ICC Include Associate Nations in 2015 World Cup

Relenting after severe criticism, the International CricketCouncil to include four associate nations in the 2015 World Cup which will make the marquee event a 14-team tournament.
Associate nations such as Ireland and Netherlands not be dumped out of 2015 World Cup as the tournament will comprise 14 teams, a change from the original ten-team format.
Four associate teams will line up alongside ten full members in Australia and New Zealand, just like it was during the 2011 World Cup. The decision to reinstate the associates, which was taken on the third day of the ICC's annual conference in Hong Kong, is a reversal of the ICC's heavily-criticised move to restrict the 2015 tournament to the full members.
The ICC in April had decided to restrict the 2015 World Cup to top ten nations only, much to the dismay the associate nations who strongly protested the decision.
The decision to put a cap on the teams had come due to criticism of the tournament's lengthy format.
The CEC stopped short of putting a seal on the number of teams for the tournament but the decision raised hopes of teams like Netherlands, Ireland, Canada and Kenya to feature in the 2015 edition of the event to be held in Australia and New Zealand.
ICC President Sharad Pawar took up the cause of the minnows by asking its board to reconsider the decision.
Among other recommendations was an unspecified qualification process for the 2015 ICC World Cup, giving hope to minnow nations such as Ireland and Netherlands.
The suggestions will come into effect from October 1 if approved by the Executive Board.

Malinga Hat-trick Helps Sri Lanka Maul Kenya

Malinga Hat-trick Helps Sri Lanka Maul Kenya

Colombo: Lasith Malinga recorded his second World Cuphat-trick and a career-best 6/38 to spark Sri Lanka's crushing nine-wicket win over Kenya on Tuesday.

The 27-year sling-action bowler, who missed Sri Lanka's opening two matches due to a back strain, trapped Tanmay Mishra (nought) lbw with the last ball of his seventh over.

At the start of his next, he bowled Peter Ongondo and Shem Ngoche in successive balls to complete his hat-trick, finishing the innings at 142 in 43.4 overs, by bowling Elijah Otieno (0) to complete a four-wicket burst off six balls.

Sri Lanka polished off the runs in just 18.4 overs with Tillakaratne Dilshan (44) and Upul Tharanga (67 not out) giving the co-hosts a flying start with a first-wicket stand of 72 by the ninth over.

Even after Dilshan's 30-ball knock, which was spiced with eight boundaries, skipper Kumar Sangakkara (27 not out) and Tharanga polished off the runs with more than 31 overs to spare, completing another miserable day for Kenya.

Tharanga hit 12 boundaries during his rampaging 59-ball knock, his fifth World Cup half-century.

The win put Sri Lanka back on track in Group A after losing to Pakistan by a narrow 11-run margin on Saturday.

The 1996 champions, who won their first match against Canada by 210 runs, now have four points from three games. They next play defending champions Australia on Saturday.

It was all Malinga in the afternoon after Kenya, who chose to bat, were on track for a near-200 total but lost their last eight wickets for a mere 40 runs with Malinga the destroyer-in-chief.

Malinga's previous best of 5/34 was recorded against Pakistan at Dambulla last year.

His hat-trick is the seventh in all World Cup matches and came just a day after West Indian Kemar Roach took three-in-three against the Netherlands in New Delhi.

But the curly-haired Malinga is the only man to have two hat-tricks in World Cup history, his first coming against South Africa at Guyana in the 2007.

Kenya, shot out for 69 against New Zealand and 112 against Pakistan, started disastrously with Nuwan Kulasekara dismissing opener Morris Ouma (one) in the second over before Malinga had Seren Waters (three) lbw in the next.

Brothers Collins Obuya (52) and David Obuya (51) steadied the innings during their snail-paced, 94-run partnership which came off 178 balls before Malinga broke the family association, by bowling Collins Obuya.

Collins Obuya, whose five wickets helped Kenya upset Sri Lanka at the 2003 World Cup, hit four boundaries during his sedate 100-ball knock. His elder brother hit three fours during his 106-ball innings.

With Malinga firing all cylinders, four of the last seven batsmen failed to score. 

Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday reached another milestone as he became the highest century-maker in World Cup history by scoring his fifth hundred in the prestigious event

Bangalore: Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday reached another milestone as he became the highest century-maker in World Cup history by scoring his fifth hundred in the prestigious event.

The 37-year-old Tendulkar reached the landmark during the group B clash against England when he glanced burly paceman Tim Bresnan for a boundary towards the fine leg region in the first ball of the 35th over. It was his 47th ODI century and his 98th overall.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, current Australia captain Ricky Ponting and his former teammate Mark Waugh have all scored four World Cup hundreds.

With Ganguly and Waugh retired, it is only Ponting who has a chance to match or surpass Tendulkar.

Tendulkar scored 120 runs from 115 balls and the knock was adorned with five sixes and 10 fours.

Tendulkar, playing his sixth World Cup, also holds the records for most runs and most half-centuries in the flagship event of the ICC.

He has accumulated 1944 runs in 38 matches and has scored 13 fifties so far, followed by Ponting with 1577 runs in 41 matches.

Ganguly is the only other Indian who has managed to score more than one thousand runs in World Cup matches.

He scored 1006 runs in 21 matches and stands 11th in the list of highest run scorers in World Cup.

During the course of his innings, Tendukar shared a magnificent 134-run partnership with for the second wicket with Gautam Gambhir, who scored 51 runs.

Johnson Seal an Easy Victory for Australia

Johnson Seal an Easy Victory for Australia

Ahmedabad: Mitchell Johnson took 4 wickets as Australia opened their World Cup title defence with a 91-run victory over Zimbabwe at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Australia compiled an under-par 262 for 6 from their 50 overs at Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, led by contributions from Shane Watson (79 from 92 balls) and Michael Clarke (58 not out), before dismissing Zimbabwe for 171 in the 47th over.

The bowling attack was led by pace spearheads Mitchell Johnson (4-19) and Shaun Tait (2-34), while spinner Jason Krezja returned a handy 2-28 from eight overs.

Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting had no hesitation electing to bat after winning the toss, but pre-match expectations of a 300-plus total dissipated following a watchful opening partnership between Watson and Brad Haddin.

The pair worked their way to 0-61 at less than four runs an over before Haddin (29 from 66 balls) was trapped in front by off-spinner Prosper Utseya in the 19th over.

Watson upped the tempo with Ponting on deck, bringing up his half-century with a crunching back-foot cover drive off Brendan Taylor and a massive hoick over the midwicket fence off Graeme Cremer.

But the opener departed just as the run-rate climbed above four an over, struck on his front pad by a flat fizzer from the Zimbabwe leggie.

Ponting followed soon after for 28, caught well short of his ground by a brilliant direct hit from the deep as the Aussies slumped to 144-3 in the 33rd over. Cameron White (22 from 36 balls) looked unsettled in his short stay at the crease before being clean-bowled by seamer Chris Mpofu.

The final five overs provided some brighter moments for the Aussies, with Michael Clarke notching his third consecutive one-day international half-century by twice dispatching Mpofu to the boundary.

David Hussey (14 from eight balls) thumped Sean Williams back over his head for six before being skittled by slow left-armer Price, and Steve Smith (11 from four balls) was just as bullish in his short stay at the crease.

Mpofu was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers with 2-58 from nine overs, while Ray Price (1-43), Utseya (1-43) and Cremer (1-41) were tidy.

In reply, Zimbabwe got off to a bright start through Chris Coventry (14), who flashed Brett Lee to the cover boundary and square drove the quick over the same fence in his next over.

But Lee would have the last laugh, running back with the flight to take a simple return catch after Coventry top-edged a pull shot into the air in the sixth over.

Johnson and Shaun Tait combined for a quick flurry of wickets to reduce Zimbabwe to 4-44, sparked by Tatenda Taibu's late glance straight to Watson at first slip off Johnson on 7.

Sean Williams (28) and skipper Elton Chigumbura (14) combined for a 44-run union that was broken when Krejza dismissed the latter. Williams soon followed at Tait's hand and Regis Chakabva (6) played the wrong line to a Krejza skidder and was caught LBW.

But with Zimbabwe up against it at 7-104 the Aussies seemed to clock off early, allowing Cremer (37) and Utseya (24) to rack up a 49-run stay before Hussey (1-12) got the breakthrough to remove Utseya.

Johnson was brought back into the attack and wrapped up the tail, sending Cremer on his way and dismissing Mpofu (2) with 22 balls to spare.

Dwayne Bravo Undergoes Scan on Injured Knee

New Delhi: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo will undergo a scan on Friday after falling and hurting his left knee while bowling in his team's World Cup opener against South Africa. 

Bravo, 27, who scored a quickfire 40 in the West Indies total of 222, fell clutching his left knee on his follow-through after bowling just 2.1 overs and was helped from the field. Kieron Pollard completed the over. 

"He will take no further part in tonight's game," said West Indies spokesman Philip Spooner. 

He will probably sleep uncomfortably tonight but tomorrow we will take him for a scan. 

Spooner said it was too soon to judge how serious the injury was.

Yuvraj Injured Ahead of England Clash

Yuvraj Injured Ahead of England Clash

Bangalore: Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh injured his hand during nets on Thursday, raising concerns about his fitness for their World Cup Group B match against England on Sunday. 

Yuvraj picked up a minor injury on his hand after being hit by a delivery from bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, a cameraman said. 

The explosive middle-order batsman was seen applying ice to the injury before he aborted the training session to seek medical attention. 

"It was a minor niggle and he should be fit to play on Sunday," an Indian spokesman said. 

Yuvraj is the latest Indian player to suffer injury woes as openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag picked up knee problems at the weekend. 

Sehwag, who skipped practice for the last two days, was back at the nets on Thursday and showed off his batting skills at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

A billion dreams are resting on the Indian team's shoulders as they seek to become the second Indian team, after 1983's 'Kapil's Devils', to bag the 50-over Worl

All About Cricket

India looking to raise the tempo

India must improve their intensity with three days to go before the World Cup gets under way, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Tuesday.

Sangakkara anchors Sri Lankan win

Captain Kumar Sangakkara tuned up for the World Cup with a gritty half-century as he guided Sri Lanka to victory over the West Indies.

Proteas crush Australia in Bangalore

South Africa registered a morale-boosting seven-wicket victory over Australia in their World Cup warm-up match in Bangalore on Tuesday.

O’Brien sees Ireland home

A nerveless 62 not out from Kevin O'Brien steered Ireland to a four-wicket victory over Zimbabwe on Tuesday in a World Cup warm-up match.

Ten Doeschate masterminds Dutch recovery

Ryan ten Doeschate hit a brilliant 98 not out to guide the Netherlands to a two-wicket upset win over Kenya in a World Cup warm-up match.

McCullum to open for Black Caps

Brendon McCullum will open the innings for New Zealand, and he's hoping to play some influential knocks during the World Cup.

Borren injury worries Netherlands

Netherlands captain Peter Borren missed another warm-up game with an abdominal injury on Tuesday, giving his team serious worries.

Authorities set sights on mosquitoes

Bangladeshi authorities have launched a campaign against mosquitoes at World Cup venues to ensure a bite-free experience for fans.

Colly moves on from ODI drubbing

England's thrashing at the hands of Australia will not affect morale for their World Cup assault, all-rounder Paul Collingwood said on Monday.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Schedule

Sl. No.	Date	Team		Place
1	19 Feb		India vs Bangladesh		Dhaka
2	20 Feb		New Zealand vs Kenya		Chennai
3	20 Feb		Sri Lanka vs Canada		Hambantota
4	21 Feb		Australia vs Zimbabwe		Ahmedabad
5	22 Feb		England vs Netherlands		Nagpur
6	23 Feb		Pakistan vs Kenya		Hambantota
7	24 Feb		South Africa vs West Indies		New Delhi
8	25 Feb		Australia vs New Zealand		Nagpur
9	25 Feb		Bangladesh vs Ireland		Dhaka
10	26 Feb		Sri Lanka vs Pakistan		Colombo
11	27 Feb		India vs England		Kolkata
12	28 Feb		West Indies vs Netherlands		New Delhi
13	28 Feb		Zimbabwe vs Canada		Nagpur
14	1 Mar		Sri Lanka vs Kenya		Colombo
15	2 Mar		England vs Ireland		Bangalore
16	3 Mar		South Africa vs Netherlands		Mohali
17	3 Mar		Pakistan vs Canada		Colombo
18	4 Mar		New Zealand vs Zimbabwe		Ahmedabad
19	4 Mar		Bangladesh vs West Indies		Dhaka
20	5 Mar		Sri Lanka vs Australia		Colombo
21	6 Mar		India vs Ireland		Bangalore
22	6 Mar		England vs South Africa		Chennai
23	7 Mar		Kenya vs Canada		New Delhi
24	8 Mar		Pakistan vs New Zealand		Pallekelle
25	9 Mar		India vs Netherlands		New Delhi
26	10 Mar		Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe		Pallekelle
27	11 Mar		West Indies vs Ireland		Mohali
28	11 Mar		Bangladesh vs England		Chittagong
29	12 Mar		India vs South Africa		Nagpur
30	13 Mar		New Zealand vs Canada		Mumbai
31	13 Mar		Australia vs Kenya		Bangalore
32	14 Mar		Pakistan vs Zimbabwe		Pallekelle
33	14 Mar		Bangladesh vs Netherlands		Chittagong
34	15 Mar		South Africa vs Ireland		Kolkata
35	16 Mar		Australia vs Canada		Bangalore
36	17 Mar		England vs West Indies		Chennai
37	18 Mar		Sri Lanka vs New Zealand		Mumbai
38	18 Mar		Ireland vs Netherlands		Kolkata
39	19 Mar		Australia vs Pakistan		Colombo
40	19 Mar		Bangladesh vs South Africa		Dhaka
41	20 Mar		Zimbabwe vs Kenya		Kolkata
42	20 Mar		India vs West Indies		Chennai
43	23 Mar		First Quarterfinal		Dhaka
44	24 Mar		Second Quarterfinal		Colombo
45	25 Mar		Third Quarterfinal		Dhaka
46	26 Mar		Fourth Quarterfinal		Ahmedabad
47	29 Mar		First Semifinal		Colombo
48	30 Mar		Second Semifinal		Mohali
49	02 Apr		FINAL		Mumbai