Malinga's magic could not help Sri Lanka

This was 2nd match of the Cricket World Cup 2007 Super Eight stage played between Sri Lanka and South Africa. Sri Lanka after winning the toss chose to bat first put a target of 210 for South Africa.

From the begaining the match was moving towards South Africa's way. They were at the stage only 4 runs required to win with lots of balls and 5 wickets remaining. Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis were on the creaze playing easily. Then there was magic spell from Lasith Malinga of 4 wickets in a row. First Shaun Pollock could not understand the change of speed and the leg stump was down. The swinging one to Andrew Hall just touched the bat and pops up to the cover. Jacques Kallis beat by the speed and the edge easily taken by wicket keeper. And the real beauty yorker went between Makhaya Ntini's legs and bat and to the stumps. This has risen everone heart beating before a thick edge and a four from Peterson bat lead South Africa to the victory.

Before Sri Lanka started their innings with an early wicket of Tharanga in just 3rd over of their innings. Sangakkara and Jayasuriya was looking good but failed to stay on creaze for longer from super bowling and fielding from South Africa. Sri Lanka were in big trouble when they were 98/5 in 24 overs. Then Dilshan and Arnold shown some resistance and jointly added an important 97 before Dilshan fall in 46th over. Then super spell from Langeveldt (39/5) restrict Sri Lanka to 209 when there was 3 balls left. This was the first time in this world cup from Langeveldt a 5 wickets haul.

South Africa also lost de Villiers very early at the score of just 1. Then the super knocks from Smith and the typical Jacques Kallis added 94 on the total and put South Africa on solid position. Then 2 in 2 from Murli created some hope but it was very late looking at the batting depth of South Africa and only 50 more runs needed with lots of overs remaining. Then they loose Kemp on total of 182. With Kallis still on the creaze and Pollock playing quiet sensibly move thier innings to 206/5 before the drama begain.

Scores

• Sri Lanka Innings (209/10):Tharanga 12, Jayasuriya 26, Jayawardene 12, Sangakkara 28, Silva 9, Dilshan 58, Arnold 50, Maharoof 5, Vaas 0, Malinga 0*, Muralitharan 1
• South Africa Bowling:Pollock 46/0, Ntini 26/2, Langeveldt 39/5, Hall 33/1, Kallis 24/0, Peterson 22/0, Smith 16/0
• South Africa Innings (212/9):Smith 59, de Villiers 0, Kallis 86, Gibbs 31, Boucher 0, Kemp 5, Pollock 13, Hall 0, Peterson 4*, Ntini 0, Langeveldt 1*
• Sri Lanka Bowling:Vaas 31/1, Malinga 54/4, Maharoof 41/0 , Muralitharan 34/3, Jayasuriya 34/1, Dilshan 9/0

Biggest upset day in cricket world cup history

17th March 2007 was the day of upsets in cricket world cup history. Bangladesh won over India by 5 wickets and the biggest upset produce by Ireland beating Pakistan by 3 wickets and Pakistan is now out of the tournament. India still have chance to make come back if they win rest of the 2 games by big margins.

India lost to Bangladesh

This was the 8th Match of ICC World Cup 2007 Bangladesh v India played at Port of Spain, Trinidad , on 17 March 2007. An all rounder performance from Bangladesh and very very poor batting by India lead to a comprehensive win to Bangladesh. Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to bat first. The damage continue from the begaining of an indian innings till Yuvraj Singh and Ganguly rescue the innings. Mashrafe Mortaza produced initial break through and Syed Rasel on the other end was giving superb support. Poor batting preformace from Sehwag continue and he back on just 2 runs and then india lost Uthappa, Tendulkar, Dravid and collapsed to 72/4 in 24 overs. Then slow but solid batting from Ganguly and some handsome knock from Yuvraj Singh added valuable 85. Then there was dramtic collapse, India lost 5 wickets in just 3 runs gap from 157/4 to 159/9. Then the useful inning from Munaf and Zaheer take india to some defendable total of 191. Mashrafe Mortaza played main role by 38/4 and Mohammad Rafique and Abdur Razzak took 3 wickets each.

India Batting: SC Ganguly 66, V Sehwag 2, AR Uthappa 9, SR Tendulkar 7, R Dravid 14, Yuvraj Singh 47, MS Dhoni 0, Harbhajan 0, AB Agarkar 0, Z Khan 15*, MM Patel 15

Bangladesh Bolwing: Mashrafe Mortaza 38/4,Syed Rasel 31/0,Abdur Razzak 38/3,Saqibul Hasan 44/0,Mohammad Rafique 35/3

In reply Bangladesh start was not good when they lose Shahriar Nafees early. But Tamim Iqbal started rocking Indian bowling and was the big pain for India in the start. Then 2 wickets in small interval creates some hope for India when Bangladesh were at 3-79. But Indian are failed to take advantage as they drop some important catches and then cool half centuries from Mushfiqur Rahim and Saqibul Hasan prduce an upset in this tournament. And Bangladesh claim their 2nd win cricket world cup history.

Bangladesh Batting: Tamim Iqbal 51, Shahriar Nafees 2, Mushfiqur Rahim 56*, Aftab Ahmed 8, Saqibul Hasan 53, Habibul Bashar 1, Mohammad Ashraful 8*

India Bowling: Z Khan 41/1,AB Agarkar 41/0,MM Patel 39/2,Harbhajan Singh 30/0,SR Tendulkar 8/0, Yuvraj Singh 15/0,V Sehwag 17/2

Ireland produced the biggest wrold cup upset

9th Match of ICC World Cup 2007 Ireland v Pakistan played at Jamaica , on 17 March. Ireland produced the biggest upset in World Cup cricket history. Ireland won the toss and elected to field first. Pitch was showing some early movemets. Pakistan losses Mohammad Hafeez and Younis Khan's wickets early on just 15 on the borad. Then after Mohammad Yousuf out on total of 56 they never come back in their innings as their wickets falling regulary. Most of the damage done by WB Rankin and AC Botha with wonderful support from all other bowlers and their fielding was remarkably superior as they are playing in the world cup for the first time. In the end Pakistan all out on just 132 runs the worst batting ever for Pakistan. In reply to 132 wonderful one man show form N'iall O'Brien took them to 3 wickets win. Pakistan could not magic when Ireland was 113/7 as KJ O'Brien and DT Johnston took Ireland safely to the 3 wickets win and the biggest wrold cup upset. Pakistan not only loose the match but they are now out of the tournament and this has changed the equations of the rest of the tournament.

England v New Zealand world cup 2007 Group Match

England v New Zealand 6th Match at St Lucia, on 16 March 2007

New Zealand won by 6 Wickets
Man of the Match: SB Styris, New Zealand

Score summary England innings

England 209/7	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	New Zealand Bowling
MP Vaughan	26	52	3	0	JEC Franklin	9-0-43-2
KP Pietersen	60	92	4	1	SE Bond	10-1-19-2
PD Collingwood	31	54	2	0	JDP Oram	6-0-25-1
PA Nixon	42*	41	5	0	SB Styris	7-0-25-2

Score summary New Zealand innings

New Zealand 210/4 (41 Overs)	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	England Bowling
SP Fleming	7	11	1	0	JM Anderson	8-0-39-2
SB Styris	87*	113	9	0	LE Plunkett	7-0-43-1
CD McMillan	27	34	3	0	A Flintoff	8-1-17-0
JDP Oram	63*	83	4	1	MS Panesar	10-0-47-1

West Indies v Pakistan world cup 2007 Group Match

West Indies v Pakistan at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, on 13 March 2007

West Indies won by 54 runs
Man of the Match: DR Smith,West Indies

With the help of an alrounder performance from DR Smith, 32 in 15 balls and an important 3 wickets, and 63 of MN Samuels, West indies won the first ODI of world cup 2007 tournament by 54 runs. After Pakistan won the toss and chose to field first they failed to take advantage of early wicket of Gayle. Then Sarwan took the charge and played some superb strokes with Chanderpaul seems very quite. Again there was chance for Pakistan to comeback when West indies are 77/3 in 25 overs. But then Lara and Samuels playing quite comfortably keep the score moving. In the end with the help of rocketing batting from tail enders West Indies put target of 242.

Pakistan loose their first 3 wickets just on 39 runs on the board. Imran Nazir back after hitting six on very first ball then Younis Khan and Mohammad Hafeez could not stay longer and Pakistan were 39/3. Though Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq playing quite sensibly and added 60 more but they failed to reach to the destination as Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal fall in just 17 runs gap at 116/6. Then they never come back in the game as there was no support from other end when Shoaib Malik was playing really superb innings. In the end Pakistan were allout on 187 and lose the match by 54 runs.

Score summary West Indies innings

West Indies 241/9	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Pakistan
RR Sarwan	49	65	9	0	Umar Gul	9-1-38-2
MN Samuels	63	70	5	3	Iftikhar Anjum	10-3-44-3
BC Lara	37	56	3	1	Danish Kaneria	9-2-45-1
DR Smith	32	15	3	2	Mohammad Hafeez	9-0-39-2

Score summary Pakistan innings

Pakistan 187/10	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	West Indies
Younis Khan	9	13	2	0	DB Powell	10-1-42-2
Mohammad Yousuf	37	72	1	0	CD Collymore	8.2-3-27-1
Inzamam-ul-Haq	36	65	4	0	DR Smith	10-0-36-3
Shoaib Malik	62	54	6	1	DJ Bravo	9-0-42-3

Warm up Matches 06 march 2007

India v Netherlands India won by 182 runs. With the help of 50s from Dravid and Tendulkar India put hard target of 300 after putting to bat by Netherlands. Netherlands just manage to pass 100 and collapsed at 118. Score: India 300/9(50) (Dravid 74,Tendulkar 61,RN ten Doeschate 57/5) Netherlands 118/10(38) (B Zuiderent 32, RN ten Doeschate 31, Yuvraj Singh 12/4 )

Australia v Zimbabwe Result Australia won by 106 runs. After winning the toss and selecting to bat first Australia put 290 in 50 overs. In reply Zimbabwe made only 184 and lose the game by 106 runs. Score: Australia 290/8(50) (MJ Clarke 82, SR Watson 81, SC Williams 48/2) Zimbabwe 184/7(50) (SC Williams 44, S Matsikenyeri 35,SR Clark 33/2)

Canada v Pakistan Pakistan won by 77 runs. After winning the toss Canada put Pakistan to bat first they restrict Pakistan to 273 in 48 overs. In reply Canada all out on 196 in 47th over. Score: Pakistan 273/8(48) (Inzamam-ul-Haq 59, Mohammad Hafeez 61,S Dhaniram 26/2) Canada 196/10(47) (Qaiser Ali 37,AA Mulla 31,Mohammad Hafeez 10/3)

Bangladesh v New Zealand Bangladesh won by 2 wickets. World cup 2007 Warm up upset here. New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first. But today was day for Bangladesh, New Zealand started their innings and they loose both the opening batsman on just 13 on the board. Then the damage continue further with Mortaza leading the role and they collapsed to 75/6. Then the drama turn bit towards New Zealand way when injured Oram 88 and McCullum 46 rescue their innings with comprehensive stand of 105. In the end New Zealand all out on 226 in 48th over. Bangladesh started their innings quite sensibly with openers gave them solid start. Wickets are falling on the way to get the target of 227. But Mohammad Ashraful playing nicely before was out lbw by Franklin and the game turns to an exited stage. But Mortaza now with the bat having something different in mind hit consecutive sixes to Franklin. World cup 2007 first upset end with Bangladesh winning the game by 2 wickets with 6 balls left. Score: New Zealand 226/10(48) (Oram 88, McCullum 46, Razzak 26/4, Mortaza 44/4) Bangladesh 230/8(49) (Tamim Iqbal 46, Javed Omar 45, DL Vettori 38/3)

Warm up Matches 05 march 2007

ICC cricket world cup 2007 Warm up Matches 05 march 2007. These are not counted as an official icc ODI but are held prior to forthcoming world cup 2007. Rules are also slightly changed in this series of Warm up Matches. 13 players can play in a match but only 11 can bat and 11 field at any time and any of 13 playes can bowl. Following are the statistics of Warm up Matches played on 05 march 2007.

Sri Lanka v Scotland Sri Lanka won the match by 159 runs. After winning the toss and electing to bat first Sri Lanka put total of 294/7. As usual Sanath Jayasuriya started his own style batting and put them on commanding position from the start. Later Sangakkara took on the charge and in the end they put 294 on the board. No one from Scotland can manage to stay on the crease. And they all out for 135 In 42 overs.
Score:
Sri Lanka 294/7(50) ( Jayasuriya 77/62, Sangakkara 81/87, JAR Blain 51/2)
Scotland 135/10(42) (GM Hamilton 25/51, Dilshan 8/2)

West Indies v Kenya, Jamaica West Indies won by 21 runs. West Indies win the toss and batting first put 268/6 with the help of Samuels 100 and Gayle 75. Kenya replied well but no one can put some extra efforts to take them to the West Indies total. In the end they fall short of 21 runs.
Score:
West Indies 268/6(50) (Samuels 100, Gayle 75, TM Odoyo 26/2)
Kenya 247/7(50) (CO Obuya 54*, RD Shah 41,DB Powell 23/2)

South Africa v Ireland South Africa won by 35 runs. It was drama here, after selecting to bat first top ODI rankers were struggling at 91/8 when Boucher departs at 14. Wonderful effort from AJ Hall and superb support from RJ Peterson put them on 192. Ireland loose their last 6 wickets in just 18 runs when CK Langeveldt crush their innings with 31/4. In the end South Africa mange to win the match by 35 runs.
Score:
South Africa 192/10(50) (AJ Hall 67*, RJ Peterson 29,DT Johnston 40/4)
Ireland 247/7(50) (AC Botha 40, WTS Porterfield 37, CK Langeveldt 31/4)

England v Bermuda England won by 241 runs.
Score:
England 286/8(50) (Dalrymple 76, Bell 46,DC Borden 71/3)
Bermuda 45/10(23) (J Lewis 7/3, A Flintoff 0 3/2,JM Anderson 8/2)