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


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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.

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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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