ICC Cricket World Cup: Day 26: Nice Tune-Up For Aussies

Trivandrum: After a commanding performance against Kenya in their previous outing, Australia have another light-weight encounter on their hands, against Canada in Bangalore. With the entire side fit and raring to go, the Aussies will look to pick up another easy 2 points and jump to the top of Group A.

The form of Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey was the biggest positive to come out of the Kenya game for the Kangaroos, who seem to be one of the most lethal sides in the tournament. They have an air about them of a team that knows exactly what they are doing, and it isn’t something to be surprised about, considering they are three-time defending champions.

Cameron White has been the sole batsman whose insipid form sticks out like a sore thumb. Though he is considered to be a top quality player by many in the Australian team management, it might not be all too bad an idea to give David Hussey a chance in place of the Victorian.

Having said that, White might very well find some much required form with a good hit in the middle against Canada, but another failure in this game might very well cut short his World Cup quite early on.

Spinner Jason Krejza has been bowling well and keeping things economical, but will have to get among the wickets to help his side’s cause during the middle-overs. The pace trio of Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson have so far done well, but they need the support of lead spinner Krejza.

Apart from these small issues, Australia are definitely one of the better balanced sides in the tournament, and will be looking to progress right through to the business end of the mega-event. They will use this game against Canada to iron-out any small worries and will also put into use any experiments they want to try ahead of the final Group game against Pakistan, and of course the quarter-finals.
Prediction: Easy Australian win.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 - Day 5: Preview & Prediction

Trivandrum: Pakistan will be keen to get off to a strong start in Group A, having seen Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand do just that over the last three days.

Day 5 of the World Cup pits the mighty subcontinent giants Pakistan against minnows Kenya, who, having already suffered a pasting from New Zealand, will be keen to avoid a repeat performance. But Pakistan may well have other ideas.

The pressure is definitely on Shahid Afridi and his men to hit back from all the multitude of allegations, scandals and bad press that has hit the team of late, and showcase to the world that they are here to play serious cricket. Considered by many pundits of the game as the real dark horses for the title simply because of the individual talent that the team possesses, the 1992 Cup champions will need to pull together as one if they are to entertain hopes of a second success.

They definitely have the arsenal to go all the way. The capabilities of Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Akthar are well known to most cricket viewers but the emergence of Ahmed Shehzad at the top of the order is what gives the team renewed hope. With former Test skipper Salman Butt serving his 10 year suspension for match-fixing, it opened up an opener slot in the side, one which Shehzad has grabbed with full aplomb.

The 19-year-old right hander, who made his debut in 2009, has been in sensational form, scoring his maiden ODI century during the Tour of New Zealand that immediately preceded Pakistan’s return to the subcontinent for the World Cup. With strong, consistent performances at the top of the order, Shehzad could finally be the top order dynamo that Pakistan have been looking out for ever since the retirements of Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar.

The middle order is packed with volatile stars who on their day can win a game single-handedly. Mohammad Hafeez has been consistent of late whether as an opener or No.3, while Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq are class acts. Umar Akmal has the potential to play aggressive knocks while Afridi, Razzaq and wicketkeeper-bat Kamran Akmal, make for an explosive trio in the lower-middle order.

The bowling attack picks itself. Akthar and Umar Gul will spearhead the pace department along with the wily all-rounder Razzaq. Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman are the two spinners, both of whom will be a handful on decks they are quite familiar with. Afridi will be lethal with his spin bowling as well.

Overall, Pakistan should have too much of class and talent to be much bothered by a deflated Kenyan side. At Hambantota, where the Sri Lankans proved in the earlier game that application is required to start off an innings, the onus will probably be more on the likes of grafters Younis and Misbah, rather than the explosive hitters later in the order.

Prediction: Another lopsided encounter in Group A. Pakistan, the easy winners.

Cricket World CUP 2011 Schedule

After 14 Years, Cricket World Cup is finally returned to Asia (India-Sri Lanka-Bangladesh). Last time World Cup was hosted in Asia in 1996 and Sri Lanka emerge winners of the ICC Wills World Cup. Unfortunately, this time Pakistan will not host any games of 2011 world cup because of security concern.

ICC has tried their best to shorten the 2011 world cup as compared to 2007 world cup. So there will be 49 number of games will be played in 2011 as compared to 51 in 2007. Also the length of the tournament will be shorten by a week. Out of forty nine games, India will host 29 matches, Sri Lanka will host 12 matches and 8 games will be hosted by Bangladesh.

India will host one quarter final in Ahmedabad, one semi final in Mohali and Final of World Cup 2011 in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. While Sri Lanka will host the 2^nd quarterfinal and 1^st semi final in R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo and Bangladesh will host 1^st and 3^rd quarterfinal in Mirpur, Dhaka.

Fourteen teams will participate in 2011 World Cup with 14 teams divided into two groups each containing seven teams. Group A contains Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Canada while Group B includes India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands.

The tournament will start with the game between India and Bangladesh on February 19^th at Mirpur, Dhaka and tournament will ends with the Final on April 2 in renovated Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. There will be total 13 venues will be used for the tournament.

First quarter final will be played on March 23^rd in Mirpur, while second quarter final will be played on March 24^th in Ahmedabad. Third quarterfinal will be played in Mirpur on 25^th March and fourth quarterfinal will be hosted by Sri Lanka in Colombo on March 26^th 2011. First semi final will be played on 29^th March in Colombo and second semi final will be played on March 30^th in Mohali.

Groups for the 2011 World Cup

Group A - Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Canada.

Group B - India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands.

Previous ICC World Cup Winners

1975 – West Indies
1979 – West Indies
1983 – India
1987 – Australia
1992 – Pakistan
1996 – Sri Lanka
1999 – Australia
2003 - Australia
2007 - Australia

World Cup 2011 Fixtures (All timings are mentioned in GMT+05:30)

Timing	Teams	Venue	Results
Sat Feb 19 (D/N) 14:00 PM	1st match Group B - India v Bangladesh	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Sun Feb 20 09:30 AM	2nd match Group A- Kenya v New Zealand	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Sun Feb 20 (D/N) 14:30 PM	3rd match Group A- Sri Lanka v Canada	Hambantota International Cricket Stadium
Mon Feb 21 (D/N) 14:30 PM	4th match Group A - Australia v Zimbabwe	Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Tue Feb 22 (D/N) 14:30 PM	5th match Group B- England v Netherlands	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
Wed Feb 23 (D/N) 14:30 PM	6th match Group A - Kenya v Pakistan	Hambantota International Cricket Stadium
Thu Feb 24 (D/N) 14:30 PM	7th match Group B- South Africa v West Indies	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Fri Feb 25 09:30 AM	9th match Group A- Australia v New Zealand	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
Fri Feb 25 (D/N) 14:00 PM	8th match Group B- Bangladesh v Ireland	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Sat Feb 26 (D/N) 14:30 PM	10th match Group A- Pakistan v Sri Lanka	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sun Feb 27 (D/N) 14:30PM	11th match Group B - India v England	Venue TBC
Mon Feb 28 09:30 AM	12th match Group A- Canada v Zimbabwe	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
Mon Feb 28 (D/N) 14:30 PM	13th match Group B- Netherlands v West Indies	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Tue Mar 1 (D/N) 14:30 PM	14th match Group A- Kenya v Sri Lanka	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Wed Mar 2 (D/N) 14:30 PM	15th match Group B - England v Ireland	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Thu Mar 3 09:30 AM	16th match Group B- Netherlands v South Africa	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Thu Mar 3 (D/N) 14:30 PM	17th match Group A- Canada v Pakistan	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Fri Mar 4 09:30 AM	18th match Group A - New Zealand v Zimbabwe	Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Fri Mar 4 (D/N) 14:00 PM	19th match Group B- Bangladesh v West Indies	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Sat Mar 5 (D/N) 14:30 PM	20th match Group A - Australia v Sri Lanka	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sun Mar 6 09:30 AM	21st match Group B- England v South Africa	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Sun Mar 6 (D/N) 14:30 PM	22nd match Group B - India v Ireland	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Mon Mar 7 (D/N) 14:30 PM	23rd match Group A- Canada v Kenya	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Tue Mar 8 (D/N) 14:30 PM	24th match Group A- New Zealand v Pakistan	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
Wed Mar 9 (D/N) 14:30 PM	25th match Group B- India v Netherlands	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Thu Mar 10 (D/N) 14:30 PM	26th match Group A - Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
Fri Mar 11 09:30 AM	27th match Group B- Ireland v West Indies	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Fri Mar 11 (D/N) 14:00 PM	28th match Group B - Bangladesh v England	Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
Sat Mar 12 (D/N) 14:30 PM	29th match Group B- India v South Africa	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
Sun Mar 13 09:30 AM	30th match Group A - Canada v New Zealand	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Sun Mar 13 (D/N) 14:30 PM	31st match Group A- Australia v Kenya	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Mon Mar 14 09:00 AM	32nd match Group B- Bangladesh v Netherlands	Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
Mon Mar 14 (D/N) 14:30 PM	33rd match Group A- Pakistan v Zimbabwe	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
Tue Mar 15 (D/N) 14:30 PM	34th match Group B- Ireland v South Africa	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Wed Mar 16 (D/N) 14:30 PM	35th match Group A - Australia v Canada	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Thu Mar 17 (D/N) 14:30 PM	36th match Group B - England v West Indies	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Fri Mar 18 09:30 AM	37th match Group B - Ireland v Netherlands	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Fri Mar 18 (D/N) 14:30 PM	38th match Group A- New Zealand v Sri Lanka	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Sat Mar 19 09:00 AM	39th match Group B- Bangladesh v South Africa	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Sat Mar 19 (D/N) 14:30 PM	40th match Group A- Australia v Pakistan	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Sun Mar 20 09:30 AM	41st match Group A- Kenya v Zimbabwe	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Sun Mar 20 (D/N) 14:30 PM	42nd match Group B - India v West Indies	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Wed Mar 23 (D/N) 14:00 PM	1st Quarter Final – A1 v B4	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Thu Mar 24 (D/N) 14:30 PM	2nd Quarter Final – A2 v B3	Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Fri Mar 25 (D/N) 14:00 PM	3rd Quarter Final – A3 v B2	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Sat Mar 26 (D/N) 14:30 PM	4th Quarter Final – A4 v B1	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Tue Mar 29 (D/N) 14:30 PM	Semi Final – Winner of 1st QF v Winenr of 3rd QF	R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Wed Mar 30 (D/N) 14:30 PM	Semi Final – Winner of 2nd QF v Winner of 4th QF	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Sat Apr 2 (D/N) 14:30 PM	Final - TBC v TBC	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai