Kenya win toss, elect to bat against Canada

Updated at: 1339 PST,  Monday, March 07, 2011

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.

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Only honour at stake for Kenya, Canada

Updated at: 2103 PST,  Monday, March 07, 2011

NEW DELHI: Whipping boys of the tournament, Canada and Kenya will have only pride to play for when they meet in a low-key World Cup clash today.The two non-Test playing teams are languishing at the bottom of Group A without a point after having lost three games each.Their performances have added weight to the International Cricket Council's decision to chop the number of teams to 10 from 14 for the next edition.Ireland are the only associate nation who have managed to throw the form book out of the window and script an upset win, against England in Bangalore this week.Canada had a golden chance to imitate Ireland against Pakistan when they bowled their rivals out for a below-par 184 following some inspired bowling led by medium-pacer Harvir Baidwan.But the opportunity was squandered with Ashish Bagai's men folding up for 138 in 42.5 overs despite being comfortably placed at 104-3 at one point.Bagai refused to play the minnow card when explaining his team's 46-run defeat and accepted that his side had no answers to the leg-spin of Shahid Afridi, who picked a match-winning 5-23."Our batting let us down, we just played poorly during our chase," said Bagai. "It was a good toss to lose as the wicket had become better as the game progressed but Afridi took it away from us."Ireland played pretty bravely against England and that's why losing against Pakistan was more disappointing."Kenya were whacked by 10 wickets by New Zealand before being hammered by Pakistan and Sri Lanka in one-sided encounters."Our big concern is we are not batting out our 50 overs," Kenyan captain Jimmy Kamande said. "That's the one area we want to work on very, very hard because you can't win matches without batting your full quota of overs."Kamande also dismissed reports of a rift in the team ahead of the day-night clash against Canada."The whole squad I know is giving its 110 per cent. You don't need to tell anyone you need to perform against Canada."After all these tough matches against Test sides that's what we need to show, that we have learnt from them."Canada have also suffered big defeats and we know they will also come hard at us and that's what we should be prepared for." (AFP)

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Cricket WC: Yuvraj shines as India down fighting Ireland

Updated at: 2152 PST,  Sunday, March 06, 2011

BANGALORE: Yuvraj Singh put in a superb all-round display as India survived some anxious moments to post a five-wicket victory over a fighting Ireland in their World Cup match on Sunday. The part-time spinner bagged a maiden five-wicket haul to restrict Ireland to a modest 207 and then hit an unbeaten 50 to help his side achieve the target with four overs to spare in the day-night match in Bangalore. India were wobbling at 100-4 before Yuvraj and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (34) added 67 runs for the fifth wicket. Yusuf Pathan gave the finishing touches to India's second win in three matches with an attractive 24-ball 30 not out, which included two sixes and one four in one over from left-arm spinner George Dockrell. Ireland, who upset England in their last match at this venue on Wednesday, made India struggle for runs with their disciplined bowling and brilliant fielding. Paceman Trent Johnston, who became the third Irish player to figure in 50 one-day internationals, jolted India when he dismissed Virender Sehwag (five) and Gautam Gambhir (10) in his opening three overs. Johnston, who sustained an injury after falling on his follow-through, did not bowl after five overs. India looked in trouble when Sachin Tendulkar (38) was trapped lbw while attempting to sweep Dockrell and Virat Kohli (34) was run out. The pair added 63 for the third wicket. Left-arm spinner Yuvraj (5-31) earlier played a key role in restricting Ireland despite an impressive 75 from skipper William Porterfield. His victims included Kevin O'Brien (nine), who hammered the fastest century in World Cup history against England, as Ireland lost their last eight wickets for 85 runs in a dramatic collapse. Yuvraj gave the capacity crowd plenty to cheer about after left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan had rocked Ireland with two early wickets. Porterfield, dropped on nought by Pathan in the slips off Zaheer, went on to complete his fifth half-century in one-dayers before being caught in the covers off Yuvraj. He hit one six and six fours. Ireland were on course to post a challenging total following a 113-run stand for the third wicket between Porterfield and Niall O'Brien (46) before they slipped from a healthy 122-2. They suffered a crucial blow when well-set Niall O'Brien was run out after completing 1,000 runs in one-day internationals. His brother, Kevin, failed to repeat his heroics from the last match as he offered a return catch to Yuvraj. There was no hint of the slide when Porterfield and Niall O'Brien were steadying the innings after Zaheer's double strike. The Irish pair never looked in trouble, comfortably gathering runs against both pace and spin. Zaheer struck with the fourth delivery of the match when he bowled Paul Stirling for a duck before having Ed Joyce caught behind for four.(AFP)

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Yuvraj helps India restrict Ireland to 207

Updated at: 1749 PST,  Sunday, March 06, 2011

BANGALORE: Part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh bagged a maiden five-wicket haul as India dismissed Ireland for 207 in their World Cup Group B day-night match here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday despite skipper William Porterfield's half-century.The left-arm spinner's victims included Kevin O'Brien (nine), who hammered the fastest century in World Cup history in his team's upset victory over England, as Ireland lost their last eight wickets for 85 runs.Yuvraj (5-31) gave the capacity crowd plenty to cheer about after left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan had rocked Ireland with two early wickets. Zaheer finished with 3-30.Porterfield (75), dropped on nought by Yusuf Pathan in the slips off Zaheer, went on to complete an impressive half-century, his fifth in one-dayers, before being caught in the covers off Yuvraj. He hit one six and six fours.Ireland were on course to post a challenging total following a 113-run stand for the third wicket between Porterfield and Niall O'Brien (46) before they slipped from a healthy 122-2.They suffered a crucial blow when well-set Niall O'Brien was run out after completing 1,000 runs in one-day internationals. His brother, Kevin, failed to repeat his heroics from the last match as he offered a return catch to Yuvraj.There was no hint of the slide when Porterfield and Niall O'Brien were steadying the innings after Zaheer's double strike.The Irish pair never looked in trouble, comfortably gathering runs against both pace and spin. They initially relied on singles and twos before Porterfield swung leg-spinner Piyush Chawla over square-leg for a six.Zaheer earlier struck with the fourth delivery of the match when he bowled Paul Stirling for a duck before having Ed Joyce caught behind for four.Earlier, India captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni won the toss and put Ireland who set a modest target of 208 runs for the hosts.India are aiming to maintain their unbeaten run at the event after beating Bangladesh and tying with England, while Ireland are seeking their second win in three matches.India retained the team which tied the last match against England at the same ground.Ireland made one change from the side which shocked England by three wickets at the same venue on Wednesday, bringing in Andrew White in place of Gary Wilson.

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England record dramatic 6-run win against Proteas

Updated at: 1704 PST,  Sunday, March 06, 2011

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.

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Intikhab backs Pakistan selections

Updated at: 1637 PST,  Sunday, March 06, 2011

PALLEKELE: Pakistan manager Intikhab Alam Sunday brushed aside criticism from former great Imran Khan, who said team selections at the World Cup had been negative.Imran said playing with two frontline pacemen and two spinners, in addition to Mohammad Hafeez as spinning all-rounder and fast-bowling all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, was defensive.But Intikhab said Pakistan had been making the most of their resources."Everyone has the right to give his opinion, but we have not closed our eyes and ears," he said."The team management is doing its homework and is doing whatever is needed in the best interests of the team," Intikhab added ahead of Pakistan's Group A match against New Zealand in Pallekele on Tuesday.Imran's criticisms come despite three wins out of three for Pakistan, which sees them at the top of the group."I strongly believe that although Pakistan have won three matches, they are playing with one specialist bowler short and need to include a bowler in place of a batsman or an all-rounder," said Imran.Intikhab, who was coach/manager of the 1992 Pakistan World Cup-winning team that Imran captained, said the teams would face the extra challenge of playing at high altitude in the hill resort of Pallekele."This place is 2000 feet above sea level and altitude affects the breathing, for which we are working hard during training," said Intikhab, who was coach when Pakistan won the 2009 World Twenty20.He said his team were happy they had come into the tournament being jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as underdogs."It was good for us that we were not rated when we came to the tournament, it suited us. But we are trying to do our best and taking every game seriously without thinking too much on how we have played so far."Intikhab said New Zealand, who have two wins out of three matches, would be difficult opponents."It's a tough game against New Zealand. We won the series against them but here the conditions are different so we need to work very hard to keep our 100 per cent record intact." (AFP)

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Southee targets Misbah as dangerman

Updated at: 1637 PST,  Sunday, March 06, 2011

PALLEKELE: New Zealand pace spearhead Tim Southee said Sunday that in-form Pakistan batsman Misbah-ul-Haq was in his sights for the match between the Group A rivals on Tuesday.The 36-year-old Pakistan batsman was in prime form on his side's recent tour of New Zealand, making 203 runs in four innings to help Pakistan secure a series win and has continued to score runs at the World Cup.Misbah scored 65 against Kenya, 83 not out against Sri Lanka and 37 against Canada, playing a key role in his team's three wins in as many matches."He has obviously been having a great period not just against New Zealand but also in the World Cup," said Southee."Hopefully, we have learnt from the way we bowled against him in New Zealand and we can work on a couple of things to try and put an end to the form he is in, also (Shahid) Afridi and a couple of other guys who are standing up in key moments in games."Southee said his team had put the defeat against Australia earlier in the competition behind them and were focusing on Pakistan in Pallekele."It's been mixed results so far, we've had two convincing wins but obviously you can't dwell on the loss to Australia," said Southee.New Zealand, who have beaten Kenya and Zimbabwe, both by ten wickets, are on four points from three matches, fourth in the table behind Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia."We learnt from that game and moved on and we showed that in the game against Zimbabwe. It's a tournament where you can't dwell on things too much. You've got to move on and take each game as it comes," said Southee, who has seven wickets in this World Cup.The paceman said he relishes the challenge of getting into the final eleven."You're never really safe in a side where you have guys like Kyle Mills coming back and playing outstandingly and it wasn't that long ago when he was number one in the world."It's good to have that competitiveness amongst the bowlers. That's a healthy thing but I guess your spot is never cemented in the side," said Southee, who admitted learning from tours of Bangladesh and India last year."We were lucky that a majority of the side came over and we played a lot of cricket on the subcontinent and although the results didn't go our way and weren't that great I think we learnt a lot on those tours," he said. (AFP)

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India win toss, put Ireland into bat

Updated at: 1343 PST,  Sunday, March 06, 2011

BANGALORE: India captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni has won the toss and put Ireland into bat in their Group B day-night match of the World Cup here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.India are aiming to maintain their unbeaten run at the event after beating Bangladesh and tying with England, while Ireland are seeking their second win in three matches.India retained the team which tied the last match against England at the same ground Ireland made one change from the side which shocked England by three wickets at the same venue on Wednesday, bringing in Andrew White in place of Gary Wilson.Teams: India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Piyush Chawla, Munaf Patel.Ireland: William Porterfield (captain), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Andrew White.

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S Africa spin England out for 171

Updated at: 1245 PST,  Sunday, March 06, 2011

CHENNAI: England were all out for 171 against South Africa in a World Cup Group B match at the Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday After captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat first, England made a disastrous start losing three wickets for 15 runs All three wickets went to left-arm spinner Robin Peterson, two in the first over as he opened the South African bowling.However, Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir was the most successful bowler who grabbed four wickets for 38.

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Struggling England fight for World Cup future

Updated at: 1204 PST,  Sunday, March 06, 2011

NEW DELHI: With their World Cup hopes hanging in the balance England made a disastrous start against South Africa Sunday as India geared up for their Ireland clash desperate to avoid another giant-  killing.
In a game they desperately need to win in their bid to qualify from Group B, England slumped to 15 for three against the Proteas in Chennai, losing skipper Andrew Strauss and key batsmen Kevin Pietersen and Ian  Bell.
England won the toss and chose to bat at the Chidambaram Stadium but soon found themselves in deep trouble as slow left-armer Robin Peterson took all three wickets to fall.Strauss's team have an impressive recent record against South Africa in ODIs but are struggling in fourth place in Group B on just three points after a win against the Netherlands, a tie against co-hosts India and a shock defeat to Ireland.Strauss said he hoped in-form South Africa, who top the group with four points after wins over West Indies and the Netherlands, would take his team lightly following their defeat by minnows Ireland."The great thing about this tournament is you have a chance to get back on the bike straight away," said Strauss."It's something as a side we've been very good at in the past -- bouncing back when we've had a poor performance. Hopefully, South Africa will treat us more lightly, given we've lost to Ireland."

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Losing another point doesn’t matter, insists Sangakkara

Updated at: 1047 PST,  Sunday, March 06, 2011

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara insisted that the loss of another point in Saturday's washout against Australia will not damage their World Cup dream.Sri Lanka had already been beaten by Pakistan before facing the defending champions and now have five points from four games, the same tally as Australia who have played a game less.Pakistan, with a perfect six points from three matches, lead the way in Group A from where the top four teams qualify for the quarter-finals."One point is better than no point," said Sangakkara after his team won the toss and had reached 146-3 in 32.5 overs before rain halted play at the R. Premadasa stadium on Saturday."It doesn't matter as long as you qualify (for quarters)."Sangakkara said Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions, needed to win their two remaining group games against Zimbabwe and New Zealand."If you lose a game, you lose a game; if you win, you win. That's how we look at it, so it doesn't really matter where you finish," said Sangakkara."We need to beat every single good team to get into the final and to win the World Cup, so that's where we are at the moment and the defeat against Pakistan is behind us," said Sangakkara of the narrow 11-run loss last week.Sangakkara, whose 73 not out had led his team's recovery after being 75-3, said his team was in the game when rained spoiled a potentially good match."The game was really well-poised, 18 overs to go and we were realistically looking at anything close to 250 or, maybe, even slightly above, it could have been a great game of cricket had it continued," said the Sri Lankan captain.The Australian pace duo of Brett Lee and Shaun Tait had removed Tillakaratne Dilshan (four) and Upul Tharanga (six) before Mahela Jayawardene (23) was run out.Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera (34 not out) had added 71 for the fourth wicket before the match was abandoned, leaving a sell-out 35,000 crowd disappointed."Unfortunately it was the first time it really rained during the World Cup and for all the crowd, expecting a good game, it was disappointing," said Sangakkara.Sri Lanka next play Zimbabwe at Pallekele on Thursday, before going to India to face New Zealand in Mumbai on March 18.

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