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NEWS UPDATE : Asian Cricket Third Sri Lanka-Pakistan ODI abandoned due to rain COLOMBO: The third One-day International between Sri Lanka and Pakistan was abandoned due to rain here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday. The umpires made this decision after consulting ... Australia want to master all forms of game: Clarke SYDNEY: Australia's limited-overs tour of England and Ireland represents the start of a two-year campaign to make them the top nation in all three forms of the game, captain Michael Clarke said ... Bopara glad to be back for England SOUTHAMPTON, England: Ravi Bopara is eager to make up for lost times as he tries to revive his ... South Africa name unchanged squad for England series JOHANNESBURG: South Africa have kept faith with a winning formula by naming an unchanged squad for the three-Test series in England starting next month, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on ...


Friday, March 25, 2011

Australia win toss, elect to bat against India

Updated at: 1333 PST,  Thursday, March 24, 2011
AHMEDABAD: Australia captain Ricky Ponting has won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the second quarter-finals of the tenth World Cup here at the Sardar Patel Stadium on Thursday.India made one change from the side that beat the West Indies by 80 runs in their final group match in Chennai with opener Virender Sehwag fit after recovering from an allergic reaction to a painkilling injection in his knee.
Sehwag replaced dropped all-rounder Yusuf Pathan, with Suresh Raina retaining his place.Australia, bidding for a fourth successive World Cup title and fifth in all, made one change from the side that lost to Pakistan by four wickets -- a defeat that ended their 34-match unbeaten run at the tournament dating back to 1999.Leg-spinning all-rounder Steven Smith was dropped and his place was taken by David Hussey, a batsman and handy occasional off-spinner.India's Sachin Tendulkar came into this match needing just one more century to become the first player to score a hundred international hundreds.The winners of this match will play Pakistan, who thrashed the West Indies by 10 wickets in Dhaka on Wednesday, in a semi-final in Mohali on March 30.Their last World Cup meeting was in the 2003 final when Australia beat India by 125 runs in Johannesburg, with Ponting making a match-winning 140 not out.India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (captain, wk), Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel
Australia: Brad Haddin (wk), Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke, Cameron White, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Shaun TaitUmpires: Marais Erasmus (SA) and Ian Gould (ENG), TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SL)