Hosts edge out arch-rivals Pakistan in tense battle An atypical Sachin Tendulkar, a menacing Munaf Patel and a wily spell of spin bowling from Harbhajan Singh propelled India into the final of the 2011 World Cup, with a hard fought 29 win over arch-rivals Pakistan at Mohali yesterday. India will now face Sri Lanka in ... Read more
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SL set all-Asia final
The Colombo sky was ablaze with fireworks last night as Sri Lanka fought their way over murky waters and into the World Cup final, giving their legend Muttiah Muralidaran a fitting farewell from international cricket. The five-wicket win was not an easy ride, thanks to a late rally by New Zealand at the flashbulb-laden R ... Read more
More than a semi
The World Cup 2011 will reach its zenith as the two fiercest rivals of world cricket, India and Pakistan, square off against each other in a semifinal match in Mohali today. The excitement has already reached fever pitch, with Indian police leaving no stone unturned to ensure peaceful progress of a match where both the ... Read more
Kiwis clinch semi-final place
New Zealand sealed their place in the March 29 semi-finals in Colombo, Sri Lanka, after stunning South Africa by 49 runs in the third quarter-final match at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka on Friday. The protease were bowled out for 172 runs in 43.2 overs as a gritty Jacob Oram captured four wickets followed ... Read more
Champs gone
India set up semis with Pakistan Yuvraj Singh smashed an unbeaten half-century under pressure as India dispatched defending champions Australia from the World Cup with a five-wicket win at Ahmedabad yesterday. Their victory set up a dream semifinal against archrivals Pakistan at Mohali on March 30. It had looked to be slipping away from the ... Read more
S Africa-New Zealand quarter-final today
The curtain on the six-week long World Cup fiesta will fall in Bangladesh with South Africa facing New Zealand in a quarter-final match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today. The carnival began here on February 12 with the Bangladesh-Canada warm-up game in Chittagong and it has gone through a lot of highs and lows before ... Read more
Pakistan outplay Windies to storm into semis
Dhaka: Pakistan thrashed West Indies by ten wickets to move into the World Cup semi-finals here at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on Wednesday. Chasing an easy target of 113 runs, openers Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez completed the Pakistan victory without being separated, in just 20.5 overs
Afridi leaves Imran behind
It is still too early to think that Shahid Afridi can emulate Imran Khan by leading Pakistan to their second World Cup trophy, but he did at least one thing better than his legendary countryman on Wednesday. With his 4-30 against the West Indies in the first quarter-final, Afridi overtook Imran to become Pakistan’s most ... Read more
Roebuck sees good future for Tigers
Bangladesh have a good future in international cricket despite their modest performances in the ongoing World Cup, leading cricket writer Peter Roebuck told reporters on Wednesday. ‘The future of cricket lies with spinners and this is what their strength is,’ said Roebuck. ‘The Umpiring Decision Review System has made life easier for spinners as they ... Read more
WC set for knock-out stage
Pakistan take on Windies today The much-anticipated knock-out phase of the World Cup is set for a cracking start as unpredictable Pakistan take on a youthful West Indian side in the first quarter-final in Dhaka today. More than a semi-final place will be at stake for Pakistan, who missed out on a second-round place in ... Read more
Ponting could be dumped as captain: report
Bangkok Post Ricky Ponting could be in the final week of his nine-year reign as captain after a troubled build-up to the World Cup, a report said, citing a Cricket Australia official. The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday said there was stiff opposition at boardroom level to the 36-year-old retaining the job for next month’s ... Read more
Only good-looking cops for World Cup final
smh.com.au Only good-looking police officers will be allowed to work on security for the cricket World Cup final in Mumbai, the city’s police commissioner has reportedly said. Arup Patnaik told senior officers during a briefing that he wanted only “tall, well-built and slim policemen” to be working on April 2 when the last match of ... Read more
Pak, Windies in city to play first quarterfinals
Dhaka: Pakistan and West Indies teams arrived in Dhaka on Monday evening to take part in the first quarter-final match of the ICC Cricket World Cup to be held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on March 23. Pakistan team led by the mercurial all-rounder Shahid Afridi arrived in the capital directly from Sri Lanka. ... Read more
West Indies team to get ‘state-level’ security
The security personnel have spread a safety blanket ranking to ‘state-level’ for the West Indies team in an attempt to ensure a hassle free quarter-final match of the Cricket World Cup 2011 tomorrow, officials confirmed. To avoid repetition of the embarrassing March 4 like incident, the security experts are asked to
Struggling Aussies face knock-out clash with India
The Sydney Morning Herald Australia will fly from Sri Lanka to India facing arguably the most daunting challenge of the cricket World Cup: beating India in a knock-out quarter-final on its own turf. India’s stuttering victory over the West Indies overnight gave it a second-placed finish in group B, ensuring it would be drawn against a ... Read more
Defeat spoils Tamim’s birthday party
Mumbai: Tamim Iqbal, who turned 22 on Sunday, accepted the congratulatory message, saying, “Thank you”, to this scribe. Had Bangladesh won its crucial World Cup match against South Africa on Saturday, the team could have had a grand party and his birthday celebration as well. “After leaving the team hotel, he preferred to celebrate the ... Read more
Gloomy face all over after sad exit
Dhaka: The euphoria which gripped the country for the last one month is over now. Bangladesh are now a mere spectator of the cricket’s showcase event in their own den as they will hold two quarterfinal matches on March 23 and 25. Surroundings of Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) are beautifully lit up on the ... Read more
Tigers’ WC dream shattered
The Proteas proved far too strong for the Tigers who failed firstly to check South Africa’s run making and later to withstand their bowling attack, folding for only 78 and thus ending their Cricket World Cup dream at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday. South Africa secured its place at the top on the ... Read more
Aiming for the quarterfinals
Tigers face SA today Prior to today’s crunch Bangladesh-South Africa match, the question on everybody’s lips was what awaited the millions of cricket crazy fans in the country? Will it be heartbreak or will today usher in an era of hope? Shakib Al Hasan’s men can write a new chapter for Bangladesh cricket when they ... Read more
Shakib relaxed
The general populace might have plenty of questions regarding Bangladesh’s batting prior to their crucial Group B match against formidable South Africa today but Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was as satisfied as he could be with his team’s performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup and was upbeat ahead of the tough battle at ... Read more