The semi-finalists of the 2003 World Cup and the finalists of the 1996 and 2007 World Cups are about to clash again. Ironically, all the above mentioned three matches were played at neutral venues with Australia getting the better of Sri Lanka twice in ’03 semi-finals and ’07 finals, whilst we all know the famous ’96 final where a classic Aravinda DeSilva century saw Sri Lanka lift their first and only World Cup.

These two teams have a lot of history and respect for each other, not to mention a bit of tiff that started after the chucking allegations against Murali during Lanka’s tour Down Under during the ’95-’96 season. Sri Lanka dominated the world cricket scene for almost an year after their World Cup victory. But then, it was the turn of the Aussies. The two teams did not get to play each other during the ’99 edition of the World Cup, but they played each other twice in the ’03 edition, with Australia emerging on top on both the occasions. The ’07 final, we all know the blazing knock Adam Gilchrist played, just snatching away any chances the Lankans had on winning a second World Cup.

This time, it will be different. Sri Lanka are playing at home and are just looking to prove themselves to their home crowd after their defeat to Pakistan last Saturday. Like everyone expects, it is not the spin department that Aussies will have to worry about as far as Sri Lankan bowling is concerned, but it is one man – Lasith Malinga. Malinga played his first match of the World Cup only a couple of days ago and he claimed six wickets which also included a hat-trick. But this time, he will be bowling to the Aussies and that is a completely different proposition.

As far as the Aussies are concerned, their bowling has been solid in the opening two matches with all the bowlers doing what they are supposed to do. In the batting department, Watson looks the best, while Haddin can use his long handle at any time and Michael Clarke looks solid. If there is anything to worry about for the Aussies, that will be the batting form of their skipper, Ponting and Cameron White. What Sri Lanka would have to be wary of though is that Ponting is only one innings away from regaining his old form and they better hope that one innings does not come against them.

Although the Lankans got the better of Australia in November 2010, my prediction has to be the Aussies winning comfortably given the dodgy batting of Sri Lanka except for their two veterans, Jayawardene and Sangakkara.

Teams

Australia
RT Ponting*, MJ Clarke, CJ Ferguson, BJ Haddin†, JW Hastings, DJ Hussey, MG Johnson, JJ Krejza, B Lee, TD Paine†, SPD Smith, SW Tait, SR Watson, CL White

Sri Lanka
KC Sangakkara*†, DPMD Jayawardene, TM Dilshan, CRD Fernando, HMRKB Herath, CK Kapugedera, KMDN Kulasekara, SL Malinga, AD Mathews, BAW Mendis, M Muralitharan, NLTC Perera, TT Samaraweera, LPC Silva, WU Tharanga

Click Here for Australia’s World Cup Schedule

Click Here for Sri Lanka’s World Cup Schedule

This was coming and England should have known this. The earlier two matches in this World Cup have England manged to see the day light from near depths, but they were not going to be third time lucky. They ran into a rather stubborn and rugged Irish side that were ready to rough it up to the maximum possible extent. Thanks to the fastest hundred scored in World Cup history by Kevin O Brien and a brilliant 162 runs stand for the sixth wicket between O’ Brien and Alex Cusack set the pace for Ireland after losing their captain to the first ball of their innings.

Earlier in the afternoon, England won the toss and chose to bat on a rather placid Bengaluru wicket, the one on which 776 runs were scored three days ago. England got off to a good start and were cruising towards a big total, thanks to three quick half centuries from the number 2, 3 and 4 batsmen. But, wickets started to tumble towards the end, the same problem India had in the match on Sunday and England were to be satisfied with a total of 327 runs for the loss of 8 wickets.

On any other day, a side that has scored 327 runs and defending it against an Irish side is supposed to win it. But, cricket is a funny game! England were well poised and were looking at a huge victory after Ireland lost their 5th wicket when the score was a 111. But, it was Kevin O’ Brien who played an innings of a life time to score the fastest century in the history of World Cup (100 runs of 50 balls) breaking Mathew Hayden’s 66 balls record. He was aptly supported by Alex Cusack and John Mooney in the end as Ireland won the match with 3 wickets and 5 balls to spare.
In this process, Ireland have also recorded the highest chase in a World Cup encounter.

England need to get things together before their crucial encounter against South Africa on Sunday or else anything could happen in this World Cup.

Man of the Match: Kevin O’ Brien for scoring 113 of 63 balls

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The crests shown above suggest what task Kenya would be facing today. But, remember that 2003 World Cup encounter between Kenya and Sri Lanka in Nairobi. Sri Lanka got the shock of their life when they lost to a spirited Kenyan side by 43 runs. But I do also remember that Sri Lanka v Kenya encounter in the ’96 World Cup in Kandy where Sri Lanka amassed a mammoth 398 which was powered by a brilliant Aravinda DeSilva century. The then Kenyan team was a very strong one when compared to the one today which bundled out to a not so good looking New Zealand attack. But the present Sri Lankan team is also well below par the ’96 squad which won the World Cup. Except for the three veterans, Jayawardene; Sangakkara and Murali, the rest are a lot which no opposition needs to fear about.

But as far as Kenya is concerned, Sri Lanka would have no worries. It would be a much stronger opposition like Australia that the Sri Lankans would have re-plan their strategies. But for today, they are playing Kenya and they shouldn’t be such a big worry for Sri Lanka to deal with.

If Sri Lanka want to improve on anything, it would have to be their frontline bowling along with their lower middle order batting. Chamara Silva, especially has to be assessed today, if at all he gets a chance to play today after what we managed to do against Pakistan.

And for Kenya, just go out there and give your best guys.

Sri Lanka should win this encounter comfortably.

Teams

Kenya
JK Kamande*, T Mishra, JO Ngoche, SO Ngoche, AA Obanda, CO Obuya, DO Obuya†, NN Odhiambo, TM Odoyo, PJ Ongondo, E Otieno, MA Ouma†, RR Patel, SO Tikolo, SR Waters

Sri Lanka
KC Sangakkara*†, DPMD Jayawardene, TM Dilshan, CRD Fernando, HMRKB Herath, CK Kapugedera, KMDN Kulasekara, SL Malinga, AD Mathews, BAW Mendis, M Muralitharan, NLTC Perera, TT Samaraweera, LPC Silva, WU Tharanga

Click Here for Kenya’s World Cup Schedule

Click Here for Sri Lanka’s World Cup Schedule

Zimbabwe went on to beat Canada by 175 runs at the Jamta in Nagpur. In the second round encounter for both the teams, Zimbabwe bowled Canada out for 123 runs after Zimbabwe posted a total of 298 runs on board, thanks to the efforts of Tatenda Taibu and Craig Ervine.

Earlier in the day, Zimabawe’s captain Chigumbara won the toss and elected to bat only to find his team struggling after losing both the openers cheaply and with the score still on seven. But then, the very talented Tatenda Taibu and Craig Ervine put together a wonderful stand of 181 runs. But unfortunately, none of them could carry on to reach the three figure mark as both Taibu and Ervine fell short by 2 and 15 runs each. Canada looked like they had a chance after managing to pick 4 wickets in quick succession. But the tail wagged for Zimababwe as they managed to post a score of 298 for the loss of 9 wickets.

Canada started their chase pretty poorly as they were soon reduced to 7/3 by the Zimbabwe spinners. Canada could never get back from there before they were eventually bowled out for 123 runs. For Canada, both Ray Price and Graeme Cremer picked up three wickets each while Prosper Utseya and Greg Lamb chipped in with two wickets each.

Man of the Match: Tatenda Taibu

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Back in 1999, there was this match in the World Cup that ended in a tie and broke the hearts of one team while brought absolute joy to another. But, the tied match between England and India today breaks no one’s hearts; in fact has brought the 50 over cricket back to life again. At one stage it looked like India were well on their way to scoring 350+ but had to be content with 338. When Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell were batting, England looked well en route to a famous victory. But as they say, this is a funny old game and as if someone had already written the script, the match ended in a tie.

Earlier in the afternoon, M S Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat. The first over was pretty eventful with Sehwag presenting three half chances to England of which one came of the very first ball of the innings. But the nerves calmed and Sehwag started placing the ball as India raced off to a brilliant start. After Sehwag’s dismissal, it was Tendulkar who jumped into action and made a fabulous century taking his tally of centuries to 47. Useful knocks from Gambhir, Dhoni and Yuvraj were helping India’s cause as looked set for a massive total before losing wickets in a heap only to be bowled out for 338 with one ball to spare. Irony was that the last wicket which was a runout happened when Zaheer tried to sneak a two. But, India finally did not even manage that one run as Zaheer’s bat was short of the crease on the first run. That one run was where India could have won the match, who could have predicted that? On the brighter side of things for the English bowlers, Tim Bresnan ended up taking 5 wickets for 48 runs.

England started their chase brilliantly with Strauss and Pietersen racing off to good starts. Pietersen was unlucky to rather get out to an unusual caught&bowled of Munaf Patel after scoring a brisk 31. Meanwhile Strauss was going about his business in his usual fashion and after Trott was trapped in front, England were facing a mountain at 111/2. But, Ian Bell joined his captain to put together a 170 runs stand for the third wicket before Bell for after a well made 69. The very next ball Zaheer trapped Strauss who looked rather impregnable up to then. Strauss scored 158 runs of 145 balls. Later, England started losing wickets in a hurry and it looked like India were clawing their way back in to the match. With 35 runs required of the last 3.0 overs and with no experienced bowler to bowl them, England took their chances and ended the match in a tie which should have rather relieved them after a pathetic fielding display. The same applies to India as their fielding was also well below par.

Points to note during the Match

Yuvraj was actually caught behind after making his fifty, but there was no appeal from the Englishmen. The same happened when the Indians were bowling. Strauss actually nicked the ball twice during his innings and these were taken by Dhoni, ironically there was no appeal on both the occasions.

Virender Sehwag was living dangerously with many balls taking the edges and flying to vacant area before eventually getting out.

Anderson’s poor bowling figures; 9.5-0-91-1

India’s batting collapse during the end overs.

Ian Bell’s LBW referral which was adjudged not out by the 3rd umpire though the ball was going on to hit the stumps.

India’s dismal fielding and most importantly India’s bowling limitations were exposed once again as Dhoni decided to go with only 2 frontline pacers and 2 frontline spinners who unfortunately could not create an impact on the game until the very last minute.

Man of the Match: Andrew Staruss for a brilliant 158 runs of 145 balls

Click Here for England’s World Cup Schedule

Click here for India’s World Cup Schedule

India got off to a wonderful start at the World Cup and England luckily survived a scare. No matter what and how the starts were, both teams have won their openers against two minnows. Now,the game goes to a whole different level with the favourite nation and the host, India considered to win the World Cup this year taking on the best looking English side in years. Considering Team India’s present form, the Bengaluru crowd and the turning wicket (what we got to see in the two warm-up matches), we can say India can just rollover England, a side that conceded 293 runs against the Dutch. But, this is where the English side has been springing surprises for the past 20 months. Once outdone in a series opener, the English side have been able to bounce back with all the three lions roaring at once.

On paper, there is no beating the Indian side. But they have had a week lay-off, Sachin’s got a few niggling issues, Sehwag’s been struck on the ribcage, Sreesanth uses his verbal skills more than his bowling skills and Gambhir is just back from a layoff. But still, Virat Kohli looks in immense touch, Zaheer is on track, Harbhajan is bowling well and Dhoni’s pro-capataincy is clicking. Coming to the English side, the captain looks in impeccable touch and Trott’s form looks ominous to any opposition, but KP’s form is a worry. The bowling looked fragile against Netherlands but it is only a matter of time before the Anderson and Broad find their lines and there is of course, the so called world’s best spinner Swann who can trouble any opposition on a spinning track. As far as fielding is concerned I should have to call it even stevens as both India and England were pathetic in their opening matches. Its time that fielders pull up their socks.

My prediction, though bold, is England if they can tackle a turning wicket that is being overseen by the bowling trio, Srinath, Kumble and Prasad. in a tight contest.

Teams

England
AJ Strauss*, JM Anderson, IR Bell, RS Bopara, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, PD Collingwood, KP Pietersen, MJ Prior†, A Shahzad, GP Swann, JC Tredwell, IJL Trott, LJ Wright, MH Yardy

India
MS Dhoni*†, V Sehwag, R Ashwin, PP Chawla, G Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, V Kohli, A Nehra, MM Patel, YK Pathan, SK Raina, S Sreesanth, SR Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh

Click Here for England’s World Cup Schedule

Click here for India’s World Cup Schedule

To be honest, this was expected. Sri Lanka just succumbed to a wonderful all round display by Pakistan at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. At no point in the match today did the Lankans look like they were in control. On the other hand, Pakistan who were led by a spirited Shahid Afridi on the field came fully prepared and executed their game plan perfectly. Kudos to them, for beating Sri Lanka at home is no easy task as you are not only playing against 11 players but also against 40,000 people in the stand. Barring all this, Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 11 runs.

The scorecard might look mighty close, but stats can be misleading as Sri Lanka never looked like they were in the chase. Earlier in the afternoon, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat and had a racy start to their innings by opener Mohammed Hafeez. Later, Kamran Akmal joined him at the fall of first wicket and hit a quickfire 39. After his wicket fell, Sri Lanka were looking like they would control the match, but the experience of Younus Khan was at Pakistan’s disposal who scored a brilliant 72 of 76 balls and added 108 runs for the 4th wicket along with Misbah ul Haq who also scored a brilliant 83 of 91 balls. Pakistan finally posted a score of 277 runs for the fall of 7 wickets.

Sri Lankan openers never could spark off a brilliant chase despite Dilshan trying to heave a few over the top only managing to look like a tailender than an opener. Although Sri Lanka, didn’t lose a wicket in the 1st powerplay, they only posted 42 runs on the board. Once wickets started falling, the net run rate worsened and the required rate inflated. This was also not helped by a dismal show of batting by Chamara Silva who at one point in the match could only manage 18 runs of 51 balls. His inability to hand over the strike to Sangakkara persistently just took the match away from Sri Lanka. Though Chamara Silva ended up scoring a half-century, it was a nothing innings.

In the bowling department, Afridi once again bowled brilliantly scalping 4 victims while giving away only 34 runs in 10.0 overs. Shoaib Akhtar was also brilliant with the ball and he managed 2 crucial wickets, which includes the wicket of Jayawardene as well.

Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi

Click Here for Pakistan’s World Cup Schedule

Click Here for Sri Lanka’s World Cup Schedule

After the fiasco and tension last year during Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan, the two teams will be meeting once again. But only this time, it is Pakistan touring Sri Lanka and all the fire will be at the Premadasa in Colombo. Pakistan are on a song at the moment after a successful tour of New Zealand and after the heavy loss they inflicted on Kenya in their opening match of the World Cup. But this time, it’s a completely different and a far better opposition and at home. Sri Lanka at home are as powerful as any nation can be.

Sri Lanka have had a wonderful few months with their first ever ODI series win in Australia in November 2010 a good home series against the West Indies and a wonderful opening match in the World Cup against Canada. Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have earned a net run rate of 4.21 after their respective first encounters and not much is there that separates the two teams barring the legendary Murali. If Sri Lanka has the experience of Jayawardene and Sangakkara, pakistan boasts of Younis and Afridi in their batting line up. But the mix of youth in both the sides is what would decide the match today and to be honest, Pakistan has much more exuberant individuals like Umar Akamal, Misbah ul Haq and Ahmed Shehzad as opposed to Sri Lanka’s youngsters.

Whatever, this is a fascinating contest and a Super Saturday for sure. My prediction for today – Pakistan will emerge victorious.

Teams

Pakistan
Shahid Afridi*, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal†, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Akmal†, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Younis Khan

Sri Lanka
KC Sangakkara*†, DPMD Jayawardene, TM Dilshan, CRD Fernando, HMRKB Herath, CK Kapugedera, KMDN Kulasekara, SL Malinga, AD Mathews, BAW Mendis, M Muralitharan, NLTC Perera, TT Samaraweera, LPC Silva, WU Tharanga

Click Here for Pakistan’s World Cup Schedule

Click Here for Sri Lanka’s World Cup Schedule

They were pretty deflated after their bowling display in the World Cup opener against India, but they could take heart out of their batting effort at the end of the day despite losing the game. They would have felt deflated again today after the first fifty overs only this time with their batting effort. But all that mattered came at the end of the play when they won against the Irish boys by 27 runs to the joy of the thousands in the crowd at the same venue in Mirpur where they lost to India.

Earlier this afternoon, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first. Despite a blazing start from the young Tamim Iqbal (who scored 44 from 43 balls), Bangladesh lost their way and were reduced to 86/4. At this stage Mushfiqur Rahim strung a partnership of 61 runs for the 5th wicket with Mohammd Ashraful. But, the Bangladeshis lost their course again and were eventually bowled out for 205.

Ireland must have definitely thought that they had the match in their hands after a spirited display of both bowling and fielding. But Bangladesh certainly had other plans. Though Ireland got off to a poor start, they kept chipping away at the target and were looking pretty comfortable at 151/5 after 36 overs. With just under 50 runs required from 84 balls and with 5 wickets in hand, Ireland looked like they were cruising to a well earned victory. But then started another collapse before Ireland were bowled out for 178 runs.

Bangladesh have now earned two points which can prove to be very crucial towards the business end of the group stages.

Man of the Match: Tamim Iqbal

Click Here to Check the schedule of Bangladesh’s Group Stage Matches

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For all people who were expecting to see a competitive clash, the Aussies just blatantly denied that wish. Australia won the match with seven wickets and 16 overs to spare. Earlier in the day, Ricky Ponting won the toss and put the Kiwis into bat. The Kiwis lost McCullum early but they were looking good at the drinks break with 66 runs on the board for the loss of two wickets in 13.0 overs. But right after the drinks break, Mitchell Johnson struck twice and Ponting quickly brought Shaun Tait into the attack who cashed in with another two wickets. The Kiwis were reduced to 73/6 by the 18th over. Nathan McCullum, Brendon McCullum’s older brother along with Jamie How moved the score to 121 before How fell to a skidding delivery from Steve Smith. Then walked in the New Zealand captain, Daniel Vettori who along with McCullum Put together a good partnership before New Zealand were bowled out for 206. McCullum made a good half-century while Vettori just fell short of one. In he bowling department for the Aussies, Mitchell Johnson once again chipped in with 4 wickets and Tait got 3, while Brett Lee, Steve Smith and Shane Watson got one wicket each. The good thing for Australia was that Brett Lee was superb with his lines and the rest managed to bowl superbly.

Australian openers started the chase brilliantly with Brad Haddin putting the Kiwi bowlers away all over the park. Later Watson too joined the party and both of them put together a brilliant partnership of 133 runs in 18.0 overs before Haddin perished after making 55. Shane Watson went in the same over after scoring 62. But the damage was already done by then with Aussies needing only 71 runs from 31 overs. This extends the unbeaten streak of the Aussies at the World Cup to 31. Quite remarkable.

Man of the Match: Mitchell Johnson for his figures 9.1-3-33-4

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