in the 2007 World Cup, made a 106-ball 84, containing nine fours and put on 109 for the fourth wicket with Gary Wilson (61). The win took West Indies to six points from four Group B outings while Ireland, with one win from four matches, now must beat South Africa and the Netherlands to have any hope of progressing. Smith also shared 89 runs with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, opening the innings after Chris Gayle was ruled out on the morning of the match with an abdominal strain. Kevin O”Brien, who struck World Cup’’s fastest hundred against England, showed he had the skills with the ball as well, grabbing a career-best 4-71. Ireland fast bowlers kept things tight in the first 15 overs and did well in the last seven overs, taking the last five West Indies wickets for 53 runs. The Irish had to wait till the 25th over to pick their first wicket when Chanderpaul (35) chipped O”Brien to short extra cover where captain William Porterfield took a low catch. O”Brien struck again three balls later in the same over when he uprooted the middle-stump of Darren Bravo before the promising left-hander could even get off the mark. Left-arm spinner George Dockrell, introduced into the attack late in the 30th over, had Ramnaresh Sarwan caught in the deep for 10 to reduce the West Indies to 130-3. Ireland were left to rue missed chances against Pollard who was let off twice early in his innings with John Mooney messing up a simple run-out chance and Gary Wilson grassing a catch off Andre Botha.
Written on March 11, 2011 | Posted in
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The World Cup schedule gives all the teams plenty of time between games to rest and recover but the hoards of journalists covering the tournament have no such luck. They must jet not only from match to match, but from country to country, often with little or no sleep in between. In his BBC blog, Adam Mountford, the BBC Radio Cricket producer, recaps a week involving faulty broadcast lines, insect bites, missing luggage and an award for Test Match Special. Back at the hotel, I get a text from Tim…
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PALLEKELE: Birthday boy Ross Taylor destroyed the Pakistan attack in a devastating display of power hitting on Tuesday – and revealed he had done it all with a broken bat. Taylor, celebrating his 27th birthday, hit 131 in 124 balls with a whopping seven sixes to take his side to a total of 302-7 in their 50 overs at the Pallekele stadium. He was helped out by Nathan McCullum, who smashed 19 in just 10 balls, and Jacob Oram, who hit 25 in nine balls, including three sixes, off a shell-shocked Pakistan attack. Before he had even opened his account, Taylor received a huge let-off when an edge flew between wicket-keeper and first slip, and the same over ”keeper Kamran Akmal put down a straightforward chance behind the stumps when he was on eight. “I had a bit of luck early on which I put down to my birthday but towards the end there I hit a few boundaries which was pretty sweet,” said Taylor. He said it had been tough going early on. “They”re very good exponents of reverse swing. I played and missed a lot but hopefully we can learn from the way they bowled and keep them to a minimum.” Towards the end of his innings Taylor signalled for a new bat and he revealed the one he had been using had suffered damage before the match. “I cracked it in the nets a couple of days ago. It seemed to go OK today but hopefully the new one can be just as good,” he said. Taylor said New Zealand’’s approach had been to establish themselves before launching a blitz at the end of their innings. “One of our strengths is the power we have down the bottom and it showed today with the way Nathan McCullum batted and Jake (Oram). We had a bit of impetus to go into it so it was really good.” “I think it’’s probably a par total from where we were but hopefully we can get some early wickets and you never know,” he added.
Written on March 8, 2011 | Posted in
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DELHI: Kenya captain Jimmy Kamande has won the toss and elected to bat against Canada in their World Cup Group A match here at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground on Monday. The pitch was supposed to aid the spinners and get lower and slower as the match progressed. This is why Canada have included two spinners in their team in left-arm spinner Parth Desai and leg spinner Balaji Rao. Teams: Kenya: Maurice Ouma, Seren Waters, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Tanmay Mishra, Jimmy Kamande (captain), Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, James Ngoche. Canada – Rizwan Cheema, Ruvindu Gunasekara, Zubin Surkari, Ashish Bagai (captain), Jimmy Hansra, Tyson Gordon, John Davison, Harvir Baidwan, Parth Desai, Henry Osinde, Balaji Rao. Both teams know that it will be their best chance to post a win in the World Cup. The whipping boys, who have each lost all three of their matches so far, will also hope that they will be able to breach the 150-run mark for the first time in this tournament. While Kenya have been bundled out for scores of 69, 112 and 142 — amassing just 323 runs in their three outings – Canada have fared little better. The North Americans have managed 122, 123 and 138 in their matches against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Pakistan, respectively.
Written on March 7, 2011 | Posted in
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CHENNAI: England defeated South Africa by six runs in a sensational match in the World Cup Group B here at the Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. South Africa, who were heading the Group B points table with four points from two straight wins, have now gone down to second position while England went up to lead the table with five points from four matches. South Africa, set a seemingly modest 172 for victory, were bowled out for 165 as England, who only days earlier had been beaten by minnows Ireland, won with 14 balls to spare. South Africa, set just 172 for victory, were bowled out for 165 as England, who only days earlier had been humbled by Ireland, won with 14 balls to spare. Paceman Stuart Broad finished with four for 15 in 6.4 overs, ending the contest when he had Morne Morkel caught behind. The Proteas lost four wickets for three runs to be 127 for seven having been in control at 75 for one as once again Graeme Smith’’s men appeared to choke on the big occasion. Earlier, South Africa left-arm spinner Robin Peterson took three for 22, including two wickets in the first over of the match to dismiss England openers Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen. Ravi Bopara, recalled in place of the dropped Paul Collingwood, was named man-of-the-match after top-scoring with 60 in England’’s 171. With 10 overs left, South Africa only needed 30 to win with three wickets remaining. The eighth-wicket pair of Dale Steyn and Morne van Wyk got the target down to 12 before van Wyk (13) bottom-edged a cut off Tim Bresnan. The Proteas then needed eight off three overs but Broad had Steyn lbw for 20 before removing Morkel. From 124-3, South Africa lost three wickets with no addition to the total. AB de Villiers (25) was bowled by a James Anderson delivery that just clipped the top of the stumps and then Faf du Plessis (17) was needlesly run out before JP Duminy was bowled by Anderson for nought. Peterson fell cheaply when wicketkeeper Matt Prior caught him off left-arm spinner Michael Yardy for three. Smith (22) and Hashim Amla (42) had enjoyed an opening stand of 63. Off-spinner Graeme Swann had Smith caught behind after a lengthy review suggested the ball had brushed the left-handed opener’’s glove before Amla chopped on to Broad. Broad gave England renewed hope when he had Jacques Kallis edging to Prior for 15, the batsman taking the fielder’’s word the ball had carried rather than requesting a review.
Written on March 6, 2011 | Posted in
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When Ireland turned out for the national anthems before the start of the match, what played over the Chinnaswamy speakers was not actually a ‘national anthem’ and what represented them was not the flag of a nation. It couldn’t. Ireland’s cricket extends beyond the political boundaries of ‘country’. It includes a larger, deeper Irish cultural identity, the team including cricketers both from the Republic of Ireland, as well as Northern Ireland, which belongs to the United Kingdom. Players within the team called Ireland share two flags and two anthems. The…
Written on March 6, 2011 | Posted in
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