Buoyant Bangladesh eye WC quarter-finals

Bangladesh take on the Netherlands on Monday hoping to build on a memorable World Cup win over England that has thrown open the door to the quarter-finals. 

An unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 58 between Mohammad Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam helped the Tigers snatch an improbable win over England on Friday and resurrect their faltering campaign. 

Bangladesh had plunged to 169-8 chasing England's modest 225 when the gutsy lower-order duo turned the tables in the day-night match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chittagong. 

Bangladesh, co-hosting the World Cup for the first time with India and Sri Lanka, suddenly find themselves back in the reckoning for the second round from the unpredictable Group B. 

With four points from as many matches, the Tigers must still beat both the Dutch and powerful South Africa in their remaining league matches to cement a place in the quarter-finals. 

But a victory over the Dutch can also help Bangladesh advance if England, who have five points, lose their last match to the West Indies in Chennai on Thursday. 

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan urged his team-mates not to let the opportunity slip. 

"Beating England has opened the way for us and we must take advantage of that," Shakib said. 

"We now have a very good chance to make the quarter-finals. We must focus on our two games. We don't want to go out of the tournament early." 

Shakib admitted he sensed defeat looming when Bangladesh lost their eighth wicket, but praised both Mahmudullah and Shafiul for their fight back. 

"Frankly, it is hard to believe that we won," he said. "This was not a normal game by any means. No one gave us a chance but those two were really brilliant." 

Bangladesh bounced back to stun England in a must-win just a week after being shot out for their lowest one-day total of 58 by the West Indies in Dhaka. 

Shakib praised his team's determination to come back after heavy criticism from the local media and former players over the embarrassing loss to the West Indies. 

"I always believe in my team," he said. "We have really good guys who are honest about their work, they can work really hard, day in and day out. 

"If you have a bunch of guys like we have, we will always have the belief we can come back from any situation." 

The game on Monday against the Dutch will be played during the day, unlike the one against England where skipper Andrew Strauss complained of excessive dew under lights which hampered his bowlers. 

The Netherlands, a non-Test nation, have lost all their four matches so far and will have to lift their game to beat the Tigers in their own den. 

The Dutch extended England in their opening game, but then lost to the West Indies by 215 runs and were thrashed by South Africa by 231 runs, before bowing to India by five wickets. 

Dutch captain Peter Borren admitted his team had been inconsistent in the tournament, but looked forward to gaining their first win against either Bangladesh or Ireland. 

"We've been inconsistent," he said. "It's never easy. We don't get to play at this level very often. But we still want to get a win or two on the board."

Source: http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/38126/buoyant-bangladesh-eye-wc-quarter-finals/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CricbuzzFeed+%28Cricbuzz%3A+Cricket+Scores+and+News%29

CWG scam: CBI raids houses, offices of suspended Prasar Bharti CEO

NEW DELHI: The CBI Friday raided the offices and residences of suspended Prasar Bharati chief executive officer (CEO) B.S. Lalli and Waseem Ahmed Dehlvi of Zoom Communications here for their alleged involvement in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) broadcasting scam. 

The raids started at 8 am and were simultaneously conducted at four places, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) spokesperson Vineeta Thakur said. 

The places where the raids were conducted include Lalli's Pandara Road residence, his Mandi House office and Dehlvi's Greater Kailash-1 residence and Kalkaji office, CBI official R.K. Gaur said. 

CBI registered an FIR against Lalli on Thursday night. 

Lalli, who is facing corruption charges, was placed under suspension Dec 21, 2010. He is an IAS officer of the 1971 batch belonging to the Uttar Pradesh cadre. 

The V.K. Shunglu Committee, appointed by the government to probe allegations of corruption surrounding the Commonwealth Games in October 2010, noted that the Prasar Bharati had sanctioned highly inflated bills in connection with the broadcast of the event. 

The committee said in its first report Feb 1 that CWG contracts were awarded by public broadcaster Prasar Bharati arbitrarily "without ensuring reasonable rates and overruling suggestions".

Read more: CWG scam: CBI raids houses, offices of suspended Prasar Bharti CEO - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CWG-scam-CBI-raids-houses-offices-of-suspended-Prasar-Bharti-CEO/articleshow/7625037.cms#ixzz1FbQ7mFEw

Malinga's hat-trick help Sri Lanka beat Kenya by nine wickets

Pacer Lasith Malinga made a grand entry into the World Cup by notching up an unprecedented second hat-trick in the mega event as Sri Lanka crushed minnows Kenya by nine wickets in a group A match in Colombo on Tuesday. 

Sri Lanka bowled out Kenya for a meagre 142 with Malinga, playing his first match of the tournament, single-handedly destroying Kenya with a career-best six-wicket haul.

And replying, the hosts cruised to 146 for one in just 18.4 overs with Tillakaratne Dilshan (44), Upul Tharanga (67 unbeaten) and skipper Kumar Sangakkara (27 unbeaten) scoring freely.

Malinga also earned the distinction of becoming the first bowler to take a hat-trick in World Cup for the second time as he first achieved the feat earlier in the 2007 edition against South Africa.

It was also the second hat-trick of the ongoing World Cup in as many days after West Indies' Kemar Roach produced the first against the Netherlands in Delhi on Monday.

Obuya brothers -- Collins (52) and David (51) -- were the only batsmen from Kenya to reach the double-digit mark and it was because of their fighting 92-run third-wicket stand that the African nation could reach near the 150-run mark.

Malinga, who had not played the first two games due to a back problem, accounted for four opposition wickets, including a hat-trick, in a span of 12 balls at the R Premadasa stadium.

Kenya's lower middle-order spoilt the hardwork of Obuya brothers as they lost their last eight wickets for just 40 runs.

Opting to bat, Kenya found the Lankan pace duo of Malinga (6/38) and Nuwan Kulasekara (1/18) too hot to handle as they lost openers -- Maurice Ouma and Seren Waters -- for just eight runs.

Kulasekera struck early for the home team, trapping Ouma in the second over with a delivery that moved in after pitching. The batsman went for the review but TV umpire upheld the decision.

Malinga soon got into the act and trapped Waters in the next over with a lethal indipping yorker that hit the batsman on his toes.

Although Waters did not go for the review, he was perhaps little unlucky as TV replays later showed the ball was missing leg-stump.

Then came in the Obuya brothers, who displayed tremendous grit and determination to steady the rocking Kenyan ship. They showed exemplary patience to rescue Kenya with a 92-run partnership that came off 177 balls.

It took another lethal yorker from Malinga to separate the brothers when he cleaned up Collins but not before the right-hander notched up his maiden World Cup half-century that came off 100 balls and was studded with four boundaries.

Veteran Steve Tikolo (7) once again disappointed with the bat as Tillakaratene Dilshan pulled off a blinder at point off Angelo Mathews.

Just like his brother Collins, David too threw away his wicket after doing all the hard work and at a time when Kenya needed him the most. He was caught by Thilan Samaraweera off Muttiah Muralitharan.

Captain Jimmy Kamande did very little to his inspire his team as he was brilliantly run out by a diving Chamara Silva in the next over. And then in the last ball Malinga came up with yet another toe-wrecking yorker to end Tanmay Mishra's struggle at the crease.

Malinga then castled through the defence of Peter Ongondo and Shem Ngoche in the first two deliveries of his next over to register the second hat-trick of this tournament.

He then cleaned up the Kenyan tail with another perfect yorker which was too hot for last man Elijah Otieno.

Biggest World Cup upset: O'Brien smashes fastest WC ton as Ireland stun England by 3 wickets

BANGALORE: Kevin O'Brien struck the fastest-ever World Cup hundred as Ireland pulled off a sensational three-wicket win over England on Wednesday. 

Ireland won with five balls to spare as they finished on 329 for seven after England, who had made 327 for eight, had been cruising when they reduced non-Test playing Ireland to 111 for five. 

But a brilliant burst of power-hitting got O'Brien to three figures in just 50 balls at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

That meant he'd obliterated former Australia opener Matthew Hayden's previous fastest World Cup century record off 66 balls against South Africa at St Kitts in 2007. 

O'Brien's whirlwind innings of 113 off 63 balls, including six sixes and 13 fours, ended when he was run out by Stuart Broad's throw to wicketkeeper Matt Prior. 

Ireland's target was down to three off the last over and victory was secured when John Mooney struck a four off James Anderson. 

"I don't think it's quite sunk in," said 26-year-old O'Brien, after another famous win to follow Ireland's shock World Cup triumph over Pakistan in 2007. 

"It's probably the best innings I've ever played. I just hit the ball pretty well and got a bit of luck and things went my way. I just kept going and kept attacking. 

"When we were 111-5 I said to myself we could have just pottered around and got 220 off 50 overs for eight or nine and the game would have been pretty boring to watch. 

"But I just chanced my arm and said I was going to be as positive as I can and got a few away and didn't look back." 

It was the highest successful run chase in World Cup history beating Sri Lanka's 313 against Zimbabwe at New Plymouth in New Zealand in 1992 

"It's pretty amazing," said Ireland batsman Alex Cusack, who made 47 in a decisive sixth-wicket partnership of 162 with O'Brien. 

"I was just trying to knock it around for Kev. He's got the power. That was my job and he was playing the big shots." 

England captain Andrew Strauss said: "We thought we'd done a reasonable job with the bat and we got Ireland at five down and things were looking pretty comfortable. 

"But we weren't reckoning on an outstanding innings from Kevin O'Brien. It was pretty brutal." 

Mooney struck several superb blows of his own on his way to 33 not out to complete a fine all-round display after he had claimed four wickets for 63 runs with his medium-pacers. 

O'Brien went to fifty in 30 balls when he pulled Anderson for six. 

He then lofted Anderson for an enormous six over midwicket, with television replays estimating the ball had carried for 102 metres, the longest of the tournament. 

O'Brien did have a break on 91 when a huge skyer off Paul Collingwood was dropped by Strauss. 

Ireland burst into life during the batting powerplay, scoring 62 runs in five overs. 

It was the second-time in a matter of days the Chinnaswamy Stadium had served up a run-fest after Sunday's extraordinary tie between India and England had seen the two teams make 676 runs between them. 

Anderson, whose first overs yielded one wicket for 11 runs, finished with figures of one for 49 in 8.1 overs while Broad was pummelled for 73 runs in nine wicketless overs. 

Earlier Jonathan Trott equalled the record for the fastest 1,000 runs in one-day internationals 

Trott's 92 was the centrepiece of England's 327 for eight and when he made 64 he equalled West Indies great Vivian Richards and England team-mate Kevin Pietersen in taking just 21 innings to reach four figures in ODIs. 

Ireland's victory was all the more impressive as they lost captain William Porterfield to the first ball of their reply when he dragged on to Anderson.

Read more: Biggest World Cup upset: O'Brien smashes fastest WC ton as Ireland stun England by 3 wickets - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/cricket-world-cup-2011/news/Biggest-World-Cup-upset-OBrien-smashes-fastest-WC-ton-as-Ireland-stun-England-by-3-wickets/articleshow/7613583.cms#ixzz1FVa47HZ6

Preview: England vs Ireland, Match 15

So far in the World Cup, the ICC's stance on minnows not being a part of it from 2015 has proved ably justified. Every team that is sub-standard, has been treated as such. However, it is also a fact that since 1996, each World Cup has seen at least one minnow upset an established Test nation. 

If there is anything in that, it would suggest that in this World Cup too, an upset is waiting to happen. In the first match in Bangalore after the epic tied one, England will want to ensure that the upset that is due, happens another day. 

Team News: 

England: England will be going into the match high on confidence. Not only did they chase an imposing total under the lights in the second innings, but they did it against a side that had 40,000 people cheering their every move. They will also be boosted by the return of Stuart Broad, who missed the match against India. Broad's entry will almost certainly mean that Ajmal Shahzad - who struck the six that enabled the tie - will sit out of the final eleven. England's batting was shown to be world class, and with Andrew Strauss in exceptional form, the Pietersen-Strauss combo at the top of the order will be difficult to contain. England's only real worry is their bowling, and more specifically the bowling of spearhead James Anderson. Anderson has gone for plenty of runs in both ODIs England have played so far, and while it hasn't cost them a match yet, it nearly did against India, and surely will in the future if he doesn't get his act together. If England sort out their bowling woes, they will go from being amongst the good sides in the World Cup to being a formidable one. 

Ireland: Ireland gave Bangladesh the fright of their lives, but ultimately could not keep up and ended up losing their first tie. They will have seen how the Indian batsmen and the Netherlands batsmen handled the English bowlers and are sure to take tips from that. Ireland will go in with one major psychological advantage over England: They have nothing to lose, and England have everything to lose if the result of the match is not a big victory for England. By having no pressure, Ireland can play more freely. 

Head to Head: 

The two teams have gone head to head in 3 ODIs till now, with England winning all three. None of their meetings have come at the World Cup, though. 

Quotes: 

"Nothing dramatic has to change, we played well in the warm-up games -- we've just got to be a bit more ruthless with the bat." - Ireland captain William Porterfield. 

"We haven't played our best cricket yet and we have just tied with India, chasing 338. That has got to be a good sign." - England batsman Ian Bell.

Source:-http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37400/preview:-england-vs-ireland-match-15/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+CricbuzzFeed+(Cricbuzz:+Cricket+Scores+and+News)

ICC scrutinies Australia-New Zealand WC match

Karachi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has carried out a scrutiny of the Australia and New Zealand World Cup match played in Ahmedabad after Australian

openers, Shane Watson and Brad Haddin batted slowly in the first 10 overs.

The two openers scored just 28 in 11 overs and 53 in 15 overs in a match that Australia eventually won comfortably but the slow rate of scoring in the first two overs was scrutinized by the ICC anti-corruption and security unit.

Sources aware of developments said the ICC ACSU had carried out a quiet review of the match after questions were raised over the slow start taken by Watson and Haddin.

With the spectre of spot-fixing now looming over international cricket following the bans on three Pakistani players for spot-fixing last year on the England tour, sources said the ICC ASCU was keeping a vigilant eye on all matches in the World Cup and the slow start by the Australian openers caught their attention.

"They are taking no chances at all and all matches are under the scanner for possible indications that any spot-fixing has taken place," one source said.

Australian team coach Tim Nielsen has defended his openers saying they played slowly according to the situation.

"I thought they played well in game one. Everyone had this perception that they went slowly. But if Zimbabwe were going to be competitive against us, they needed to take early wickets with their spinners. We`re playing the way we think is the right way to play," said Nielsen after the match.

Pakistan former test captain, Rashid Latif has already expressed fears that the format of the World Cup has opened a window for bookmakers to try to corrupt players in the tournament since most of the top teams are certain to make the all-important quarter finals from the group matches stage.

In spot-fixing bookmakers take bets on particular moments and stages of a match for example how many runs would be scored by a team in five overs or after ten overs and so on or in a certain over how many runs will be scored or if it will be a maiden.

Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were hauled up after being found guilty of deliberately bowling no-balls during the fourth test against England at Lords last year.

Plenty of fuss was also raised over the India and England match after former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne correctly tweeted seven hours before the start of the match that it would be a tie.

England skipper Andrew Strauss claimed that Warne had shown he was a cricket genius with his correct prediction but others also observed that it was strange how one could predict a tie so early before a match.

Pakistan`s former captain, Moin Khan said the Warne tweet could have been just a hunch but felt it had raised questions by many people.

Pakistan`s test pacer, Sohail Tanvir said that the ICC needed to keep a close eye on all matches of the World Cup as it was a mega event and a big attraction for bookmakers in the subcontinent.

Pakistan`s former captain, Aamir Sohail ruled that if any Pakistani or Indian player had made the same tweet about having a tied match lot of hue and cry would have been raised in the western media by now.

"But since this prediction comes from a Australian player it is declared a stroke of genius," he added.

Source:-http://www.zeenews.com/

Preview: Sri Lanka vs Kenya, Match 14

Before the start of the World Cup, 2 teams from the subcontinent were termed hot favourites to lift the trophy - one was India, and the other Sri Lanka. Their opening games against Bangladesh and Canada respectively showed why. But a week later, rude wake up calls from England and Pakistan exposed weaknesses in their sides and proved that this is the most open World Cup played so far, with many teams having a chance to grab the coveted title. Both teams have a chance to get back on track as they take on relatively easier opponents in their next games. While India takes on Ireland later in the week, Sri Lanka plays Kenya in Colombo on March 1st. 

Team news 

Sri Lanka: The Lankans started their World Cup campaign in style by crushing Canada by a mammoth 210 runs in their opening game. The batting and bowling came together as they walloped the hapless minnows with an all round display. But their performance against an unpredictable Pakistani side would have brought them back to the ground. The bowling line up, without Lasith Malinga looked harmless on a flat batting pitch. The pacers lacked penetration and though the spinners - Muralitharan and Herath were economical - they were unable to pick up wickets in the middle overs. The Sri Lankan top order looks extremely strong, with Dilshan, Jayawardene and Sangakkara among the runs in the 2 games. But their long middle order will be a cause of concern. There was ample proof for this in the Pakistan game as the batsmen struggled to score runs once Jayawardene and Sangakkara departed. Arjuna Ranatunga wanted Sangakkara or Jayawardene to bat lower in the line up to strengthen their middle order. It would be interesting to see if the team management considers it. 

Kenya: It is a time when the minnows are doing their best to impress the ICC in the World Cups. Netherlands gave England a scare, and Ireland almost upset Bangladesh at home. But Kenya on the other hand are doing everything they can to justify the ICC's decision to restrict the number of teams in future World Cups. Nothing is going right for the African team. They started their campaign by getting whacked by the Kiwis in Chennai, losing the game in around 3 hours. They soon followed it up by another shoddy performance against Pakistan, and ended up losing the game by 205 runs. Their bowlers conceded 37 wides against Pakistan, while the batsmen have struggled to measure up to both pace and spin. To make things worse, there are off field controversies with differences between the coach and senior players. Kenya would be desperately hoping for a miracle to put up a decent performance against Sri Lanka at home. 

Head to Head: 

Not many in the Sri Lankan team would forget what happened in the 2003 World Cup game in Nairobi. Put in to bat, the Kenyans made a decent 210 and returned with the ball to dismiss Sri Lanka for 157, thus shocking the Lankans by 53 runs. Collins Obuya was the star for Kenya that day, picking up 5 wickets for just 24 runs in his 10 overs. Obuya is still there 8 years later, but a repeat of the 2003 game seems far from possible. Apart from this encounter, the 2 teams have met 4 other times, with the Lankans winning all of them. 

Quotes: 

"I don't mind losing to teams like New Zealand and Pakistan because they are obviously better than us but we should be competitive. We need to be seen to be fighting and scoring runs" - Cricket Kenya chief Samir Inamdar. 

"We know all about the embarrassment of losing to Kenya after that debacle in Nairobi back in 2003 and they have some useful players in their ranks" Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardena.

Source:-http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37337/preview:-sri-lanka-vs-kenya-match-14/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+CricbuzzFeed+(Cricbuzz:+Cricket+Scores+and+News)

WI vs Ned: West Indies crush Netherlands by 215 runs

West Indies beat the Netherlands by a massive 215 runs in their World Cup Group B match at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Monday. 

Chasing 331, the Dutch were bundled out for 115 in the 32nd over with Tom Cooper's unbeaten 55 being the only bright spot in their innings.

Earlier, the West Indies piled up 330/8 in their stipulated 50 overs thanks to impressive batting performance by Chirs Gayle (80) and Kieron Pollard's 27-ball 60. 

The Netherlands began to show signs of pressure early with their first wicket falling in the first over. Kemar Roach scalped Wesley Barresi on the fourth ball of the first over with Chris Gayle performing the final honours. He could not even open his account.

But that was just the beginning of the carnage that the West Indians had in mind for the Dutch players. 

Even their most experienced player Ryan ten Doeschate could not save his teammates from the destruction as wickets after wickets fell and sounds of West Indies players making merry filled the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium. Ryan fell to Sulieman Benn on 7 with an LBW written against his initials in the scoreboard.

The Netherlands' scoreboard looked like a phone number with most of their batsmen getting out on single digit scores. By the end of the 11th over The Netherlands were down to 36/5 with left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn claiming three wickets while paceman Kemar Roach two.

Soon paceman Darren Sammy too joined the party claiming the opposition captain Peter Borren in the 19th over. He fell for 10 and the Dutch team slumped to 56/6. 

In his second spells Roach proved to be even more devastating claiming fours wickets to finish with impressive figures of 8.3-0-27-6. The Dutch could only 115 on board.    

West Indies innings

West Indies opener Chirs Gayle scored 80 and Kieron Pollard hammered a 27-ball 60 as West Indies scored 330/8.  

The West Indies openers Devon Smith and Chris Gayle batted on to put 100 runs on board. But, no sooner had they reached the mark that Smith fell with Bernard Loots claiming him in the 17th over. Smith tried to cut away but the ball stayed low and a thin edge got carried to the keeper Wesley Barresi. He scored 53 off 51 balls.

Post Smith's dismissal, Gayle and Darren Bravo got on with a partnership that contribute 68 runs to the West Indies total. The two could have carried on but for an impressive bit of bowling by Pieter Seelaar. 

Seelaar pitched the ball outside off tempting Bravo, who tried to play it and eventually ended up giving a catch to Alexei Kerveeze at long on. He scored 30. West Indies were 168/2 at the stage.

But big-match player Gayle was still at the crease and he continued to score briskly, until Ryan ten Doeschate struck. In the 37th over on the very second ball of the batting Powerplay ten Doeschate got rid of Gayle on 80. A good length ball was hammered towards long off, but Kerveeze cut it short with a fine catch and West Indies lost their opener on 196/3.

Then it the turn of Kieron Pollard to go all guns blazing. His half-century came in just 23 balls clearly suggest the rampage he was. And while he was at it, the Dutch managed to remove Sarwan and then added Shivnarine Chanderpaul's name to their list of victims. Finally, the lady luck smiled on them and Pollard too fell after scoring a blazing 60 of 27 balls that included five fours and four over the fence shots.

A Mudassar Bukhari ball in the 48th over was pumped high into the air and ten Doeschate came under it to cleanly collect it at long on. But by then the damage was done as the Windies were sitting pretty on 312/7. In the end, final West Indies total turned out to be an impressive 330/8 in 50 overs.

Source:-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/131127/sports/wi-vs-ned-match-report.html