Sri Lanka v Australia, Group A, World Cup 2011, Colombo

The last time Australia were scheduled to take on Sri Lanka in a World Cup match in Colombo was in 1996, when Australia pulled out citing security concerns leading to plenty of rancour even before the tournament started. The last time the two teams did meet in the World Cup was in the final of 2007, when a farcical ruling over bad light provided an inept end to a much-maligned tournament.

Saturday's encounter, nestled somewhere midway through the competition, will lack the drama of either of those two events, and given the utter woefulness of the smaller teams in Group A, will have only a marginal impact on the tournament, though it is being billed as a 'big game'. The four Test nations in the group are near certainties to make the quarters, so any time two of them clash in the league phase, the result is more a battle for how high in the top four they end up, which will decide how tough their quarter-final opponent will be.

One reason to look forward to the match is that in a game increasingly dominated by the bat, where 300 is no longer a safe score, two of the best bowling line-ups in the tournament will face up. On the one hand Sri Lanka have their much-trumpeted, freakish trio of Malinga, Murali and Mendis, and on the other is Australia's old-school fast-and-furious trio of Lee, Tait and Johnson.

The match is also a stage for Sri Lanka to justify their billing as one of the favourites, particularly after defeat to Pakistan. And for Australia, the game is the first big challenge to check how healthy their chances of a fourth straight title are.



Watch out for...
Tillakaratne Dilshan has the task of getting Sri Lanka bursting out of the blocks, a job he's accomplished in all three matches this tournament by sprinting to at least 40 each time. Sri Lanka will hope his stand-and-thwack-it method works against the Australian pace battery and takes him to the big score that has eluded him so far.

A few months ago, Brett Lee's international career seemed to be over after being sidelined for a year due to an elbow problem. Not only is he back, but like that other oft-injured tearaway, Shoaib Akhtar, he's showing he's lost none of his pace even in his mid-thirties. He was in cracking form in Australia's previous match, tormenting New Zealand's top order, though he didn't get the handful of wickets his spot-on bowling deserved.



Team news
Australia have had a week's rest since thumping New Zealand, so they will be no need to "manage the workload" of any of their players. They are almost certainly going to stick to the same XI.

Australia (probable): 1 Shane Watson, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 David Hussey, 6 Cameron White, 7 Steve Smith, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Jason Krezja, 10 Brett Lee, 11 Shaun Tait.

Sri Lanka have a couple of decisions to make regarding their bowling. Do they persist with Nuwan Kulasekara or bring back the pacy Thisara Perera, who also provides a big-hitting option lower down the order? Also, the second spinners slot 'remains a toss-up between Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Chamara Silva, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan


Pitch and conditions
It pelted down on Friday evening in Colombo, and there's light rain forecast for Saturday as well. If the weather stays clear, the teams will likely have to deal with a sluggish pitch, the same surface that was used for the Kenya-Sri Lanka match. Malinga's explanation of his array of toe-crushers against Kenya: "This is a slow pitch and bouncers will not work so I decided to go for yorkers." Expect more of the same.


Stats and Trivia
Australia have lost only one of the seven completed World Cup matches against Sri Lanka - the 1996 final
Ricky Ponting has the most number of World Cup catches (27), more than twice as many as any other current player. The next highest tally of a player in the tournament is Paul Collingwood (13)
Lasith Malinga has an astonishing World Cup record: 9 matches, 24 wickets at 13.41

England vs Ireland ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: Preview

Bangalore: After snatching a thrilling tie against favourites India, a rampaging England will look to mow down minnows Ireland and pocket the crucial two points when they meet in a group B match of the cricket World Cup on Wednesday.


After an unconvincing victory against Holland in their opening match, England were in sniffing distance of a memorable win over India on Sunday but the English team almost threw the chance before holding on to an astonishing tie.


Having three points from two matches, England are placed just behind India in the table with the only thing separating them being the run-rate. Andrew Strauss' men would hope to notch up a huge win tomorrow to get to the top.


England's batting has fired in both their previous encounters where they chased down 292 against Holland and scored 338 against India and skipper Strauss would want another solid performance from his batters.


However, the bowling has been a bit lacklustre as they have been leaking runs galore. James Anderson produced the worst World Cup performance by and Englishman when he gave away 91 runs in 9.5 overs, while Stuart Broad's replacement Ajmal Shahzad bled 53 in eight overs against India.


Save for Tim Bresnan, who took 5-48, none of the other bowlers, including spinners have been very successful.


Ian Bell, however, defended the bowlers and said England team are now a genuine World Cup contender.


"I think the conditions have been very hard for the bowlers. The batting team has to score heavy to defend. It was a fantastic performance by Tim (Bresnan) on a surface like this. He is in incredible form," Bell said.


"We were chasing 338 and I do not think so many teams in the past would have done that. We have got the quality in bowling and we were 100 per cent right in our fielding too.


"We can be a threat to the other teams in the World Cup if we start playing collectively as a group. As a team we can match anyone," Bell said.


Ireland, on the other hand, didn't have much to take home from their match against Bangladesh, their first match of the World Cup.


Ireland's bowlers fared better than the batsmen as they dismissed Bangladesh for 205. But the team was let down by the batsmen as they failed to chase down the total and it would take a mammoth effort if they have to salvage any hope of an upset tomorrow.


"We have to bounce back. We can't let it (defeat against Bangladesh) bother us. We have to leave the batting here and move on to Bangalore," Skipper William Porterfield said.


Interestingly, Ireland will have the services of some of the regulars of English county circuit such as Ed Joyce, who was granted special dispensation by the ICC to play for the country of his birth at the last moment.


Joyce, who was dropped by England after the side's dismal showing at the 2007 World Cup, will be joined by Somerset spinner George Dockrell tomorrow.


Bell also reckoned there are some dangerous players in the Ireland side who can spoil their party.


"We know a fair bit (about Ireland). These days a lot of those guys are respected on the county circuit. They have earned respect in international one-day cricket and there is a lot of experience in their side from county cricket.


"It's a game we're looking forward to and will have to play well in. It is not a game we can turn up and just coast. There are some dangerous players in that Ireland side," he said.

Squads (from):

England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Michael Yardy, Ajmal Shahzad, James Tredwell, Luke Wright


Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Niall O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, John Mooney, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson, Andrew White, Ed Joyce

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK) and Billy Bowden (NZL)

TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)

Match start: 1430 IST.

Zimbabwe vs Canada Online Live Score Cricket World Cup 2011

NAGPUR: Beaten comprehensively in their respective opening encounters, Elton Chigumbura's determined Zimbabweans will take on Canada in the cricket World Cup's 'Battle of the Minnows' on Monday.

While Zimbabwe bowlers managed to restrict Australia to 262 in their first match, their batsmen couldn't soak in the pressure and were all-out for 171.

Canada, on the other hand, were no match for former world champions Sri Lanka as they were walloped by 210 runs in the newly built Hambantota stadium.

Monday's Group A match will be the best chance for both teams to try and force a victory which will give them requisite confidence to fight in the month-long tournament.

With the format being very difficult for the minnows, a victory will certainly keep these teams interested in showing stomach for fight.

On paper, Zimbabweans are a superior side with players who have a lot of ODI cricket against the big teams against their names.

However, winning is a habit and certainly something that hasn't been the strength of the African nation which has seen a lot of political turmoil in the last few years.

Yet the likes of Chigumbura, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Ray Price will hope to showcase their fighting ability on the biggest stage.

Since it will be a day match, the bowlers may expect a bit of help early in the morning but the Jamtha strip is an absolute belter where batsmen will make merry once they set their eye in.

Charles Coventry, Taylor and Taibu are the three batsmen on whom Zimbabwe's hopes of a big total will rest.

A big innings would be expected from Coventry who once held the world record for the highest individual score in ODIs (194 not out) before Sachin Tendulkar surpassed him.

The Zimbabwean bowling is largely dependent on their spin trio of left-armer Ray Price, offie Prosper Utseya and leg-break bowler Graeme Cremer.

The Jamtha strip slows down as the day progresses and it might just help the slower bowlers.

Canada will be hoping that they put up a decent show which will have the big bosses of International Cricket Council sit up and take notice.

With the number of teams for the 2015 World Cup being reduced to 10, it will be a last chance for the Canadians to showcase their skills at the world stage.

The cavalier John Davison, who caught everyone's imagination with a blazing century in the 2003 edition, would like to make an impression.

So would the likes of skipper Ashish Bagai, Rizwan Cheema, Harvir Baidwan, Balaji Rao - all of whom have some Indian connection.

At 40, Davison, is the oldest player in this World Cup. Baidwan, who grabbed a couple of wickets against Sri Lanka in the last match feels that a good performance may just open the doors for him to play in Ranji Trophy (if he gets a chance he will apply for dual citizenship) and Indian Premier League.

"I have played first-class cricket in Sri Lanka with the likes of Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perrera. This is my big chance to prove my worth. Whether it's Canada or India, this is World Cup and it's a dream come true for me," said Baidwan, shifted to Canada some eight years back.

Baidwan is one of the centrally contracted players of Cricket Canada which gives him a chance to concentrate fully on his game.

Then there is leg-break bowler WD Balaji Rao who was once considered as an India prospect and even played in the Challengers Trophy. Balaji, a regular for Tamil Nadu during early 2000, will also be gearing up to give a good account of himself.

An insurance officer by profession, a good performance will definitely reduce Balaji's pain of not being able to represent India although he was considered a serious prospect at one point of time.

Teams (from):

Canada: Ashish Bagai, Rizwan Cheema, Harvir Baidwan, WD Balaji Rao, John Davison, Parth Desai, Tyson Gordon, Ravindu Gunasekara, Jimmy Hansra, Khurram Chohan, Heeral Patel, Henry Osinde, Zubin Surkari, Karl Whatham, Hamza Tariq

Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura, Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Terry Duffin, Craig Ervine, Greg Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Chris Mpofu, Tinashe Panyagara, Ray Price, Tatenda Taibu, Prosper Utseya, Brendan Taylor, Tino Mawoyo.

South Africa vs West Indies Cricket World Cup 2011 Preview

NEW DELHI is ready to welcome guests from South Africa and West Indies for the seventh match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which will be played at Delhi's historical Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Thursday, February 24. Both South Africa and West Indies, who feature in the group 'B' teams, will start their ICC Cricket World cup 2011 campaign with this match.

South Africa, one of the strongest contenders of the world's biggest cricketing event, have never won tournament. Whereas, West Indies lifted the Cricket World Cup trophy last time 32 years back in the 1979 World Cup.

In the 50 ODIs played between South Africa and West Indies, the Proteas have won 37 times and the Caribbeans tasted victory 12 times. Both the teams had met four times in the Cricket World Cup and won two times each, and interestingly, all four matches have been won by the team batting first.

South African captain Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis and Jacques Kallis can change the match any time in their favour. In the bowling department Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe can destroy any batting line-up. South Africans are equally balanced in the fielding department. In the last five matches, the Proteas have won four matches and lost one against India.

Prior to the Cricket World Cup 2011, West Indies won one warm-up match against Kenya by 61 runs and lost to Sri Lanka by four wickets in the second warm-up match. The West Indian batting mainly depends on Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul. However, Darren Bravo and Kieron Pollard are very useful players for the side.

Here is the squad of South Africa and West Indies for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011:

South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk (wk).

West Indies: Darren Sammy (Capt), Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Sulieman Benn, Nikita Miller, Andre Rusell, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kirk Edwards, Devon Thomas (wk).

New Zealand vs Kenya World Cup Match 2 at Chennai Live Score Highlights and Preview

New Zealand take on Bangladesh in the second World Cup game of the 2011 edition of the tournament. The match will be played at Chepauk in Chennai on February 20 and will be a Group A encounter.

New Zealand go into this game with a hard-fought win over Ireland in the warm-ups after having posted more than 300. Kenya had met West Indies and had them on the mat for a small period at the start of the innings before Ramnaresh Sarwan battled through to a match-winning century.

However, Kenya did defeat Afghanistan and Ireland in the two other warm-ups that had taken place before the teams got down to the sub-continent, making them a side to watch out for.

Interestingly, New Zealand is one of the top teams which has never won a World Cup before. With the kind of form that they had shown in the last 12 months leading up to the tournament, they couldn’t be farther from their dreams of doing so this year. Whitewashes in Bangladesh and India were preceded by a tri-series in Sri Lanka where they had failed to qualify for the final.

The Chennai track was in news during the warm-up game between South Africa and Zimbabwe when both captains complained about the slow nature of the track. Things may just remain the same.

New Zealand v Kenya World Cup Group A at Chennai Live Score here:

New Zealand v Kenya World Cup Group A at Chennai Timings:

The New Zealand v Kenya World Cup game will be a day match and will start from 0400 hours GMT or 0930 hours local time.

The Teams:

Kenya is a top-heavy side with a huge dependence on the pair of Steve Tikolo and Collins Obuya. In the aforementioned three warm-up games, Tikolo has scores of 126 and 15 while Obuya has made 49, 19 and 68. Only wicket-keeper Maurice Ouma got anywhere close to a half century apart from this.

Fortunately for the side, the likes of Seren Waters at the top of the innings and Tanmay Mishra in the middle order can bat and they will look to ensure that the side overcomes its collapses of the past and gets to respectable scores.

It is their pace bowling that will be asked questions with only Thomas Odoyo having any kind of experience with the new ball. Again, Tikolo could add valuable support as far as spin bowling is concerned.

New Zealand have their own woes and the problem is that it isn’t known why they are in such a rut. There are occasions when the batting doesn’t get off the ground and on others when the bowling gets carted around. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many when both, their batting and fielding gets going together.

Martin Guptill’s century against Ireland should help him gain some confidence but one gets the sense that coach John Wright’s decision to push Brendon McCullum down the order has backfired. Since then, he has been moved back to the top but is clearly short on confidence and will need some urgent runs.

Where New Zealand will struggle is their bowling attack as they will look to adjust to the spin-friendly tracks of the sub-continent.

Why watch this match?

The two sides have played only once in World Cup cricket and New Zealand had crushed the Kenyans by 141 runs – in 2007. However, more importantly, they were to meet in the 2003 edition of the tournament in Kenya but the Kiwis had refused to travel to the country because of security concerns. Kenya will look to avenge that embarrassment and the following loss this time.

Players to look out for:

James Franklin has shown enough in recent times to be termed as New Zealand’s main player. Kenya, on the other hand, will need their openers Waters and David Obuya to not lose early wickets.

Australia vs England Live Cricket Watch Now 5th ODI 30th January 2011

England and Australia are facing each other today Sunday 30th January 2011 in 5th ODI Match of One Day Series. The match is taking place in Brisbane City of Australia. Australia have won the toss and choose to bat first against England. Current Score of Australia is 165 runs for lose of 4 wickets in 36 overs.  Australia will be trying to set a total near 250 runs. Its an Important match for England because defeat in this match means defeat in the series.

Pakistan vs New Zealand, 3rd ODI, Christchurch, Preview ,Live Stream Highlights and Updates

New Zealand have taken the 1-0 lead in the 7 match series with 2nd ODI already washed away,Pakistan would be trying to get all back at Christchurch.Having being beaten brutally in the 1st ODI,Pakistan have to work alot on there batting.For kiwis Tim Southee has been in great form but others would also have to contribute to come up against unpredictable Pakistan team.

In the first ODI, Brendon McCullum became the third wicketkeeper to effect five or more dismissals, five times or more. The others are Adam Gilchrist (12) and Mark Boucher.For the kiwis there top order has been a concern for a long time,so they have decided to call by Jamie How, the Central Districts batsman who will open for New Zealand and Luke Woodcock and Kane Williamson are likely to play.

New Zealand (probable):

1 Jamie How, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Ross Taylor (capt), 4 Scott Styris, 5 Kane Williamson, 6 Brendon McCullum (wk), 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Luke Woodcock, 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Hamish Bennett.

Pakistan (probable):

1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Kamran Akmal (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Abdur Rehman/Sohail Tanvir, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Shoaib Akhtar/Wahab Riaz.

Australia vs England 3rd ODI Live Stream Highlights and Preview

Australia vs England, 3rd ODI, Live Streaming, Live Scores, Eng vs Aus
Australia won by 4 wickets (with 24 balls remaining)

England vs Australia Aus vs Eng 3rd ODI Live cricket score and streaming, Highlights video
Date: Jan 23, 2011 (03:20 GMT, 08:50 IST), Venue: Sydney

Watch Australia vs England 3rd ODI Live Stream Highlights 23 January 2011 here. Australia takes on England in the third ODI of the seven-game series at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Australia lead the series 2-0 after winning the first two matches at Melbourne and Hobart and England will look to make a comeback into the series.

England will need to ensure that they bat much better than their first two times. Even in the first game where they got to more than 290, they were in a position to get to 330 plus but failed in their endeavour. As compared to that, it was Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh who have put their hands up for Australia when it has mattered for them.

England will need to ensure that they bowl tight lines and lengths in the absence of their premier pace bowler James Anderson. With Swann out of the game as well, it will be interesting to see how the side goes about their work in the game

Australia vs England (Aus vs Eng) 2nd ODI live score streaming, highlights ,preview

The second ODI between Australia and England will be played at Hobart on January 21, 2011. It will be a day night game and see Australia go into the game with a 1-0 lead. Click for live scores.

Australia had won the first game at the MCG, thanks to a swashbuckling 161 by Shane Watson, but their worry will be the batting of the rest of the batsmen. Click to watch live streaming.

To add to that, Michael Hussey will now miss the game given his injury and that will mean that the pressure will be on the likes of Cameron White and captain Michael Clarke.



England, on the other hand, will also miss out Graeme Swann due to another injury while getting in Matt Prior in place of the original wicket-keeper Steve Davies.

This will mean that they have a better chance of getting through to the next match with the score reading 1-1.

Australia vs England 2nd ODI Live Stream Highlights-Preview January 21 2011

Watch Australia vs England 2nd ODI Live Stream Highlights 21 January 2011 on here. The second ODI between Australia and England will be played on January 21 at Hobart in Tasmania. Australia lead the series 1-0 after Shane Watson led them to a big win over England, chasing down 290 for a win.

England will look to bounce back from the loss with a batting performance that matched the first ODI but with a much better bowling performance. One got the feeling that they missed James Anderson and that played a huge part in the loss.

Australia were lucky in more than one aspect – they actually managed to restrict the opposition to 290 when the total of 325 was very much possible. England will need to overcome their issue of getting the starts and not converting them into something substantial from it.

One can expect the Aussies to go in with the same line-up after winning two successive internationals for the first time in any months. England may look at their bowling a tad more closely. Australia vs England 2nd ODI Match Highlights and Score on 21st January 2011 will be placed below.

Australia squad: CL White, TD Paine, AJ Finch, DJ Hussey, MG Johnson, B Lee, SNJ O’Keefe, JL Pattinson, SPD Smith, SW Tait, DA Warner, SR Watson

England squad: PD Collingwood, IR Bell, TT Bresnan, SM Davies, ST Finn, MJ Lumb, EJG Morgan, KP Pietersen, A Shahzad, GP Swann, JC Tredwell, CT Tremlett, IJL Trott, CR Woakes, LJ Wright, MH Yardy
Australia vs England 2nd ODI Live stream online

Watch Australia vs England 2nd ODI Jan Live Online here. Live Streaming Australia vs England 2nd ODI Highlights will be placed here minutes before the match starts.

Australia vs England - second T20 Preview -Highlights

The first match of the series was a nail biting thriller which England managed to win off the last ball. The defeat added to Australia's huge bag of disappointments. Much as they have throughout the tour, both teams go into the match - the second and final T20 - in contrasting form.

Australia have tried everything possible to get that elusive victory: Cameron White was named captain, Tim Paine was made his deputy, some new faces were introduced and veteran Brett Lee was brought back. However, neither the changes in personnel, nor the changes in leadership and format led to a change in Australia's fortunes. It almost seems as if the Aussies have forgotten how to win. The first T20 game depicted Australia's recent woes in more ways than one: Shane Watson continued his good form, the middle order collapsed, the bowlers leaked runs and Australia ended up losing the game. The loss was also their 5th consecutive defeat in the shortest format - they have lost all T20 matches since their famous World Cup semi final victory against Pakistan.

Live Streaming - Australia V England Second T20 Preview - Tru... - Click here for this week’s top video clips

While everything seems to go wrong for the home team, the visitors are speeding away in the opposite direction. A comprehensive 3-1 win in the Ashes was followed by a record 8th consecutive victory in the T20 format. The bowlers, despite an initial onslaught by Shane Watson, did well to restrict Australia to a below par 157. Most of the top order batsmen, including new opener Ian Bell, chipped in with useful contributions to help England clinch the game. Paul Collingwood, who was out of sorts in the Tests, looked a completely different man as the leader of the team. Players like Ajmal Shahzad, Michael Yardy and Eoin Morgan, who didn't play a game in the Test series, showed no signs of rustiness and acclimatised to the conditions right away. But the team is not without problems. Steve Davies and Luke Wright lasted only 2 balls each. None of their batsmen could capitalize on good starts and it was left to the tail to see their side through.

Though the entire cricketing world is focused on 50 over games ahead of the world cup, both teams would look to gain the much needed winning momentum going into the ODI series. While everything seems dark for the Aussies, history suggests that it would be foolish to write them off. This team certainly has the potential to turn things around and prove history right. Australia has a formidable England side to battle. England on the other hand have two oppositions - Australia and complacence.