MATCH - 17 , CANADA VS PAKISTAN

It was a match between Canada and Afridi which Shahid Afridi won impressively.











Canada bowling first, inspired by the performance of Ireland the day before bowled very well.
After loosing their openers quickly Pakistan never came back on track and keep loosing wickets at regular intervals.

Although Umar Akmal and Misbah Ul Haq showed a little resistance in the middle of inning but not for a long time . It was the spin magic of Balagi Rao who send them back in pavilion.No other batsmen able to impress the spectators and the whole pakistani team got packed on a mere 184 runs.

Canada with a full chance to disturb the giants started their batting with a new opening pair, 3rd in their third match.The openers showed a little character and surely their lack of big stage performances used a lot of balls before got out on 8 and 2 runs respectively.

The middle order than start snailing with a very slow rate making required run rate very high ,out of reach . It was then came a splendid spell of captain Afridi who again took 5 wicket hall in recent world cup and established himself as top wicket taker in recent world cup and will enjoy that position for a long enough time.

He wrapped up Canadian inexperience middle order and also helped his team with a catch and run out.Top scorer from Canada was Jimmy Hansara who scored 43 runs on 75 balls including 4 fours and 1 six.


MAN OF THE MATCH - Shahid Afridi

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MATCH - 15 , IRELAND VS ENGLAND

Finally, Finally World cup spirit is touching skies due to a couple of fantastic matches in row.Excitement started with a tie between England-India match and further carried by England in their encounter with Ireland.







Match 15 of world cup was between Ireland and England.After their stunning performance against India , England was looking favorite but the Irishmen have other plans .

Batting first England openers were looking more then comfortable.They just start demoralize the bowlers from very first ball.Kevin Peterson produced his first half century as a opener. He scored 59 runs on 50 balls including 7 fours and 2 sixes.The centurion of last match,Andrew strauss only scored 34 runs on 37 balls .

England middle order continued their brilliant run as Ian Bell and Trott both held a hundred run partnership.

Trott just missed his century by a mere 8 runs as he scored 92 runs out of 92 balls including 9 fours while his companion Ian Bell put up 81 runs on 86 balls including 6 fours and 1 six.Other English batsmen played short and quick innings and England put a healthy score of 327 runs on the loss of 8 wickets.

Chasing a huge total one always need a good opening partnership but the Irish opener and captain Porterfield lost his wicket on the very first ball of the match .Ireland team then start snailing , losing regular wickets at regular intervals .

But the equations changed when Kevin O'Brien came into the field.He just start throwing his bat on every ball and start butchering the England fast bowling .Meanwhile he hit the longest six of recent world cup covering 102 meters . He than scored the Fastest century of world cup ever leaving behind the record of Mathew Hyden(Aus) who scored it in 66 balls while O'Brien took 47 balls to reach the mark.

Alex Cussac on other hand played a sensible inning of 47 runs on 52 balls hitting 3 fours and 1 six. Match was finished by John Mooney and Trent Johntson.

The victory of Ireland was the result of great determination of Ireland player to prove that they are not the minnows of this world cup and on the other hand bowling and fielding of England helped them a lot in their cause.


TO KNOW THE TOP RUN GETTER OF WORLD CUP , CLICK HERE

TO KNOW THE TOP WICKET TAKER OF WORLD CUP , CLICK HERE

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MATCH - 14 , SRILANKA VS KENYA

It was a one way traffic when sub-continent expert Srilanka were up against Kenya.Srilankan team brought back their star bowler Malinga into the team for this game.







Much was expected from Kenyan team after their shaky performance in earlier matches, but every thing went same as Sri Lanka won the match by 9 wickets.

Batting first Kenya was expecting a decent total but SriLanka have other plans in mind. Opening spell of Kulasekara and Malinga was not only economical but also added two wickets in srilankan kitty.

Obuyo brothers then produced individual half centuries. But their pace of batting was not suitable to a one day inning .Collin Obuyo took 100 balls to reach 52 mark while David Obuyo took 106 balls to reach his 51 runs.

The Kenyans were looking to get a comfortable 200+ but then came a memorable spell of Maligna. He took a ha-trick and completed his 6 wicket spell in 7.4 overs giving away only 38 runs. He bowled some splendid yorkers and looked like taking wickets on his will.

Chasing a total of 143 runs Srilankan openers start toying the Kenyan bowlers. Dilshan was only player to get out on 44 runs .Captain Sangakara and opener Upul Tharanga then lead Srilanka to a comfortable winin 18.4 overs.






FOR LEADING RUN GETTER , CLICK HERE

FOR LEADING WICKET TAKER , CLICK HERE

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MATCH - 11 , INDIA VS ENGLAND

It was so far the most exciting encounter in world cup, where host India faced England.





Although current form and home conditions made India favorite but the match ends up in a tie.
Batting first India was expected to put an immense total on board specially with no Stuart Broad in English side.

The opening partnership was good till Sehwag produced an edge to wicketkeeper on the bowling on Bresnan.Sehwag scored fast 35 runs on 26 balls including 6 fours.Then held a big partnership between Sachin and Gambhir. Both played sensibly and maturely specially against Englad spin attack including Yardy and Swann.

Sachin guided Indian inning and completed his 47 th ODI century. He scored 120 runs on 115 balls including 10 fours and 5 mighty sixes.After reaching 50 run mark, he entertained spectators by butchering England spin attack. He planted 2 consecutive sixes to Swann in his 3rd spell.

India then lost the wicket of Gambhir who scored 51 runs on 61 balls including 5 fours.
Yuvraj then came out on ground then Virat Kohli , leaving every one in surprise.But the trick worked as he scored 58 runs on 50 balls including 9 fours.

Sachin after his century tried to push the tempo and lost his wicket to Anderson during batting powerplay .When India looking comfortable for 350+ scores, it was Bresnon who spoil the party by picking 5 wickets.

Anderson and Swann were turning out to be a big disappointment for England team. India ended up with a total of 338 on board.

Chasing a big total a solid start was needed as so given by England openers.Munaf patel cause the first blow by dismiss Peterson(31 runs on 22 balls including 5 fours). Andrew Strauss was pick of England batting scored 158 runs on 145 balls including 18 fours and 1 big six.

The match was looking completely England way but then came a ripping last spell of Zaheer Khan ,which brought India back into the game . Match then went till last over in which England needed 14 runs but then a six to Munaf changed the equations and match ended up in tie.



OR TOP RUN GETTER IN WORLD CUP 2011, CLICK HERE


FOR TOP WICKET TAKERS IN WORLD CUP 2011, CLICK HERE

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Match no.8 , AUS v NZ - current updates

Match 8 of world cup and arch rivals New Zealand and Australia facing each other.

Both the teams have registered impressive victories in their last match of world cup.Australia after lossing the toss , asked for bowling first by Vittori.Opener B.Mc Cullum started the inning in his own fashion but not for a long time. He was caught by kreza on the bowling of Shawn Tait.Martin Guptil then tried to build a strong partnership with Rider. After devolping a small partnership Rider edged a Beauty by Johnson who is the pick of bowler for Australia till now.

After lossing the wicket of Rider ,the New Zealand middle order collapsed with Styris and Franklin dismissed for duck.



The lower order then show some spirit and added valuable runs. Nathen McCullum and Vittori added 52(3 fours) and 44(5 fours) respectively.But when both were looking good, Ricki Ponting bring Johnson back to attack and equations changed dramatically.

The New Zealand team put up a total of 206 runs in 45.1 overs and credit goes to Australian pace bowling attack.

Johnson picks 4 wickets in his 9.1 overs on 33 runs while Tait picks 3 wickets in his 7 overs for 35 runs.

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MATCH-7 , S.AFRICA VS WEST INDIES

Finally we have 2 giants in the field , opening their World cup account. The match 7 of world cup was between S.Africa and West Indies (2 strong contenders of cup).







West Indies batting first lost their key opening batsman(Chris Gayle) early. It was brave move by captain Smith to bring his spinner in the very first over to get rid of this left hand opener and Botha did so .

West Indies inning was then pillared by D.Bravo, who scored 73 runs on 82 balls including 8 fours and 1 six.But their couple of key players including Ramnaresh Sarwan and Pollard bring disappointment as they scored just 2 and 0 respectively.West Indies middle order did hang for a bit but no one put a big score.

Dwayne Bravo continued the good work of his brother by scoring 40 runs on 37 balls including 1 four and 3 sixes.West Indian tail batsmen did not cause any trouble for African bowlers and lost their wickets easily.

African bowling attack was lead by fast bowler Dale Stayn and Morne Morkle. Africa came out with a surprise decision of having 3 spinners in playing 11, including new off-spinner Imran Tahir.Their decision goes right with Imran and Botha picked 4 and 2 wickets each.

The new off-spiner was impressive and picked 4 crucial wickets including Chanderpaul and Sarwan.

Chasing a small total of 223 in 50 overs, South Africa lost Hashim Amla and Kallis in quick succession.Then came a big partnership between Smith and De Villiars.De Villiars scored unbeaten century, he scored 107 runs on 105 balls including 8 fours and 2 sixes.J P Duminy also played handy in later part of the inning scoring 42 runs on 53 bowls including 1 four .

MAN OF THE MATCH- A.B. DE VILLIARS


FOR TOP BOWLERS IN ONGOING WORLD CUP, CLICK HERE


FOR TOP BATSMEN IN ONGOING WORLD CUP, CLICK HERE

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MATCH-6 , PAKISTAN VS KENYA

Another day in world cup but same result . Again a big team of tournament just rolled over another minnows and fruitless journey of world cup 2011 is continuous.








Match 6 of world cup was between Pakistan and Kenya, where Pakistan register a big win of 205 runs. Pakistan after choose to bat first ,lost its opener in quick succession and seems crumbling but then came Yunis khan and Misbah ul Haq .Both these middle order batsmen then start snailing their team, using their vast experience and completed their half-centuries in quick succession.

Akmal brothers also contributed with half centuries each. Umar Akmal was top scorer with 71 runs on 52 balls, including 8 fours and 1 six.

Chasing a total of 318 in 50 overs , the game turn out to be a practice session for Pakistani bowlers. It was a fair chance for Pak bowlers to improve their bowling figures and so captain Afridi did. Afridi claimed 5 wickets and became the best bowler of world cup 2011 so far.

Collins obuya was top scorer for Kenya team with 47 runs on 58 balls including 3 fours and 4 sixes.

for more information on top wicket takers in recent world cup, click here

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MATCH 5, ENGLAND VS NETHERLANDS

We almost have 1st big upset in world cup 2011 on day 4 in a close encounter between England and Netherlands. In a exciting match between 2 European countries England clinch the match , thanks to their long, experienced batting line up.



Batting first Netherlands put a competitive total of 292 on the board. Ryan ten Doeschate was the hero of Dutch batting, as he used to be many times. He played a wonderful knock of 119 on 110 balls including 9 fours and 3 sixes before losing his wicket to Stuart Broad.

Dutch inning was also helped by the handy knocks of Tom cooper(47 on 73 bals) and captain Peter Borren(35 on 24 balls).

None of the English bowler (except Swann), was impressive on a dull and slow pitch,they were hammered by dutch batsmen all over the ground. The bad bowling performance was then joined by some very lazy fielding with Swann and Broad joining the party by dropping easy chances. Fielders have given 30-40 extra runs as admitted by Captain Andrew Strauss later.

With a competitive total on the board England start proceedings with their new opening pair of Peterson and Strauss. With the better experience and better batting line up England start snailing impressively, losing regular wickets after good partnerships.

Run getters among English team were Captain Andrew Strauss(88 for 83 balls including 9 fours) and Jonathan Trott(62 for 65).

Although the match goes till last overs but England was always looking comfortable. Collingwood and Ravi Bopara ended the match by adding 30 runs each.

Although Netherlands side lost the match but they must be prideful of what they have achieve. They simply prove that they are not minnows here and can upset any good team in the tournament.

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TOP 5 BOWLERS OF WORLD CUP 2011

	Name	Matches	Country	Total wickets	Economy
1	Shahid Afridi	2	Pakistan	9	2.77
2	Mitchell Johnson	2	Australia	8	2.81
3	KJR Roach	2	West Indies	7	4.2
4	Malinga	1	Srilanka	6	4.95
5	H.K.BENNET	2	New Zealand	6	6.58

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TOP 5 BATSMEN IN WORLD CUP 2011

	Name	Matches	Country	Total Runs	Average	Strike Rate
1	Andrew Strauss	2	England	246	123	107.89
2	Sehwag	2	India	210	105	126.5
3	Ian Bell	3	England	183	61	95.6
4	IJL Trott	3	England	170	56.66	101.5
5	Sangakara	3	Srilanka	168	84	97.5

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WORLD CUP - DAY 2, NEW ZEALAND VS KENYA

Kenya had promised a lot before match and so was expected from them, but their total of mere 69 become one of the lowest in world cup history.






Batting first Kenya has an opening partnership of 15 runs but after they lose their 1st wicket the other batsmen start to follow quickly.The fast bowling attach includes Tim southy and Oram done an impressive job to hold the Kenyan batsmen followed by Bennett who took 4 wickets for 16 runs (carrier best). Tim southy and Oram picked 3 wickets each.

Chasing the small target of 70 runs , New Zealand openers took only 8 over to register their 1st win.

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DHONI DECLARED INDIAN PLAYING 11 AGAINST BANGLADESH

Unofficially though but Indian skipper M.S.Dhoni has declared his playing 11 for the first match against Bangladesh.Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag
as expected will open the inning.

Gautam Gambhir will be the third batsman to come and the most wanted 4th slot is grabbed by Virat Kohli by his splendid knocks in past few matches. M.S.Dhoni, Yuvraj singh and Yusuf Pathan will be the other batsmen in playing 11.

The bowling department will have Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh for sure the other two bowling spots Dhoni has left with many options, which will be a headache for him.

The biggest surprise is the survival of Yuvraj Singh who is not among the run getter for last few months.Dhoni has given him a crucial and big chance, how to become an interpreter what Yuvraj need to do is a couple of 50's and wickets to retain the faith of his skipper.

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OPENING CEREMONY OF CRICKET WORLD CUP 2011

The stage is ready to welcome the world for cricketing extravaganza . The opening ceremony will take place tonight at Dhaka, proud capital of Bangladesh.



Bangladesh shares in the world cup were increased after Pakistan lost its shares of matches in world cup due to security concerns(After attack on Sri lankan players).

As world's richest organizations are co-hosting this event so every one must aspect something big.World renowned rock star Bryan Adams and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy(makers of official world cup song) will be the main attraction along with many dance and laser shows.

This time ICC is not taking any risk as it was in last sub continent world cup when the opening ceremony took place at Eden garden which damaged the pitch partially.

The world cup campaign will start after 2 days when co hosts India and Bangladesh will face each other at the Sher-e-Bangla National cricket stadium.

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MOST AWAITING INCOUNTERS IN UPCOMING CRICKET WORLD CUP

A lot of arch rivals will be head to head during the cricket world cup 2011. But the most awaiting encounters among those will be

1. AFRIDI(PAKISTAN) VS. HARBHAJAN(INDIA)




The first one has the reputation of destroying any bowling attack in slog overs and second one is known for keeping batsmen quiet.Their encounter will be special also because both are enjoying good form in their last series with New-Zea land and South Africa respectively.
They both can bowl and bat comprehensively. This makes their chances of encounter even more.

2. CHRIS GAYLE(WEST INDIES) VS. BRETT LEE(AUSTRALIA)


Although Brett lee makes an impressive come back in the national team of Australia and picking up regular wickets since then but it will be interesting to see how he will face west indies opener in this world cup. World must not have forgot 2009 t20 world cup match between these 2 teams when Chris gayle butchered the Australian bowling attack including Brett lee.
This will be probably the last time when Brett lee can take the revenge.

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EARLY PREDICTIONS OF CRICKET WORLD CUP 2011

PREDICTED BEST POSSIBLE PLAYING 11 OF TEAM INDIA

1.VIRENDER SEHWAG(if this man is fit then no body can take his place)

2.SACHIN TENDULKAR(please don't seek any reason for it)

3.GAUTAM GAMBHIR(this left handler can play some big innings)

4...........................................(VIRAT and RAINA will exchange this place)

5.YUVRAJ(gamble)

6.M.S.DHONI(captain cool but don't aspect any batting performance )

7.YUSUF PATHAN(don't you know why!!!!)

8.HARBHAJAN SINGH(only one we can trust at this position)

9.ZAHEER KHAN(with full authority)

10.ASHISH NEHRA(don't know why!!!)

11.MUNAF PATEL(proved enough in Africa)

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JOY FOR KOLKATA AND EDEN GARDEN

ICC officials who visited the Eden garden are impressed by the speed of construction of new stands.ICC officials looking stunned praised the working speed.

They declared that although Eden garden lost its match between India and England but can comfortably host its other matches which are scheduled in march.

Eden garden has hosted some memorable matches and known for its pitch and crowd. This very pitch hosted the 1996 world cup semifinal match between host nations India and Sri lanka. Sri lanha won the match and further won the world cup.

Eden garden was slammed by ICC for unsatisfying construction during their visit on 25th January.

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PRAVEEN'S INJURED, DELIGHT FOR SREE

Indian cricket team and its hardcore fans get embarrassed just before the cricket world cup,when Indian pace bowler declared unfit for upcoming ICC world cup.

One of the in-form opening bowler of team India, Praveen kumar suffered from a tennis elbow injury during the only 20-20 cricket match with South Africa last year. BCCI have made the announcements that the injured Praveen will be replaced by SreeSanth .

Not able to hide his joy by getting this unexpected opportunity, Sreesanth told the reporters that he have performed well in south Africa and will try to continue his brilliant run.While showing his great disappointment Praveen kumar called it just a matter of time and hoping for the best in future.

India's pace attack will know be lead by Zaheer khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf patel along with Sreesanth. Every Indian cricket fan is know praying for other injured players including Sachin tendulkar and Virender sehwag.

BCCI officials are however confident with the past performances of Sreesanth but also agree that he has to control himself and put his energy on game only.

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MINNOWS CAN CAUSE BLOW IN ICC WORLD CUP 2011

Teams like Ireland, Bangladesh,kenya have done it before and well prepared to do it again. Bangladesh have recently shocked Kiwis with a 4-0 series win. According to the director of ICC'S global academy in Dubai, Rod marsh," these teams are preparing hard with better equipments and coaches".

Although these teams can't really win the world cup but have potential to reach the semi- finals of this mega event. The main advantage of not being the favorite is that you play without pressure.

Ireland can be a surprise, which also reached the super eight stage of ICC world cup. Bangladesh also have the reputation of disturbing strong contenders as they did with India in the world cup of 2007.

If we look at the performance of these teams in world cups then we cant just ignore them.

This world cup can see some unexpected results as the situations in the Sub-continent hardly help the fast bowling and pitches here always inspire spinners both these conditions favor these developing cricketing nations.

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GANGULY RETIRES FROM ALL FORMS OF CRICKET

In an interview with Headlines Today, the former skipper of Indian team announced his retirement from all sorts of competitive cricket.

According to Ganguly," I have already retired from international cricket and was playing Ranji cricket only to stay fit for IPL ". He don't see any possibility to play in IPL , Hence declared his retirement.

Ganguly said that he was offered to play the role of mentor in KKR team but the GOD OF OFF SIDE wants the big stage only. One of the best former opener of cricket denied that he brings politics into the dressing room.

If we look at his records than one thing is sure that cricket can't be the reason of his early retirement from the game as his fellow players are still earning millions in IPL.
Ganguly have know eyes on Administrative role in Indian cricket.

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MAIDEN ICC WORLD CUP OF TALENTED INDIAN OPENER

According to the talented opener of Indian cricket team , 'being favourite always increase pressure'.In an interview he said," I will take this mega event as any other cricket series to handle the pressure". Gautam gambhir playing his maiden world cup seems confident about his recovery from injury. The indian opener who cruze India to many victories as opener may asked to bat down the order in the pressence of Sachin tendulkar.

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