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.

Dhoni:"Except Ashish (Nehra), all other players are fully fit and will play to their potential."

Bangalore: England will have to contend with some explosive batting and a vociferous home crowd when it takes on World Cup favorite and co-host India in a much-awaited Group B match on Sunday.

India, which began the tournament with a comprehensive 87-run victory over Bangladesh in Dhaka, plays their first match on home soil at the Chinnaswamy Stadium with all eyes on its famed batting lineup.

The victory over fellow co-host Bangladesh, seen as revenge for a costly defeat in the last World Cup, came after emphatic wins over defending champion Australia and New Zealand in practice games.

England also won their two practice games against Canada and Pakistan before starting with an unconvincing six-wicket victory over the Netherlands.

England beat the mainly-amateur Dutch side with only eight balls to spare, after conceding 292 runs to the unfancied side.

Pace bowler Stuart Broad said on Friday the Twenty20 world champion would have to bowl and field better in future matches if it hoped perform well.

"We bowled too many short balls, especially with the new ball," said Broad. "Our fielding was also bad, but I won't say that is a worry because we are a good fielding side."

England, which lost 6-1 to Australia in their recent one-day series, is up against the likes of big-hitting batsmen Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan.

Asked what plans England had for a batsman like Sehwag, whose 175 against Bangladesh overshadowed a creditable 100 not out by Virat Kohli, Broad said the aim was to bowl spot on.

"Sehwag is an amazing batsman who has started the World Cup in spectacular fashion. We will try to bowl in areas where he is not too strong and have certain plans for other batsmen," he said.

Broad felt the Indian batsmen needed to be surprised.

"On unhelpful pitches, you have to be unpredictable. But we are not going to bowl too many bouncers, probably only as many as we would to Australia or South Africa," said Broad, who was looking forward to playing in front of a full house.

"We have played here before. It will be an electric atmosphere. We are going to get pumped up by the crowd, but will have to keep emotions in check," said Broad.

England captain Andrew Strauss top scored with 88 against the Netherlands, but it eventually took a 20-ball cameo of 30 runs by Ravi Bopara that ensured a win after some wayward bowling.

India, which rattled up 370-4 against Bangladesh, will also have to tighten its bowling.

Pace bowler Shantakumaran Sreesanth was unimpressive against Bangladesh and India is not sure whether Ashish Nehra will be able to replace him as he is still recovering from a sore back.

India also had a minor worry as Sehwag was hit on the ribs during a practice session on Friday.

He is expected to be fit, as is Yuvraj Singh, who was hit by a Sreesanth beamer during nets on Thursday.

India skipper Dhoni has not been too concerned about injuries coming into the tournament because he has several options in both batting and bowling.

"It is good for the team that so many players are fighting for places in the team," said Dhoni, who has had to keep out the dependable Suresh Raina from the playing XI.

Probables:

India: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (Capt), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla/Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel

Engalnd: Andrew Strauss (Capt), Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Michael Yardy, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

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.

Pakistan v New Zealand 1st Test at Hamilton Live Score and Highlights

The first Test match between New Zealand and Pakistan will be played from January 7, 2011 at Hamilton. This a part of the two-Test match series to be played before the teams move into the ODI mode for the World Cup. New Zealand had won the T20I series 2-1.

Watch the Pakistan v New Zealand 1st Test live from Hamilton on Neo Cricket in India. Also watch the Pakistan v New Zealand 1st Test highlights from Hamilton on the same channels after the game.

Pakistan had had an iffy year 2010 in terms of their performances in Test matches and won two and lost six of their games. What would have warmed their hearts was that under the new captain Misbah ul Haq, they managed to hold the far superior South African side to two successive draws.

New Zealand played only six games in 2010 and won one, lost three and drew two. What was particularly encouraging was the performance in India where the side managed to draw a couple of games with the really powerful Indian side before going down in the third. The Kiwis will know that while Pakistan did draw the two against South Africa, the tracks at Abu Dhabi and Dubai were difficult to bowl on and to say that the ones in New Zealand will be different would be stating the obvious.

Watch Live New Zealand v Pakistan, 1st Test, Hamilton

Pakistan v New Zealand 1st Test Timings at Hamilton:

The Pakistan v New Zealand 1st Test will start from 11.00 am local time or 2200 hours GMT.

Venue:

The Seddon Park or the Westpac Park as it was earlier known will host the game. Pakistan have played two games here, and have won and lost one. However, it has been nine years since they played one at Hamilton. Batting is a tad difficult on the first day if the bowlers get it right but over time it does become easier for the teams. The last win for New Zealand here, over a team of note was against England when Kyle Mills and Chris Martin bowled England out for 110 chasing 300.



The Teams:

Pakistan may look to keep a similar combination to the one that played in their previous Test against South Africa. With Saeed Ajmal expected to miss the game, Pakistan will go in with Abdur Rehman as their specialist spinner and three quick bowlers – Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and one of Sohail Tanvir and Tanvir Ahmed to make it to the side. If one were to go by what happened in the tour game, Sohail could well get a chance after having last played a Test three years back.

The batting had struggled in the warm-up match with only captain Misbah getting in some contribution and the top-order will need to get over the jitters. Younis Khan will be a key man given that the conditions will be difficult to bat in for the inexperienced batting line-up.

New Zealand will have the services of Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum. Both had missed the T20Is and had then played in the warm-up game. McCullum slammed a double century while Vettori bowled 23 overs for 30 runs and picked up three wickets in the game. However, it will depend on how the support staff plays that could decide the course of the game.

Jesse Ryder is back into the side after persistent injuries had made it difficult for him in India. He will bat in the middle-order while McCullum should open the innings with Tim McIntosh with Martin Guptill coming in at three. There is a good chance that Kane Williamson will also play while Reece Young will make his international debut.

Chris Martin and Tim Southee will lead the pace bowling department, while Darryl Tuffey may make it to the side as the third pacer.

Players to look out for:

Ross Taylor could be the player for New Zealand apart from McCullum but it will also be interesting to see how their pace bowlers go about their business in conditions that should be helpful. Younis Khan will hold the key for Pakistan while the return of Sohail Tanvir should be exciting.