Worldcup Update - SNNI Melbourne

ODI no. 2546
ICC World Cup - 16th Match, Group B
Bangladesh v Sri Lanka 2006/07 season

Played at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad (neutral venue), on 21 March 2007 (50-over match)

Result Sri Lanka won by 198 runs (D/L method)

Sri Lanka innings (50 overs maximum) R B 4s 6s SR

WU Tharanga c Aftab Ahmed b Mohammad Rafique 26 37 3 0 70.27

ST Jayasuriya c Habibul Bashar b Abdur Razzak 109 87 7 7 125.28

DPMD Jayawardene c Aftab Ahmed b Saqibul Hasan 46 70 2 2 65.71

KC Sangakkara c Tamim Iqbal b Syed Rasel 56 55 3 1 101.81

LPC Silva not out 52 48 5 2 108.33

RP Arnold not out 5 5 0 0 100.00

Extras (lb 11, w 10, nb 3) 24

Total (4 wickets; 50 overs) 318

Did not bat TM Dilshan , M Muralitharan , WPUJC Vaas , SL Malinga , MF Maharoof

Fall of wickets 1-98 (Tharanga, 14.2 ov), 1-137* (Jayasuriya, retired not out, 24.6 ov), 2-202 (Jayawardene, 35.3 ov), 3-261 (Sangakkara, 44.4 ov), 4-300 (Jayasuriya, 47.6 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ

Mashrafe Mortaza 10 0 66 0 6.60 (2nb, 2w)

Syed Rasel 10 0 58 1 5.80

Abdur Razzak 10 0 86 1 8.60 (1w)

Mohammad Rafique 10 0 48 1 4.80 (2w)

Saqibul Hasan 10 0 49 1 4.90

Bangladesh innings (target: 311 runs from 46 overs) R B 4s 6s SR

Tamim Iqbal c Sangakkara b Malinga 6 7 1 0 85.71

Shahriar Nafees lbw b Vaas 0 3 0 0 0.00

Mushfiqur Rahim c Dilshan b Maharoof 6 33 1 0 18.18

Aftab Ahmed c Jayasuriya b Malinga 12 16 2 0 75.00

Saqibul Hasan b Muralitharan 4 20 0 0 20.00

Habibul Bashar run out (Jayawardene) 18 47 2 0 38.29

Mohammad Ashraful not out 45 63 6 0 71.42

Mashrafe Mortaza c Tharanga b Arnold 7 14 0 1 50.00

Mohammad Rafique c Maharoof b Dilshan 7 17 0 0 41.17

Abdur Razzak c Sangakkara b Malinga 0 2 0 0 0.00

Syed Rasel run out (Dilshan) 0 1 0 0 0.00

Extras (lb 2, w 4, nb 1) 7

Total (all out; 37 overs) 112

Fall of wickets 1-1 (Shahriar Nafees, 0.5 ov), 2-7 (Tamim Iqbal, 3.4 ov), 3-20 (Aftab Ahmed, 7.3 ov), 4-26 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 11.1 ov), 5-41 (Saqibul Hasan, 16.4 ov), 6-66 (Habibul Bashar, 25.3 ov), 7-80 (Mashrafe Mortaza, 29.4 ov), 8-101 (Mohammad Rafique, 34.4 ov), 9-111 (Abdur Razzak, 35.5 ov), 10-112 (Syed Rasel, 36.6 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ

WPUJC Vaas 7 4 11 1 1.57

SL Malinga 6 0 27 3 4.50 (1w)

MF Maharoof 7 1 26 1 3.71 (1nb, 1w)

M Muralitharan 9 0 15 1 1.66 (2w)

ST Jayasuriya 1.5 0 2 0 1.09

RP Arnold 3.1 0 17 1 5.36

TM Dilshan 3 0 12 1 4.00

Toss Bangladesh, who chose to field first

Player of the match tba

Umpires SJ Davis (Australia) and DJ Harper (Australia)
TV umpire IL Howell (South Africa)
Match referee JJ Crowe (New Zealand)
Reserve umpire Aleem Dar (Pakistan)

Match notes

Sri Lanka innings
Sri Lanka: 50 runs in 8.3 overs (54 balls), Extras 8
1st Wicket: 50 runs in 54 balls (WU Tharanga 18, ST Jayasuriya 24, Ex 8)
Power Play 2: Overs 10.1 - 15.0
ST Jayasuriya: 50 off 43 balls (4 x 4, 4 x 6)
Drinks: Sri Lanka - 98/1 in 14.2 overs (ST Jayasuriya 63)
Sri Lanka: 100 runs in 14.5 overs (94 balls), Extras 11
Power Play 3: Overs 15.1 - 20.0
Rain: Sri Lanka - 136/1 in 24.0 overs (ST Jayasuriya 83, DPMD Jayawardene 11)
Sri Lanka: 150 runs in 27.2 overs (170 balls), Extras 16
2nd Wicket: 50 runs in 54 balls (DPMD Jayawardene 30, KC Sangakkara 19, Ex 1)
Sri Lanka: 200 runs in 34.5 overs (216 balls), Extras 22
Drinks: Sri Lanka - 202/2 in 35.3 overs (KC Sangakkara 25)
KC Sangakkara: 50 off 50 balls (3 x 4, 1 x 6)
Sri Lanka: 250 runs in 42.6 overs (265 balls), Extras 22
3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 48 balls (KC Sangakkara 28, LPC Silva 25, Ex 0)
ST Jayasuriya retired hurt on 83 from 137/1 (24.6) to 283/3 (46.4)
ST Jayasuriya: 100 off 85 balls (7 x 4, 6 x 6)
Sri Lanka: 300 runs in 47.5 overs (294 balls), Extras 23
LPC Silva: 50 off 45 balls (5 x 4, 2 x 6)

Bangladesh innings
Lunch: Bangladesh - 0/0
Power Play 2: Overs 10.1 - 15.0
Drinks: Bangladesh - 31/4 in 15.0 overs (Saqibul Hasan 2, Habibul Bashar 1)
Power Play 3: Overs 15.1 - 18.0
Bangladesh: 50 runs in 20.3 overs (127 balls), Extras 5
Rain: Bangladesh - 72/6 in 27.5 overs (Mohammad Ashraful 20, Mashrafe Mortaza 1)
Bangladesh: 100 runs in 34.2 overs (210 balls), Extras 5

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Cricket: Pakistan pile up runs as Inzy bids tearful farewell

03-21-2007, 19h25

Pakistani cricketer Inzamam-ul-Haq, who plays his last one-day international, leaves the field after being dismissed off Zimbabwe's bowler Tawanda Mupariwa during their Group D match at the ICC World Cup Cricket 2007.
(AFP

A tearful exit by Inzamam-ul-Haq was overshadowed by Imran Nazir's second career limited overs century in Pakistan's final World Cup match against Zimbabwe here on Wednesday.

Inzamam delighted the small Sabina Park crowd with a brief cameo of 37 off 35 balls, but Nazir plundered 14 fours and eight sixes in 160 from 121 balls, as Pakistan, sent in to bat, were dismissed for 349 in 49.5 overs.

Last Sunday, Inzamam announced that this match would be his last one-dayer for Pakistan, and he would also give up the captaincy after a tournament overshadowed by the death of coach Bob Woolmer.

When he arrived, Nazir was well into stride, but he joined in the fun with two fours and three sixes before he skied an on-drive to extra cover off Tawanda Mupariwa in the 28th over.

As Inzamam retreated to the dressing room, the celebrating Zimbabwe players all rushed to shake his hand and offer their congratulations for a stellar career in which he played 378 one-dayers and scored 11,739 runs at an average of 39.52 .

Meanwhile, his Pakistan teammates had descended the steps from the dressing room to form a guard of honour, and Inzamam burst into tears at the gesture.

By the time Inzamam departed, Pakistan were well in control, and Nazir never took his foot up off the throat of the Zimbabwe attack.

After Kamran Akmal was caught behind for 15 off Elton Chigumbura in the seventh over, and Shoaib Malik was caught at backward point for 21 in the 18th over, Nazir drove skipper Prosper Utseya to long-off for a single to reach his 50.

After he and Inzamam put on 70 for the third wicket, Nazir was dropped on 81 at deep mid wicket, when Friday Kasteni put down a skier off Gary Brent, who had Mohammad Yousuf caught and bowled for three off the very next delivery to leave Pakistan 170 for four in the 31st over.

Nazir was eyeing his landmark and reached his milestone, when he played forward defensively to Christopher Mpofu, and scampered a single to the short cover fielder.

Younis Khan had come to the wicket and was playing fluently before he too, was dropped on 26 by keeper Brendon Taylor off Sean Williams essaying a reverse sweep.

Younis went on to add 81 for the fifth wicket with Nazir before he was run out for 28 to leave Pakistan on 251 for five, with 10 overs remaining.

Nazir jammed his foot down hard on the accelerator and continued to maraud the the Zimbabwe attack.

After he was dropped on 135 at long-on by Chigumbura off Mupariwa, he flicked the same bowler through square leg for a single to reach his 150.

Pakistan however, continued to lose wickets, but they gathered 98 runs for the loss of their last five wickets from the last 10 overs, with Nazir dismissed for the highest individual score by a Pakistani in World Cup cricket, and Rao Iftikhar collected a career-best 32 off 16 balls.

Zimbabwe made one change to their line-up, bringing back Gary Brent for Anthony Ireland, and Pakistan had two changes, with Shahid Afridi and Danish Kaneria coming into the side for Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Mahmood.

Zimbabwe tied their opening match with Ireland last Thursday before losing to West Indies by six wickets on Monday, and they require a victory to have a chance of qualification for the Super Eight stage.

Pakistan lost the World Cup opener against West Indies by 54 runs last Tuesday, and then to Ireland last Saturday by three wickets to make an early exit from the competition.

Scoreboard:

Pakistan

Kamran Akmal c Taylor b Chigumbura 15

Imran Nazir c Matsikenyeri b Mpofu 160

Shoaib Malik c Chibhabha b Williams 21

Inzamam-ul-Haq c Williams b Mupariwa 37

Mohammad Yousuf c and b Brent 3

Younis Khan run out (Mpofu/Taylor) 28

Shahid Afridi b Brent 16

Mohammad Sami c Utseya b Brent 5

Rao Iftikhar c Matsikenyeri b Chigumbura 32

Umar Gul b Chigumbura 10

Danish Kaneria not out 6

Extras lb2, w12, nb2 16

Total all out; 49.5 overs 349

Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Kamran Akmal), 2-88 (Shoaib Malik), 3-158 (Inzamam-ul-Haq), 4-170 (Mohammad Yousuf), 5-252 (Younis Khan), 6-285 (Shahid Afridi), 7-295 (Imran Nazir), 8-301 (Mohammad Sami), 9-324 (Umar Gul), 10-349 (Rao Iftikhar)

Bowling Mpofu 10-1-74-1 (2w)

Mupariwa 10-1-57-1 (1w)

Chigumbura 6.5-1-50-3 (1nb, 1w)

Brent 10-0-68-3 (3w)

Williams 6-0-41-1 (1nb)

Utseya 6-0-46-0 (1w)

Chibhabha 1-0-11-0

Zimbabwe: Prosper Utseya (captain), Vusimuzi Sibanda, Friday Kasteni, Justice Chibhabha, Brendon Taylor, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Sean Williams, Elton Chigumbura, Gary Brent, Tawanda Mupariwa, Christopher Mpofu.

Umpires: Brian Jerling (RSA) and Simon Taufel (AUS); TV Replays: Ian Gould (ENG), Reserve: Billy Bowden (NZL)

Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)

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Indian team in spin dilemma

Agencies

Port of Spain, Mar 21: The Indian cricket team is in a dilemma over the choice of specialist spinner ahead of the critical game against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup here.

Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh both have given good account of themselves in their solitary games and now a choice needs to be made between them for the Friday's game.

Kumble showed all the traits which makes him such a remarkable strike bowler in the game against Bermuda.

The Karnataka leg-spinner claimed three for 38 from his 10 overs but Bermuda being Bermuda, it perhaps was a below-par performance from the champion leg-spinner.

Harbhajan bowled in more trying circumstances against Bangladesh as the latter were off to a good start and were chasing a paltry total.

Harbhajan was hard to get away and finished with none for 30 from his 10 overs. His economy, as can be seen, was a stand-out feature of his effort.

The team is wrestling with their choice, according to sources, as any of the two spinner could feel hard done by if omitted from the playing eleven.

Kumble is straining under the leash to give a good account of himself in the final World Cup of his glittering career.

His World Cup ambitions are well-known as is the fact that he has declared his intentions to retire from one-day cricket after this tournament.

Harbhajan, on the other hand, has been India's best spinner in the limited overs format for the last year and a half. He also brings value to the side as a lower-order batsman and a better bet than Kumble in the field.

The game against Sri Lanka being a must-win encounter, the Indian team wants to revisit their plan again and again before making up their choice.

India's world cup plans, as is known, is hanging by the thread.

Opinions though have started to shift in Harbhajan's favour by the hour. The off-spinner brings good value to the side because Sri Lanka's line-up is packed with left-handers.

As many as four left-handers dot their batting map: openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga, Kumara Sangakkara and Russel Arnold. In the lower half too, Chaminda Vaas is a left-hander and can strike mighty blows.

To top it, Kumble's record against Sri Lanka isn't that great either. He has picked up 34 wickets from 43 games against the neighbours and has a rather high economy rate of 4.66 per over.

Spinners are seen as key players for teams in this World Cup where wickets tend to keep low and slow.

As many as six top class spinners are in the fray: Kumble and Harbhajan for India; Monty Panesar for England; Muthiah Muralitharan for Sri Lanka; Danish Kaneria for Pakistan and Daniel Vettori of New Zealand are in a league of their own.

The best show, however, has come from Bangladesh who played three left-arm spinners against India and all of them squeezed the life out of their more fancied opponents.

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Bob Was Killed? Cops

Agencies
Kingston, Mar 21: The mystery surrounding the death of Pakistan's cricket coach Woolmer deepened today with the Jamaican police declaring that the end was "suspicious" and required "full investigation".
"The autopsy report was inconclusive on the cause of the death. Having met with the pathologists and other medical personnel, there is sufficient information to continue a full investigation into the circumstances of Woolmer's death which is now being treated as suspicious," Mark Shields, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jamaica, said in a statement today.
"We have already informed the Woolmer family of this development and we are also in close contact with the Pakistan team management, Cricket World Cup and the ICC to ensure all parties are kept informed of the ongoing investigation."
Asked whether it could be murder, Shields said "we are not saying that. We still do not have the official final report from the pathologist. We will update you on any further findings tomorrow."
Meanwhile, a team source said the Jamaican police suspected Woolmer's death to be a murder
In the final posting on his website, late Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer said that he was "disappointed" over reports in Pakistani media that tried to "disrupt team spirit" during the World Cup.
"We are also very disappointed by the articles trying to disrupt team spirit appearing in our press in Pakistan, and would ask those who read this to ignore the drivel!" wrote Woolmer in his final 'Diary' item on Friday.
Pakistan team media manager Pervez Mir said "suspicious need not be absolutely and totally negative."
"Whatever information police have told us, we are accepting it. Obviously, they are investigating. They say it is suspicious death, even now they are not conclusive. Suspicious does not mean absolutely and totally negative," he told reporters.
As speculation mounted about the reasons for Woolmer's death, Pakistan's Geo TV talked of "poisoning".
Woolmer's death came a day after Pakistan suffered a shock defeat against Ireland and was eliminated from the World Cup. The former England Test batsman, aged 58, died in mysterious circumstances on Sunday.
He was found unconscious in his hotel room in Kingston in the morning and was rushed to Kingston University hospital where he was declared dead an hour later.
Woolmer, based in Cape Town, South Africa, was a diabetic and also suffered from the rare sleeping disorder of Epnia where the patient stop breathing while sleeping.
Last e-mail
The last e-mail Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer wrote before his death on Sunday night doesn't seem to suggest he was depressed.
After Pakistan's defeat to Ireland on Sunday, Woolmer wrote the following e-mail:
"We might have to do this from afar. I don't know what is going to happen next. We will first play our game against Zimbabwe and the fly back to Pakistan. This will be give me more time to work on by book on coaching. The articles will have to be more general from now on. Thanks: Bob
p.s: What a miserable day it has been. Almost as bad as Edgbaston, 1999!"
The time when the e-mail was sent is not known yet, but it shows that Woolmer was planning for life beyond the World Cup.
Bob never said of stress: Wife
Woolmer's wife, Gil said she received an e-mail from him on Sunday. He was upset about the loss to Ireland but was fine. He spoke about how bad he felt after the loss and hinted that he might be sacked as Pakistan's coach. Woolmer wanted to serve out his contract with Pakistan. He did not say anything about match-fixing. Gil also clarified that her husband had not complained about chest pain or any other physical discomfort. Woolmer, 58, was found unconscious in his hotel room in Kingston on Sunday and declared dead in hospital later that day. His death is now being treated as "suspicious" by Jamaican police, the deputy commissioner Mark Shields told a news conference on Tuesday. "Having met the pathologist, medical personnel and other investigators, there is now sufficient information to continue a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Woolmer which we are now treating as suspicious," Shields said.
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From bookies to the Taliban, those Woolmer theories in full

Poisoning, strangling and match-fixing conspiracies all get their airing in the press and on the blogs

A Pakistani cricket fan lights candles to pay tribute to Woolmer in Karachi. Photograph: Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty Images

The announcement by Jamaican police that they are treating Bob Woolmer's death as "suspicious" has triggered a flurry of conspiracy theories.
Unverifiable reports and wild guesses, littered across the mainstream media and keenly promoted in the blogosphere, have suggested that anything from murder by poisoning and strangling to suicide by means of a drugs and alcohol cocktail, to a stress-related heart attack may have caused the Pakistan coach's death.
Most appear to be in agreement that Woolmer was initially discovered unconscious on the bathroom floor in his hotel room, but that's about all they agree on. Woolmer's family, the BBC reports, believe that he fell victim to a heart attack induced by high levels of stress.

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Steve Harmison criticises disciplinary action against Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff

Fast bowler Steve Harmison says England?s decision to strip Andrew Flintoff of the vice-captaincy following a late night drinking spree could backfire.

Harmison, who quit one-day international cricket in December, denied Flintoff, a close friend, had a drinking problem and added, "if Captain Michael Vaughan gets injured, it's an even bigger blow.?

Harmison also said he felt the incident would prove a benefit in disguise for Flintoff, as it will make him and the team the stronger with an even better chance now of winning the World Cup, because the squad will be galvanised by what has happened. ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -------------------------------

Wed Mar 21, 2007

Canada?s cricket coach to resign after Zimbabwe match

Canada Coach Andy Pick is set to resign after their final group match on Thursday and return to his position as England under-19 coach following the Canadians? early elimination.
Pick said the Canadians offered him a two-year contract because they have received funding for that from the International Cricket Council.

However he had asked for a three-year contract but until they receive funding for a third year they have been reluctant to commit.

Canada face New Zealand on Thursday.

The end - (SNNI) sports round......................... ..................