India maintain WC domination over Pak, enter final

India extended its unbeaten streak in World Cups over Pakistan to five matches as MS Dhoni's team defeated Shahid Afridi's boys by 29 runs in the second semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup at Mohali tonight to set up a final clash with Sri Lanka on April 2.

Tendulkar still works on technique

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni provided an insight into the tireless work ethic of the world’s greatest batsman on Saturday, saying Sachin Tendulkar still works on his technique and still analyses every pitch before he plays.

Even with Tendulkar’s enviable record of 99 international centuries so far in a wondrous 21-year career — where he holds most major batting records — Dhoni said the game’s most celebrated player won’t stop working or trying to improve.

“He keeps it really simple. He doesn’t look at the milestones that are coming up for him,” Dhoni said. “He knows that in every game that he plays some kind of a milestone is around the corner.

“He practices well, he still works on his technique and where he feels that extra bit of effort is needed. Of course, what really helps him is the way he analyses the wicket and his coming innings.”

To back up Dhoni’s comments, Tendulkar practiced next to the pitch at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium for about an hour on Saturday in preparation for Sunday’s World Cup Group B game against West Indies - when he could become the first man to an incredible 100 centuries in internationals.

After the rest of the batsmen had departed to the dressing room following India’s main training session, the 37-year-old Tendulkar was still practicing, hitting drives and cut shots down to the boundary where a group of young stadium staff fielded the balls.

On Sunday, he goes in search of a 49th ton in one-day internationals to go along with his 51 centuries in tests. Both are records in their own right.

Tendulkar has scored 31 more hundreds in international cricket than the next best player, Australia’s Ricky Ponting. He has also scored more runs in both formats than anyone else as well as a record number of runs at World Cup tournaments.

And even when he’s not batting, Tendulkar’s influence on India’s team is immeasurable, according to his captain.

“It has been really good to have him in the side, the amount of experience he has got,” Dhoni said. “He always assists you as a senior player with plenty of ideas.

“If you are short of ideas you can definitely walk up to him. There will always be two to three ideas that he can float around and (you can) pick the best option.”

West Indies captain Darren Sammy, who will have the tough task of trying to limit Tendulkar’s prodigious runscoring in Sunday’s game, summed it up perfectly.

“Sachin. Nobody can question what he’s done in the game. Great player,” Sammy said.

Pakistan ends Australia’s World Cup Cricket streak

Ricky Ponting's mighty Australians lost their cool in the steamy humidity of the Premadasa Stadium on Saturday and saw an unbeaten run of 34 World Cup matches dating back to 1999 shattered by a Pakistan team that discovered steely resolve in a low-scoring match.

Barring obscure mathematical equations, India, England and the West Indies have sealed their qualification for a quarterfinal place from Group B after Bangladesh submitted meekly in Dhaka to a South Africa team that is starting to look like a serious contender for its first World Cup title.

More related to this story

• Bangladesh eliminated after loss to South Africa

• Injured Muralitharan sets up Sri Lanka victory over New Zealand

Pakistan finished on top in Group A, ahead of Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand, which will next have to play South Africa. That's the only quarterfinal decided.

The South Africans ensured top place in Group B and sent Bangladesh to the brink of World Cup elimination with a comprehensive 206-run thrashing so far.

West Indies should advance, provided it avoids a monumental defeat to India at Chennai on Sunday.

Bangladesh's very slender hope of advancing is for the West Indies to slump to a massive defeat and fall behind on the net runrate for the tournament.

South Africa got on top early, posting 284 for eight. Robin Peterson took 4-12 as Bangladesh was dismissed for 78 in 28 overs in a reply that never gathered momentum.

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith said his Proteas squad was hitting the kind of form which made them good prospects to win the tournament.

“That'd be terrific. We're just going to take it a step at a time, change nothing and just keep going the way we are,” he said. “Hopefully, a bit of luck, and we'll get there.” Smith shared a 98-run opening stand with Hashim Amla (51) before he was stumped for 45.

Amla was out soon after, then Jacques Kallis (69) guided the middle order with stands of 34 with JP Duminy (17) and 82 with Faf du Plessis (52) before giving a return catch to Shakib.

In Colombo, Australia and Pakistan had already qualified for the last eight but Ponting was in no mood to surrender the unbeaten streak that the Aussies to World Cup titles in England in 1999, South Africa in 2003 and the Caribbean in 2007.

Ponting's combative nature, so often the inspiration for Australian victories, showed its negative side when he found a thick edge to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal that umpire Marius Erasmus somehow did not spot. Ponting stood his ground, infuriating Pakistan's fielders who crowded around Erasmus appealing for a decision.

In the melee, his batting partner Brad Haddin pushed two Pakistani fielders before Ponting was given out on referral. Ponting said after the game that, as always, he waited for the umpire to give him out.

That dismissal left Australia on 75-2, ending a 63-run stand — the best of the innings.

Paceman Umar Gul took 3-30 as Pakistan dismissed Australia for 176 — Australia's lowest first-innings total at the World Cup since 1992 — with more than three overs to spare. Pakistan bowled tidily, but Australia was equally the architect of its downfall with a series of rash strokes on a slow Colombo wicket.

In response, veteran pace bowler Brett Lee was superb, taking 4-28 in eight overs as he almost dragged Australia back into the game, reducing Pakistan to 142-6 when he caught captain Shahid Afridi at deep long on.

Lee bowled with subtle hostility, but the slow wicket sapped the predictable pace of Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson. Umar Akmal, with a patient 44 not out, saw Pakistan home to victory.

Ponting was also in the bad books of Kenya captain Jimmy Kamande, who said it was disappointing that Associate nations didn't get more support for their World Cup ambitions.

“What is disappointing is someone like Ricky Ponting saying that the Associates don't need to be here,” Kamande said ahead of Kenya's last group match against Zimbabwe.

The 2003 semifinalist play Zimbabwe at the Eden Gardens on Sunday after losing its five previous matches. That match will be halfway through when India starts against West Indies.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni provided an insight into the tireless work ethic of the world's greatest batsman, saying Sachin Tendulkar still works on his technique and analyzes every pitch before he plays.

Even with Tendulkar's enviable record of 99 international centuries so far in a wondrous 21-year career — where he holds most major batting records — Dhoni said the game's most celebrated player won't stop working or trying to improve.

“He keeps it really simple. He doesn't look at the milestones that are coming up for him,” Dhoni said. “He knows that in every game that he plays some kind of a milestone is around the corner.

“He practices well, he still works on his technique and where he feels that extra bit of effort is needed. Of course, what really helps him is the way he analyzes the wicket and his coming innings.”

To back up Dhoni's comments, Tendulkar practiced next to the pitch at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium for about an hour Saturday in preparation for Sunday's World Cup Group B game against West Indies — when he could become the first man to an incredible 100 centuries in internationals.

Tendulkar's opening partner Virender Sehwag is a doubtful starter for Sunday, as he is struggling with an allergic reaction in his right knee.

“We will take a call (on Sehwag) either in the evening or by morning before the game,” Dhoni said.

Sehwag is India's leading runscorer at the tournament with 327 runs at an average of 65.40.

Sri Lanka shatter New Zealand and long for England in the World Cup

In Sri Lanka there is still the sense of a World Cup waiting to happen. England's crackpot campaign has brought excitement and unpredictability to the tournament every time they have taken the field, but the beneficiaries of that have been crowds in India and Bangladesh. In Colombo they are now aching for their slice of England in the quarter-finals.

Sri Lanka are destined for second place in their group after a 112-run victory over New Zealand. The fear lingers that India will contrive to finish third and they will have to travel to face them in Ahmedabad in the last eight under the "India Is Richer So Gets Its Own Way" clause. Their dream is that England will finish third and that Andrew Strauss's band of merry men, viewed almost universally in Colombo as the perfect party opposition, will be heading for a quarter-final in Colombo next Saturday.

Even Sri Lanka's happiest World Cup night so far, as Muttiah Muralitharan hobbled in with a strained hamstring to take four for 25 and make a mockery of New Zealand's hopes of chasing 266, took place in Mumbai and had to be followed on big screens dotted around Colombo, the biggest of them arranged by Yes FM, Sri Lanka's leading English-speaking radio station.

As the crowd at the Ceylonese Rugby and Football Club ground swelled to 7,000 after the week's work was over, Shaq, the channel's head, a man influential enough to get by with just one name, captured the prevailing mood. "We did this for Pakistan and [we] lost. We did it for Australia and the rain made it a big disappointment. We wanted a big night tonight. But next we want England – the entertainers," he said.

It would be an exaggeration to suggest that Murali had a spring in his step after he had suffered a leg injury while batting, but four wickets in the sort of dewy conditions to have Graeme Swann chewing his bowling rag in frustration, suggested that devilry remains in what will be his farewell international tournament. "It is going to be my last World Cup and I want to finish well – it is only a little injury," said Murali.

The group stages of the World Cup in Sri Lanka might have been largely desultory, although perhaps not so desultory as to warrant a Sleeping Dogs rating of four, which is extreme even by Sri Lankan standards, and which could be seen on the boundary edge at a nearby domestic match at Thurstan College.

Mahesh, 12th man for Wattala Antonians, concurred that England would be Sri Lanka's favoured quarter-final opposition. He was probably not a man influential enough to get by on one name, but time was rushing on and spelling the rest would have taken half the night.

"I would rather we played England," he said. "England would be better. No Kevin Pietersen, no [Stuart] Broad, [Paul] Collingwood not in form, only Swann a danger. I think we have a good chance to win."

Sri Lanka's batting nerves against New Zealand had been eased by a judicious century by their captain, Kumar Sangakkara. Sangakkara dared to take the batting powerplay early, with the match in the balance, and then played well enough to settle it, repeatedly carving Tim Southee through the offside to take Sri Lanka past the figure of 229, the highest successful chase in Mumbai. In the Cricket Club Cafe, a traditional refuge for cricket fans in Colombo, it seemed time to order the Sanga Fish Platter to mark the occasion.

The mood had been more restive early on. It had taken a while before Sri Lanka exerted their superiority. Kiwi commentators spoke of a relaid surface and the fact that the history of low chasing scores no longer mattered; Canada, after all, had scored 261 for nine batting second in losing by 97 runs to New Zealand only five days earlier.

"Spongy pitch," said Sanga's sidekick, Mahela Jayawardene. "Scoring will be difficult." And so it proved. Back in Colombo, as his wickets tally rose and music blared from the Yes FM speakers, Murali's charitable work for the Foundation of Goodness was being promoted on the boundary edge. In Mumbai, though, there was no charity in sight for the Kiwis.

More fitness worries for England

Injury worries continued to mount for an already stricken England as the group that practised at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium on Tuesday, ahead of the side's must-win clash against the West Indies, did not include skipper Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann.

Jonathan Trott clarified that Strauss, the leading run-scorer for England in the tournament, and Swann, the joint highest wicket-taker for the side in this edition, were down with a stomach bug and that a clearer picture would emerge after Wednesday's practice session.

“They are two key players in our side, in anybody's side they would be, especially with Andrew being captain, but I'm fully confident they will be alright.

“It is one of those (24-48 hours to recover from) things and I'm glad it happened sort of now and not tomorrow,” he said.

Trott himself admitted to not being ‘100 per cent,' saying: “(It is) sort of a fever, not quite sure what it is. Feeling a little better today, not a hundred per cent, but had a bit of running and exercise under my belt.”

Vital match

England is already without the services of Kevin Pietersen (hernia) and Stuart Broad (side strain), who have been ruled out of the World Cup.

Though Strauss, Swann and Trott are expected to make light of their fitness concerns and play the vital tie against the West Indies on Thursday, a win may still not be enough to ensure progress to the quarterfinals, and the side may have to wait for other results in Group B.

Trott, however, said the West Indies clash was all that England had eyes for, at least for the moment.

“There is nothing we can do (about the other results); all our attention is on the game coming up against the West Indies. It will be stupid to take our eyes off the match. We've got ourselves in this position and we got to back ourselves to get out of it. It's simple really, four knockout games for us and three for everyone else and no reason why we can't do it,” said Trott. Trott put his team's woes down to the inability to play consistent cricket across the duration of the match, saying: “I just think we haven't obviously played a good 100-over match.

“We haven't played consistently both sides. (We have been) good with the ball and poor with the bat, great with the bat and poor with the ball.

We managed to bowl out South Africa, but did not do well with the bat and the bowlers bailed us out. As a batting unit we got to put our heads down and get a big score or chase down whatever West Indies set.”

Injury worries continued to mount for an already stricken England as the group that practised at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium on Tuesday, ahead of the side's must-win clash against the West Indies, did not include skipper Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann.

Jonathan Trott clarified that Strauss, the leading run-scorer for England in the tournament, and Swann, the joint highest wicket-taker for the side in this edition, were down with a stomach bug and that a clearer picture would emerge after Wednesday's practice session.

“They are two key players in our side, in anybody's side they would be, especially with Andrew being captain, but I'm fully confident they will be alright.

“It is one of those (24-48 hours to recover from) things and I'm glad it happened sort of now and not tomorrow,” he said.

Trott himself admitted to not being ‘100 per cent,' saying: “(It is) sort of a fever, not quite sure what it is. Feeling a little better today, not a hundred per cent, but had a bit of running and exercise under my belt.”

Vital match

England is already without the services of Kevin Pietersen (hernia) and Stuart Broad (side strain), who have been ruled out of the World Cup.

Though Strauss, Swann and Trott are expected to make light of their fitness concerns and play the vital tie against the West Indies on Thursday, a win may still not be enough to ensure progress to the quarterfinals, and the side may have to wait for other results in Group B.

Trott, however, said the West Indies clash was all that England had eyes for, at least for the moment.

“There is nothing we can do (about the other results); all our attention is on the game coming up against the West Indies. It will be stupid to take our eyes off the match. We've got ourselves in this position and we got to back ourselves to get out of it. It's simple really, four knockout games for us and three for everyone else and no reason why we can't do it,” said Trott. Trott put his team's woes down to the inability to play consistent cricket across the duration of the match, saying: “I just think we haven't obviously played a good 100-over match.

“We haven't played consistently both sides. (We have been) good with the ball and poor with the bat, great with the bat and poor with the ball.

We managed to bowl out South Africa, but did not do well with the bat and the bowlers bailed us out. As a batting unit we got to put our heads down and get a big score or chase down whatever West Indies set.”

Peterson stuns India in thrilling finish

Nagpur: In one of the show-pieces matches of the 2011 World Cup, South Africa beat India by three wickets in a thrilling last-over finish at the Jamtha Stadium. Robin Peterson was SA's hero, taking a four and a six off the first two balls of the final over from Ashish Nehra, scoring the 13 they needed from the last over.

Sachin Tendulkar's brisk 110 and his two big century stands with Virender Sehwag (73) and Gautam Gambhir (69) took India to 267-1 before an astonishing collapse led by Dale Steyn's 5-50 saw India fold for 296 when they looked good for 350-plus for much of the innings.

South Africa seemed forever behind the required rate but were placed well to chase it down with fifties from Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers. But AB fell to Harbhajan in the final over of the batting Powerplay, allowing India the slightest advantage in the see-sawing game.

Zaheer Khan (with a first spell of 7 overs 1-17) managed to keep SA to four runs in the penultimate over, leaving them 13 to get. Nehra then conceded four, six, two and four in four balls to settle the matters. MS Dhoni always goes to fast bowlers in last-over finishes but he paid with the match for his choice today.

AWE-INSPIRING BATTING

It seemed like Centurion 2003 all over again. Sehwag and Tendulkar gave India's fans the ingredient missing from their lack-lustre World Cup campaign: the intent of hammering the opposition into pulp.

For the fifth straight time, Sehwag hit the first ball of the match for four, lofting Steyn over mid-on. In the next over, Morne van Wyk did a Kamran, not going to his right for a standard caught-behind off Sehwag. A life earned, India made South Africa bleed.

It seemed Tendulkar's 22-year-old self was batting today as he went after the bowling with awe-inspiring regularity. Pace or spin, front-foot or back, in the air or along the ground, he was in the mood to dominate as he completed a fifty off 33 balls.

An overthrow for four got his innings going. Then came a full-blooded punch to Morne Morkel down the ground and a drive through the covers on the up. When Steyn returned for a new spell, a bouncer was hooked into the gutters behind fine-leg.

Such was the Indian assault, Graeme Smith had used seven bowlers by the 18th over. At the other end, Sehwag took five fours off Morkel. Kallis couldn't stop the bleeding either so Smith had to call Robin Peterson and JP Duminy to bowl spin in the Powerplay. That ploy flopped too.

Sehwag made room to crash them through the off-side. The tense left-arm spinner responded by bowling a couple of wides down the leg. When Duminy switched to around the wicket, Tendulkar walked down to hit a towering six wide of long-on.

After 15 overs into the innings, India were sitting pretty at 128-0. Five years ago on this very day, Australia had taken 434 runs off South Africa in the famous game at Johannesburg. It seemed a similar score would be achieved today. And then started India's slide.

THE MELTDOWN

Tendulkar roared into the 80s and then took a rickshaw to the hundred. This was the period when India allowed South Africa back in the game. After Sehwag played on, India were at a robust 155-1 in 20. After 30, they had reached just 197-1. Landmarks were eventually reached but at the cost of the momentum.

Johan Botha's spell brought about a slowdown. Tendulkar played out 13 dots to the spinner while Gambhir played 14. While Indian batsmen are infinitely skilled at scoring boundaries, it is turning the strike that has been a problem for them in this tournament.

In the game against England, India played a monstrous 146 dot balls. Today, they played 141. What broke India's back was the batting Powerplay. India scored just 30 runs and lost four wickets.

Still, 300 was possible had they batted sensibly. The problem was that India had their sights on 350 and were trying to hit everything out of the ground. Hence deliveries that could have fetched easy singles were being hit firmly to fielders in the ring.

The boundaries at the Jamta Stadium are large ones and twos can be scored easily as South Africa showed late in the game when they managed double-digit overs without taking risks. This fact was lost on India.

Then, the tail-enders decided to go over the top and more wickets fell in a heap. Dhoni was stranded on 12 and India had lost nine wickets in a span of 29 runs. But the blame would be put on India's bowlers. All will be forgotten and forgiven.

An aside: Tendulkar's 100th hundred would be a mind-boggling feat, perhaps comparable to Pele's 1000th goal. But for the team's sake, let's hope it doesn't arrive in one of the knock-out matches.

Ireland make India work for their five-wicket World Cup win

Yuvraj Singh excelled to guide India to a five-wicket victory over Ireland in their World Cup Group B match in Bengaluru on Sunday. Yuvraj scored 50 off 75 balls to follow his best World Cup bowling figures, of five for 31, as India overhauled the Irish in 46 overs. The left-hander put on 67 with his captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who made 34.

Earlier, the Ireland captain, William Porterfield, had scored 75, but a lack of contributions elsewhere meant Ireland were bowled out inside 48 overs. Bowling after India had won the toss, Zaheer Khan gave them a terrific start by taking the wickets of Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce in successive overs. Porterfield and Niall O'Brien steadied the ship but a piece of brilliance from Virat Kohli ran out O'Brien, who had made a patient 46. By then Porterfield, who was dropped in the first over by Yusuf Pathan, had reached his second World Cup half-century, off 67 balls, and added 113 with O'Brien for the third wicket.

Wickets fell thereafter as the batsmen were bamboozled by Yuvraj and Ireland fell to 184 for eight from 122 for three. Kevin O'Brien, whose stunning innings had beaten England, was caught and bowled by Yuvraj for nine. The fall of Porterfield dashed hopes of a late surge as the opener played a loose shot. Yuvraj was the first left-arm spinner to take five wickets in a World Cup match. Ireland inched past 200 in the 47th over but Zaheer and Munaf Patel polished off the tail with 13 balls left. Zaheer finished with three for 30.

The visitors gave India a scare by removing Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir with just 24 on the board. But Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli eased any nerves by adding 63 in 15 overs. George Dockrell had his big moment when he trapped the former for 38.

India reached 100 in the 24th over, but a mix-up with Yuvraj sparked Kohli's dismissal for 34, bringing Dhoni to the middle. Yuvraj and Dhoni put on 37 in 10 overs to keep the chase on track and India moved past 150 in 37 overs. There was another scare when Dockrell trapped Dhoni lbw but a couple of sixes from Pathan brought the target down to 25 off nine overs.

The pair rattled off the required runs with four overs to spare as Pathan scored the winning boundary to finish unbeaten on 30 off 24 balls.

England's latest World Cup absurdity shows the value of belief

Perhaps it is time for the International Cricket Council to think about giving England a bonus for the sterling promotional work they are doing. There have been five great games in the World Cup so far, and England have featured in four of them. "We're definitely doing our bit to advertise the 50-over format," said Andrew Strauss through a wry grin. "But if I'm honest we'd like games to be a little bit less close than they are."

He may think that, but the fans could not possibly agree. Australia's supporters, for example, have endured two whitewashes and a washout in these group stages. England are where the action is, and that is surely why 15,000 or so locals came along to the Chidambaram Stadium to cheer them on against South Africa. England, loathed by so many fans in this part of world for so long, are suddenly the neutral's team of choice.

For a long time it looked as though the rollercoaster had come to the end of the run. Graeme Smith admitted after the match that he had been planning to open the bowling with Robin Peterson's spin all week long, and had had him rehearsing the role in practice. He had cooked the scheme up, he said, explicitly for Kevin Pietersen's benefit. Slow-left-armers have got Pietersen out three times in his six innings on this tour so far. What was once just a glitch now seems to have become a major malfunction. But when Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell fell as well, the squealing brakes of the freight trains pulling into the station behind the stadium seemed a pretty apt accompaniment to England's performance. Peterson had only taken as many as three wickets once before in his ODI career, for 42 runs against Pakistan. Now he had three for four.

Ravi Bopara and Jonathan Trott both earned ovations when they each reached 50. Partly, you guess, this was because they had ensured that everyone was going to get some value for their money as much as for them both playing superbly well in the circumstances. The fleeting cheers for a six hit by Bopara, the only one in the match, soon passed in the hot torpor of the late morning, and the device that is supposed to measure the volume of the crowd noise struggled up towards two out of five like the speedo on a knackered rickshaw.

And then England lost six wickets for 36 runs, undoing all that hard graft. "You're not going to defend 170-odd very often," said Strauss. Almost everyone else had come to the same conclusion. There was one exception, a poor deluded member of the Barmy Army who was belting out the chorus to Journey's Don't Stop Believin' from the top tier of the pavilion stand.

By now the heat was so intense that one lady fainted as she climbed the stairs to the top of the stands. The local fans retreated into the shade and gathered around radio sets to follow India's fortunes against Ireland. Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith batted towards their target, troubled a great deal by Swann, but not much by anyone else. Only mad dogs and Englishmen, it seemed, get out in the midday sun.

Seven wickets in hand and just 53 runs needed. The English journalists worked away at the calculations on exactly what the team would need to do to get to the quarter-finals after this defeat, while crows circled overhead looking for scraps of litter and carrion to pick at. "I thought we would be back at the pool by now," said one of the Barmy Army, glancing at his watch.

And then it all changed. The ball began to reverse swing. James Anderson bowled AB de Villiers and JP Duminy in the space of five deliveries, and Faf du Plessis was run out during the over in between. The Barmies burst into brilliant life, roaring away, living every ball along with the team. "Float it up Gardy!" "Great ball KP!" "Bring up the long-on Straussy!" All of a sudden the seats filled up again, and the stadium's catering and security staff took up viewpoints in the stairways and aisles. For a brief while it looked as though Dale Steyn was going to pull off the Heimlich manouevre on his team. No such luck. England showed enormous skill and strength of character to close the match out. And at the end, their fans were swapping high-fives and hugs with the Indians, revelling in the adrenaline rush of another absurd denouement. Don't Stop Believin' indeed.

Sri Lanka vs Australia Match Result: Abandoned

Preamble Hello. Group B of this World Cup has provided huge excitement, and has come thrillingly close to justifying the competition format, but Group A has gone precisely as nature (or the ICC) intended.

Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand are going to qualify for the quarter-finals, so matches like today's between Australia and Sri Lanka are simply about jockeying for position (finish in the top two and you are likely to avoid India and South Africa in the next round) and finding form ahead of next year's quarter-finals.

This is a rematch of the 2007 World Cup final - when Adam Gilchrist played one of the great forgotten innings - and offers a nice contrast between the muscularity and pace of the Aussies and the wristiness and spin of the Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka have won the toss and will bat first and win by 44 runs.


Sri Lanka Dilshan, Tharanga, Sangakkara (c/wk), Jayawardene, Samaraweera, Silva, Mathews, Herath, Malinga, Mendis, Muralitharan.

Australia Watson, Haddin (wk), Ponting (c), Clarke, D Hussey, White, Smith, Johnson, Krezja, Lee, Tait.

How are you all? Any good stories from last night? I'm into the whole vicarious rock 'n' roll living at the moment.

1st over: Sri Lanka 2-0 (Tharanga 2, Dilshan 0) The in-form Brett Lee starts with a good over to Upul Tharanga, conceding just a couple past backward point. "I find scary, but also quite risible, the notion that Bangladesh fans stoned the West Indian team bus believing it to be Bangladesh's," says Ravi Nair. "I imagine future headlines: "Jimmy Anderson burnt at the stake as Indian fans mistake him for golden duck Sehwag", and such like. Australia to win this easily methinks. You?" Sri Lanka.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 6-1 (Dilshan c White b Tait 4) Shaun Tait 1-0 Tillakaratne Dilshan. A feisty little contest between those two lasts just four balls. Dilshan edges Tait's first ball for four, prompting a bit of big boys' language from Tait. Then Dilshan pulls away just as Tait is about to bowl his second delivery, which prompts even more big boys' language from Ricky Ponting and a long chat between Dilshan and the umpire Ian Gould. And then Tait strikes! His fourth ball was full and in the slot outside off stump; Dilshan threw everything at it and edges to second slip.

2nd over: Sri Lanka 7-1 (Tharanga 2, Sangakkara 1) "Let me get in early with the Charlie Sheen quotes before it starts getting crowded," says Shanka Kalyanaraman. "Australia need a #winning strategy to counter the Lankan #tigerblood. You have to #earnyourself these games if you want to #chooseyourvice and win the World Cup."

3rd over: Sri Lanka 19-1 (Tharanga 3, Sangakkara 11) Sangakkara drives Lee through the covers for three, times four down the ground and then whips three through midwicket. He has started beautifully and has 11 from five balls. As ever, so much will depend on him and Mahela Jayawardene. "I suspect OBO might have been here already," says Simon Rogers, "but I don't think enough people in the world are taking the etc out of Mark Nicholas and Shane Warne for this ad." It is a thing of rare comic beauty.

4th over: Sri Lanka 22-1 (Tharanga 4, Sangakkara 13) Tait beats Sangakkara for pace, drawing an inside edge that goes wide of leg stump. Three singles from a lively over. "Crazy Friday nights," begins Ben Dunn. "I shared a bottle of Nero D'Avola, then played Tom and Jerry Top Trumps with the kids, followed by a bit of hide and seek. Later I tried to download some American TV programmes but found them all to be on a mid-season break, so I went to bed. I am Rock and Roll. I may copy and paste this into my Facebook profile to impress all those females I don't actually know but have accepted as friends because their photos are hot."

• The match has been abandoned. Shame really, as the match was shaping up nicely. So both sides now have five points and, barring a never-to-be-forgotten fiasco, are in the quarter-finals. Thanks for your emails; see you at 3am for South Africa v England.

West Indies wallops Bangladesh

West Indies routed Bangladesh by nine wickets on Friday after dismissing the home side for 58, its lowest score in a World Cup.

Bangladesh was blown out inside 19 overs on a decent pitch to finish with the fourth lowest total in World Cup history.

West Indies, led by Chris Gayle with 37 not out, took less than 13 overs to reach the winning target.

“I was expecting a bigger occasion than this,” Gayle said.

The scheduled day-night match didn’t even reach night, as the sell-out crowd of 25,000 in Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium gradually fell into silence then began angrily booing or leaving early to avoid watching the end of an embarrassing defeat for Bangladesh. It’s previous low was 108 against host South Africa in 2003.

“We have a lot of things to work on,” Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said.

West Indies spinner Suliemann Benn rebounded from conceding nine in his first over to take 4-18, and fast bowlers Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy snared three wickets each. The trio, West Indies’ only used bowlers, wrapped up Bangladesh in little more than an hour and a half.

Zunaed Siddique top-scored with 25, almost half of his side’s total. Bangladesh fielded the same side, which beat Ireland by 27 runs in its last game a week ago, but the batsman virtually gave away their wickets in the face of good bowling.

Wait for it Freddie...

Cricket fans are likely to have to wait until August to see Andrew Flintoff in action for Penwortham.

The double Ashes winner this week joined the Moore and Smalley Palace Shield club, five months after announcing his retirement from first-class cricket due to injury.

But with Flintoff having only just come off crutches after knee surgery, he won’t be gracing the Middleforth batting square just yet.

His signing still represents a major coup for Penwortham whose first XI side finished runners-up in the Palace Shield’s Premier Division last season.

The story has generated national interest, and when the 33-year-old is in a position to play again, his presence is certain to bolster attendances.

Flintoff opted to join Penwortham to give him the chance of playing alongside his older brother Chris who has re-joined the club for this campaign.

Chris played for them in 2007 and 2008, had a spell with Lancaster in the Northern League, before turning out for Whittingham and Goosnargh in the midweek Boddingtons League last season.

Penwortham skipper Wayne Maddock is delighted by Flintoff’s decision to join the club, but admits he isn’t ‘counting his chickens’ as to when the former England star will be back in action.

Maddock told the Evening Post: “We’ve got Freddie signed up and his registration has gone to the league for their approval.

“Freddie is injured at the moment, he’s had an operation when they had to break a bone in his leg to realign his knee.

“He’s just coming off the crutches this week so obviously he’s got a while to go yet.

“When he plays with us all depends on how his rehab goes.

“I’m not counting my chickens about seeing him play for us until we get him out there on to the pitch. I’m not going to build our season round one player.

Cricket World Cup 2011 Daily: 2 March

IRELAND WIN BY THREE WICKETS WITH FIVE BALLS TO SPARE! 49.1 overs: Ireland 329-7 (Mooney 33, Johnston 4)

Ireland have done it! Mooney hits the winning boundary off Anderson with five balls to spare. This is utterly astonishing, one of the most amazing victories in any sport for years. People are just charging round the Ireland dressing room in a circle, with no idea what to do. Some of the players hare onto the field, with the cameras picking up some big boys' language. I'm not sure even those words can do this justice. Ireland were completely out of it at the halfway stage, but then Alex Cusack and particularly Kevin O'Brien decided to give it a lash, with astonishing consequences. O'Brien demolished the record for the fastest World Cup hundred, smashing his off only 50 balls; and then, at the finish, Ireland were ice cool. They played with stunning maturity when the pressure was on. Ireland have also set a new record for the highest World Cup chase. More importantly, they've beaten England. At cricket. England had a shocker, but this is not about them. It's about one of the most charming and joyous wins we'll ever see, and a match we will never forget, at least not until we're in the home and the faculties have gone. Thanks for all your emails. Night.
writes Rob Smyth

Dwayne Bravo ruled out of World Cup

A West Indies team spokesman says allrounder Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of the World Cup by the left knee injury he sustained in his side's seven-wicket loss to South Africa.

Team media manager Philip Spooner confirmed on Friday that Bravo was out of the tournament and would return home. He said in a text message that a replacement for the 27-year-old Bravo would be named after ICC approval.

Bravo was helped from the field during Thursday's Group B match against South Africa after his left leg twisted badly under his weight when he tried to field a ball off his own bowling.
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West Indies lost wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh and batsman Adrian Barath to hamstring injuries ahead of the World Cup.