Zimbabwe won by 175 runs

Nagpur: Wicket-keeper batsman Tatenda Taibu scored an invaluable 98 and veteran left arm spinner Ray Price took 3/16 as Zimbabwe thumped Canada by 175 runs in a World Cup Group A clash at Nagpur on Monday.

Chasing 299 for victory, Canada were bowled out for 123 in the 43rd over.

Earlier, Price struck thrice in three overs as Canada got off to a horror start.

Taibu's innings helped his side overcame the early loss of both openers and reach 298-9 in their 50 overs.

With both sides needing victory to have any chance of progressing to the quarterfinals, Zimbabwe slumped to 7-2 after winning the toss and choosing to bat at Nagpur's VCA Stadium.

Brendan Taylor fell lbw first ball to Khurram Chohan and Charles Coventry went the same way to Harvir Baidwan before Taibu hit nine fours in a 99-ball innings to add 181 for the third wicket with Craig Ervine (85).

But Indian-born legspinner Balaji Rao took 4-57 as Zimbabwe slipped from 188-2 to 240-7 to give Canada the faintest hope of a second win in 15 World Cup matches.

Canada's World Cup best total is the 249 it racked up against New Zealand four years ago, when it lost by 114 runs. With the ICC Associate side never having scored more than 265 in a one-day international against a test nation, the odds strongly favor Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura said before the match he wanted to win the toss and bat first on what has been a good wicket in the two previous matches played on it. He got his wish but Zimbabwe's innings started disastrously.

Taylor, who scored 37 when Zimbabwe cruised to a 143-run win in the teams' only previous one-day international five years ago, was hit on the pad by an inswinger from Chohan that was hitting middle.

And Charles Coventry was back in the dressing room halfway through the fourth over, swinging across a delivery by Baidwan.

Zimbabwe hit back but Rao broke the partnership with a ball that spun back from outside off and took an inside edge before spooning up off Ervine's pads. Ashish Bagai, another of the wicketkeeper-captains at the World Cup, ran from behind the stumps in front of the batsman to take the catch.

Bagai did the same in the following over, diving to get rid of Chigumbura in exactly the same fashion — this time off a delivery by Rao's fellow spinner, Rizwan Cheema.

Taibu had progressed serenely with Ervine alongside him, rotating the strike and selecting his shots well, but with the pressure back on and partners changing he slipped up and hit Rao straight to John Davison just inside the deep midwicket boundary.

Greg Lamb dragged Rao onto his stumps and the spinner got his fourth wicket when Bagai again sprang forward to take a catch off the back of Sean Williams' bat. Prosper Utseya holed out to Chohan for 22 and Baidwan bowled Graeme Cremer for 26, leaving Ray Price unbeaten on 10 and Chris Mpofu on 3.

Windies score despite losing Bravo

New Delhi: Chris Gayle continued his attacking-style of play and thrashed the Dutch bowlers to all corners of the ground in their Group B encounter at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi on Monday.

Earlier, Gayle shared a century stand with his opening partner Devon Smith (53 off 51) before the latter got out to medium pacer Bernard Loots. The lanky left hander then put on a 68-run stand with Darren Bravo, who fell after scoring 30 off 38 balls.

Other than Bernard, slow left arm bowler Pieter Seelaar also chipped in with a wicket for the Netherlands.

The two Caribbean openers got their team off to a cautious but solid start after being put into bat by the Dutch.

Injury-ravaged West Indies will have plenty to play for as they have lost the first match against South Africa.

On the other hand Netherlands will come out all guns blazing after their terrific performance against England and they will be hoping for an upset win.

For West Indies Nikita Miller comes in for injured Dwayne Bravo and on the other hand Netherlands have gone with the same team that lost too England.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011-Canada Vs Zimbabwe And Netherlands Vs West Indies

Vs ========================================================= Vs

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011-India Vs England Match tie

Bangalore: Zaheer Khan's brilliance with the ball helped India snatch a point from England after a pathetic display from Indian bowlers and fielders led to team's failure in defending a mammoth target of 338 as the Group B match ended in a tie at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.

England skipper Andrew Strauss was the hero of the visitors' innings with a captain's knock of 158 off 145 balls, which set the tone of England's chase.

Strauss and makeshift England opener Kevin Pietersen came out with an aggressive intent to kick off England innings after their bowlers were hammered by Indian batsmen led by Sachin Tendulkar's 47th ODI century.

But a rollicking start by England openers was halted by Munaf Patel, who pulled out a stunning reflex catch off his own bowling to send back Pietersen (31).

However, Strauss went from strength to strength and remained uninhibited in his strokeplay to bring up his half century in company with Jonathan Trott, who could only muster 16 runs and fell lbw to Piyush Chawla.

MS Dhoni decided to use Chawla and Harbhajan Singh in tandem inside the bowling powerplay but the spin twins failed to make an impression on the proceedings as Strauss and Bell continued to get a boundary an over to keep England in the hunt.

Strauss brought up a stroke-filled century off just 99 balls to surprise India as England looked set to challenge the gigantic target.

But right when the 170-run stand looked to take the match away from India, Strauss chose to take the batting powerplay in which India took four wickets for just 25 runs.

That proved to be the turning point of the match as Zaheer Khan bowled a magnificent spell to dismiss 'Man of the Match' Strauss, Bell (69) and Paul Collingwood (1).

Wickets continued to tumble until Tim Bresnan (14) hit Chawla for two sixes to bring the match in balance; however, Chawla bowled him out in the same over.

Needing 14 runs off the last Munaf Patel over, Ajmal Shahzad hit a six out of nowhere to stun the crowd into silence. Two runs were needed from the last ball, off which Swann could hit only one run, which ended the match in a tie.

However, India's performance in the field and bowlers' failure to defend such a big total put serious question marks over India's 'favourites' tag in this World Cup. Even Zaheer Khan, who was the most successful Indian bowler with four wickets, went for 64 runs.

Munaf Patel and Piyush Chawla took two wickets each but gave away 70 and 71 runs respectively.

In the field, beside a number of slip-ups, Harbhajan dropped a half chance to dismiss Strauss early in his innings and Virat Kohli dropped Bell in the slips. Harbhajan returned with one wicket for 58 runs.

Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar scored his 47th ODI century to propel India to 338 all out against England who had to rely on Tim Bresnan's 5/48 to pull things back in the last 10 overs.

Tendulkar reached the century, his 98th in international cricket, in 103 balls as the legend, playing his last World Cup, went after the England bowlers.

He partnered with Gutam Gambhir to hammer England in a second-wicket partnership of 146 runs, which was dominated by Tendulkar's fireworks.

In the afternoon, Indian skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. After surviving an early scare, followed by some spanking shots, Virender Sehwag (35) edged one to Matt Prior off the bowling of Bresnan.

Sehwag's intent to spank England bowlers from the word go almost led to his wicket in the first over of the innings itself as he edged James Anderson thrice but the ball fell short of diving fielders. However, he survived the close shaves and settled in with Sachin Tendulkar to give India a start.

Tendulkar led from the front and brought up his half century with a six off Paul Collingwood during the big partnership with Gambhir to put India on course for a huge total. The partnership ended with Gambhir's departure for 51 against the run of play when Graeme Swann bowled him.

Andrew Strauss heaved a sigh of relief to see the back of Tendulkar but the wicket came too late in the day as the Indian master had hammered 120 off 115 balls before being dismissed by James Anderson.

Yuvraj Singh (58) and MS Dhoni (31) took England bowlers on after Sachin Tendulkar's departure. Yuvraj resembled his fluent self in the half-century knock but just when he looked to take the game away from England, the visitors pulled things back by removing him and Dhoni in successive balls.

That led to a flurry of wickets, mainly due to Bresnan who pegged Indian back with his five-wicket haul. But James Anderson earned the unfortunate recognition of becoming the most expensive English bowler in World Cup history by virtue of his spell of 1/91 in 9.5 overs.

Both India and England play their next match against Ireland. While England will meet the Irish team on March 2, India face them on March 6.

Afridi powers Pakistan win over Sri Lanka

New Delhi: The mercurial but dynamic Shahid Afridi lead from the front as Pakistan won their crucial Group A clash against Sri Lanka by 11 runs at Colombo on Saturday.

After the batsmen piled on the runs to take Pakistan to 277/7 in their 50 overs, Afridi starred with the ball to claim 4/34 which just about settled the issue in his team's favour.

The Lankan openers Tillakratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga had taken the score to 76 in the 15th over, when Afridi took a sharp catch to dismiss Tharanga as off spinner Mohammad Hafeez picked up his first and only wicket of the night.

Afridi then came on to bowl and struck straightaway to send back a well settled Dilshan who chopped one on to his stumps for 41.

Thilan Samaraweera was beaten by a classical leg break from Afridi to be stumped by Kamran Akmal and Sri Lanka were tottering at 96/4 in the 22nd over.

Afridi brought himself back into the attack to get the wickets of his opposite number Kumar Sangakkara and followed it up by getting rid of Angelo Mathews which turned out to be the final nail in the coffin for Sri Lanka.

Aus trump NZ in Trans-Tasman battle

Australia won the trans-Tasman battle and the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy after an average - but at times explosive - bowling performance saw them dismiss New Zealand for just 206 in their World Cup Group A match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.

There was a sombre mood before play, as both sides wore black arms bands and huddled together in a moving minute's silence in remembrance of those who tragically lost their lives in the Christchurch earthquakes. For New Zealand, there was so much at stake, a match against their traditional rivals for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, a chance to build on the momentum from their easy win over Kenya and the opportunity to bring just a little bit of cheer to those suffering back in New Zealand. Vettori admitted before the match that it had been an incredibly hard build up for the team, but his team would try and win for the people back home. Unfortunately, they couldn't match it with Australia and were soundly beaten.

Ricky Ponting won the toss and decided to bowl first, hoping to take advantage of the humidity in the air after some heavy rainfall in Nagpur overnight. Australia went in with the same XI that accounted for Zimbabwe, while New Zealand made one change with Jacob Oram being left out, replaced by Jamie How in a somewhat surprising selection.

Brett Lee had New Zealand struggling for runs with some tight bowling, but it was the erratic Shaun Tait who took the first wicket of the innings, having McCullum caught by Krejza for 16. It was a huge blow for New Zealand, McCullum attempting to smash a full delivery but not quite getting across to it and watching the edge fly to Krejza at third man. There was a brief glimmer of hope for McCullum as umpire Doctrove asked for a no ball review, but Tait just had some boot behind the line and McCullum had to go.

Mitchell Johnson replaced Tait, and like Tait had done earlier he sprayed the ball around, before finding his rhythm and striking twice in an over. His first wicket was a decent ball that shaped away from Jesse Ryder's lazy shot and found the edge, which was gratefully accepted by Brad Haddin, ending Ryder's aggressive innings of 25 which included six boundaries. James Franklin was promoted to number 5 but only lasted three balls, playing an awful shot slashing at a wide ball and edging to Haddin for a duck. Franklin may well have performed admirably for New Zealand last time they toured India, but number 5 is too high for a batsman of his calibre.

Ponting replaced Lee with Tait to try and pick up another wicket with fresh batsmen at the crease, and his plan worked beautifully with Tait striking with his fourth ball when Scott Styris played a horrible shot similar to Franklin's and presented Haddin with another simple catch. In Tait's next over he removed Ross Taylor with a fiery yorker that crashed into off stump. New Zealand were reeling at 73 for 6.

A promising partnership of 48 by How and Nathan McCullum was broken when Steve Smith trapped How in front, and that was followed by another good partnership of 56 between McCullum and Vettori, before Johnson and Brett Lee cleaned up the tail, bowling New Zealand out for 206 in the 26th over. Although a disappointing total, it was a reasonable fight back after their horrid start, but not enough on a fairly tame Nagpur pitch. Johnson finished with 4 wickets, Tait took 3 and Lee, Shane Watson and Smith grabbed one each.

The Australians made light work of the run chase, with Watson and Haddin taking advantage of the field being up during the Powerplay, putting on 133 from just 18 overs before Haddin tried one big shot too many and skied a Hamish Bennett slower ball to Franklin at deep midwicket and his innings ended on 55 from just 50 balls. Three balls later, Watson followed with yet another score in the 60s, this time being bowled by Bennett on 62, deceived by another slower ball that induced an ugly swipe across the line from Watson.

Ponting and Michael Clarke consolidated for Australia, happy to push the ball around and pick up the singles, before Ponting departed. Ponting would be disappointed not to have batted through the innings, being stumped when he charged a Southee ball that drifted down the leg side, McCullum removing the bails with some exceptional keeping and Ponting well and truly stranded.

Clarke and Cameron White saw Australia home, cruising to 207 for 3. In fairness, the pitch did seem to flatten out when Australia batted, but it was hardly menacing during New Zealand's innings, and Australia were able to score at will.

New Zealand's afternoon took a turn for the worse when Hamish Bennett appeared to injure his leg bowling at the end of the Australian innings. New Zealand's regular physio Dayle Shackel has returned to New Zealand to attend to his home which was badly damaged during the Christchuch earthquake, so they'll be hoping that Bennett's injury isn't serious. Styris also appeared to injure a finger while batting earlier in the day and didn't take to the field.

Australia's win sets them up, with their group match against Sri Lanka now likely to determine who finishes top and potentially gets the easier draw for the quarter finals, likely to be against the West Indies, Bangladesh or the Netherlands.

After the match Watson said he was glad that Ponting had won the toss and added "bowling first was a really good decision from the skipper, it was always going to do a bit early on". Johnson paid tribute to the bowling attack, stating that "we (Australia) have got those quick out and out bowlers like Lee and Tait, and good spinners as well. We've got a very balanced attack and it's working for us".

Mitchell Johnson was named Man of the Match, and Ponting said that he was "outstanding again today".

New Zealand will head to Motera to play Zimbabwe and Vettori said after that match that New Zealand needed to "move past this quickly and focus on our game against Zimbabwe". The loss shouldn't dent their chances of progressing to the quarter finals, but they'll want to avoid finishing fourth and facing off against the top side from Group B.

Bangladesh score dramatic win over Ireland

Dhaka: Bangladesh stung flat-footed Ireland to resurrect their World Cup campaign with a 27-run victory in front of some 25,000 boisterous home fans on Friday.

Bangladesh, bowled out for 205 after taking first strike in the day-night match, hit back to dismiss the leading non-Test nation for 178 in 45 overs at the packed Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

Former captain Mohammad Ashraful, who scored just one run, turned an unlikely hero with the ball by claiming two top-order wickets with his part-time off-spin.

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan also picked up two wickets with left-arm spin before seamer Shafiul Islam polished off the tail in quick time with 4-21 from eight overs.

Bangladesh, who had lost their first match to India last week, lapped up the pressure in a game they had to win to stay in contention for the quarter-finals from Group B.

But the co-hosts, who play all their league matches at home, must still beat the Netherlands and at least one of the established teams among England, South Africa and the West Indies.

The win helped Bangladesh avenge two successive defeats by Ireland in major events, having lost during the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean and again in the 2009 World Twenty20 in England.

"It was a good game. I thought we played really hard cricket although we didn't bat well. Our bowlers and fielders showed great character and our support was excellent," said Shakib.

Disappointed Irish skipper William Porterfield said a poor batting display cost his side a crucial win.

"It's not hard to work out where we lost the game. We never settled down with the bat. The first 50 overs was pretty good," he said.

But he added: "You can't afford that many soft dismissals."

Shakib turned to spin after just one over from Shafiul, bringing on left-armer Abdul Razzak in the second over and off-spinner Naeem Islam in the third.

The move paid immediate dividends as Paul Stirling was stumped off Razzak for nine, before Irish captain William Porterfield fell to Shakib's first delivery for 20.

Ed Joyce and Niall O'Brien carried the score from 36-2 to 75 when Ashraful struck with the first delivery of his second spell.

Joyce, the former England batsman, made a fluent 16 when he was beaten in the air by a flighted ball and gave a delighted Ashraful an easy return catch.

Ashraful then bowled Andrew White for 10, while Shakib claimed his second wicket when Niall O'Brien fell to a diving catch by Tamim Iqbal at deep mid-wicket after making 38.

Kevin O'Brien slammed three fours and a six in 37 during a sixth-wicket stand of 41 with Andre Botha when he pulled Shafiul to mid-wicket to reduce Ireland to 151-6 in the 37th over.

Shafiul, who had recovered in time from a shoulder injury to play the key match, claimed three of the last four wickets to send Ireland crashing.

Earlier, seamer Andre Botha picked up three wickets and George Dockrell and Trent Johnston claimed two each to bowl out the hosts in 49.2 overs.

The hosts made a blistering start, racing to 49 without loss by the end of the fifth over, 37 of those runs coming from the blade of Tamim.

But the advantage was soon lost as four wickets fell for 33 runs in the next 10 overs.

Man of the match Tamim, who top-scored with 70 against India, began by taking 10 runs in Boyd Rankin's opening over and stroked seven boundaries in his 44 off 43 balls.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Raqibul Hasan lifted the hosts with a 61-run stand for the fifth wicket, before tailender Naeem Islam boosted the total with a defiant 29 towards the end.

Pakistan Beats Kenya by 205 runs

Hambantota: Hambantota: Umar Akmal's blitzkreig of 71 runs from 52 balls and timely half centuries from veterans Younis Khan and Misbah ul Haq helped Pakistan notch up a mammoth 317/7 after an uncharacteristic start from the openers in their first World Cup match against Kenya here on Wednesday.

Misbah ul Haq (65 off 69 balls) and Umar were involved in 118-run partnership for the fifth wicket that provided the much-needed thrust to the Pakistan innings in the last 15 overs before the former departed in quest of quick runs.

That partnership put to rest Kenya's hopes of restricting Pakistan to under 275. Bringing up the team's 200 in the 40th over, the duo upped the ante in the last 10 overs making use of the batting powerplay.

Before that, Misbah joined Younis Khan after Kamran Akmal's (55) dismissal to propel Pakistan to over 150 but Younis got out lbw just after reaching his 50.

But Younis and Kamran's timely fifties took Pakistan out of early trouble and their third-wicket partnership of 98 runs ended only with a rash of blood from Akmal who was easily stumped by the Kenyan wicketkeeper.

Earlier, Pakistan made the most unauspicious start to their campaign as they lost both Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmad Shahzad inside 10 overs to discpilined bowling by Kenyan new-ball bowlers after Pakistan won the toss ane elected to bat.

While Hafeez (9) fell to a splendid catch by Seren Waters off Elijah Otieno at mid-on, Shahzad (1) was sent back by Thomas Odoyo.

Hafeez and Shahzad found it tough to break free against a disciplined bowling after Shahid Afridi won the toss and elected to bat.

England win despite Dutch heroics

NAGPUR: Andrew Strauss led from the front as the English chased down the challenging target of 293 to win against the Netherlands in a Group A match of the ICC Cricket World Cup match here at the Vidarbha Cricket Associaton Ground.


England opened with Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss, who put on 105. KP was uncharacteristically subdued before falling to his usual bugbear of left arm spin, scoring 39 off 61 balls as he was caught by Peter Borren off Pieter Seelar.

Strauss looked on course foe a century before pulling Mudassar Bukhari into the hands of Tom Cooper in the deep, who held a very good catch. Strauss made 88 off 83 balls and put on a further 61 runs with the dour, but dependable Jonathan Trott.

Ian Bell and Trott added a further 58 before the latter was stumped brilliantly by Wesley Barresi off a Ryan ten Doeschate wide down the leg side.

Ten Doeschate also accounted for Ian Bell as the right hander was bowled off the last ball of the former's spell for 33.

Ryan ten Doeschate's spell of 2 for 47 off 10 overs rounded off a wonderful day for the Dutch all rounder and left England with 52 to win off 7 overs at the stage.

Ravi Bopara joined Paul Collingwood just when things looked to be getting tighter for England. The two however, added 55 runs off 34 balls to see out the target with 8 balls remaining. Collingwood remained not out on 30 off 23 balls and Bopara, who hit two fours and a six off Bernard Loots in the 49th over, was not out on 30 off 20 balls.

Earlier, Ryan ten Doeschate struck a blistering 119 off 110 balls as the Netherlands set a stiff 293-run target for England.

Electing to bat on a placid track, the Netherlands piled on their highest total against a full-member nation and bettered their 230 against England at the 1996 World Cup.

The England bowling looked clueless and their sloppy fielding did not help their cause either. Graeme Swann was the best bowler for England with his two wickets for 35.

Alexie Kervezee (16) and wicket-keeper Wesley Barresi (29) gave the Netherlands a breezy start in their 36-run opening stand but the day belonged to Doeschate, who came in the 12th over.

Doeschate controlled the Netherlands innings and batted till the 49th over. He was involved in three crucial partnerships - of 78 runs with Tom Cooper (47) for the third wicket, and later with Tom de Grooth (28) and skipper Peter Borren for the fifth (64) and sixth (50) wickets.

Doeschate's was given a life at 47. A loft off Swann landed in a no-man's land behind the bowler with James Anderson and Pietersen standing frozen as the ball fell in between them.

Doeschate's spirited knock was brought to an end by Stuart Broad when he was caught by Ravi Bopara at the square leg boundary. Doeschate's knock included nine fours and three sixes.

Borren and Mudassar Bukhari (6) added unbeaten 18 runs for seventh wicket. In a dramatic final over, Borren was lucky to survive when Paul Collingwood at midwicket failed to take his required position inside the fielding circle. A no-ball was signalled, Borren was recalled and then Swann dropped a sitter at third man to give Bukhari a life.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011-AUSTRALIA VS ZIMBABWE

Australia Won By 91 Runs

Jayawardene shines as Sri Lanka crush Canada

Hambantota, Feb 20 (AFP): Veteran batsman Mahela Jayawardene smashed a sparkling century as Sri Lanka crushed Canada by 210 runs in their opening World Cup match at Mahinda Rajapakse Stadium on Sunday.

The 33-year-old scored his ton off 80 balls for his 13th one-day hundred, and the fourth fastest in World Cup history, which boosted his team's total to 332-7, much to the enjoyment of a sell-out 35,000 crowd.

New-ball bowlers Nuwan Kulasekara (3-16) and Thisara Prerea (3-24) combined to bundle Canada out for 122 in 36.5 overs.

The lop-sided contest would have given weight to the International Cricket Council's decision to restrict the next World Cup, to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2015, to the top 10 teams, minus minor nations.

Earlier in the day New Zealand had mauled Kenya by 10 wickets in Chennai, after bowling out Kenya for just 69.

Canada, who promised much by putting up a valiant fight against England during their 16-run defeat in a warm-up last week, found the co-hosts too tough to handle in the Group A clash.

"The real star was Mahela Jayawardene," said Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara.

"Once we got the foundation and that solidity we were able to launch and go beyond 300."

Canada captain Asish Bagai admitted chasing such a huge target was always going to be a tough proposition.

"Two world-class players took the game away from us and 330 was always going to be a tough ask," he said.

Sangakkara mixed up his bowling options as Canada lost wickets at regular intervals once their most experienced batsman John Davison had been bowled off Perera's first delivery of the second over.

Hard-hitting Rizwan Cheema top-scored with 37, including two sixes off world record wicket taker Muttiah Muralitharan, while skipper Ashish Bagai, with 22, showed some resistance.

Jayawardene had laid the foundation for Sri Lanka's total with an invaluable third wicket partnership of 179 with Sangakkara, who made 92.

Jayawardene and Sangakkara built on the platform set by opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (50) after Sri Lanka won the toss at this new ground which became the 177th one-day venue.

Jayawardene completed his hundred with a single off spinner Davison after facing just 80 deliveries - the fastest by a Sri Lankan in the World Cup, beating Sanath Jayasuriya's 85-ball ton against Bangladesh at Port of Spain four years ago.

But Davison dismissed him in the same over, caught at short fine-leg after Jayawardene had hit nine boundaries and a six.

Sri Lanka lost a cluster of wickets in the death overs, but Angelo Mathews (21) and Thilan Samarwaweera (18 not out) ensured they got past 300.

Dilshan (50) and Upul Tharanga put on a quick 63 for the first wicket by the 12th over before a mix-up between the two sent Tharanga back, run out for 19.

Dilshan fell just after scoring his third World Cup half-century, holing out at deep cover to Davison after hitting eight boundaries off 59 deliveries.

It was then left to Jayawardene and Sangakkara to punish a hapless Canadian attack, depleted by an injury to spearhead Henry Osinde who walked off the field due to a hamstring problem after bowling only 13 balls.

Jayawardene, who survived two caught behind referral appeals against spinner Jimmy Hansra, upped the tempo by hitting the same bowler for the first six at this ground.

He then clobbered four boundaries in successive overs from Davison, but the veteran Canadian broke the partnership by having Sangakkara caught and bowled.

Sangakkara hit seven fours and a six during his 87-ball knock.

Sri Lanka now face Pakistan in their second match on February 26. Pakistan play Kenya here on Wednesday.

ICC World Cup: New Zealand thrash Kenya by 10 wickets

CHENNAI: New Zealand crushed Kenya by 10 wickets in a totally lop-sided Group A match for a perfect start to their World Cup campaign on Sunday.

World Cup 2011: India beat Bangladesh by 87 runs

Sehwag, Kohli set up strong Indian win in World Cup opener

Mirpur: Played like the World Cup favourites, check. Negated the toss and dew factor, check. Outbatted the opposition, check. Avenged the 2007 defeat, check. Gave the 2011 World Cup a memorable start, check.
Bangladesh's famed spin attack bled before a stunned Mirpur crowd as Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli plundered hundreds to set up a strong 87-run win to begin the World Cup. The home fans had little to cheer today except Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan's brisk fifties, the dismantling of Sreesanth's five wayward overs and Sachin Tendulkar's clumsy run-out.
On a slow wicket at a venue where sides chasing under lights are significantly advantaged, India were inserted by Shakib Al Hasan. They had to out-bat Bangladesh because of the dew and they did by posting a mammoth 370-4.
Sehwag batting with a runner threatened to score the second ODI double hundred. He eventually fell on 175 in the 48th over before the consistent Kohli completed an 83-ball hundred on World Cup debut. Munaf Patel (4-48) and Zaheer Khan (2-41) bowled tidily but there had to be only one result today.
Sehwag has stated his desire to last the full 50 overs. He came out in a mood to attack, and it didn't seem he'd last the course. The first ball of the tournament --- a short, wide ball from the young Shafiul Islam, was slashed through point for four. Sehwag was in a mood to bash everything, and Bangladesh's seamers seemed nervous.
Shafiul and Rubel Hossain bowled trash in the first three overs --- short and wide to Sehwag, and on the shins to Tendulkar --- and 32 runs were quickly added. Shakib then brought on spin and the inevitable slow down occurred.
Sehwag wanted to attack them too but Abdur Razzak and Shakib initially gave him no room to free his arms. Sehwag kept making room or stepping down to them, getting the odd ball away for four, and it seemed this risky approach would cost him soon. It was only after Tendulkar's wicket that Sehwag settled down for a long innings.
Tendulkar fell trying to steal a single to Shakib's throwing hand at midwicket. The veteran playing his sixth World Cup ran blindly down the pitch only to see Sehwag remaining firmly behind his crease. Gautam Gambhir then joined Sehwag for a quick 39, but this was the sideshow compared to what was follow.
Kohli quietly moved to a fifty (46b) while Sehwag led the show, frequently going aerial against the spinners. As Kohli's innings blossomed, the two attacked the straight boundary and midwicket with scary regularity.
Kohli later said Sehwag was egging him on to hit a bigger six than him. "He was teasing me that I was just clearing the ropes and he was hitting sixes into the stands," Kohli said after the innings.
Bangladesh's bowlers had no degree of control during the 203-run partnership for the third wicket. Even the cool-headed Shakib seemed so freaked out at the thought of bowling at the batsmen, he began bowling wide outside off-stump and got penalised three times for wides.
Sehwag had to call Gambhir to run for him after being struck on the knee. He was on course for a double-hundred but the blow softened him up. Thereon, his one-point agenda became bashing every delivery in his arc. He played on to Shakib and seemed quite tired by then.
Imrul Kayes gave Bangladesh the ideal start, tearing into Sreesanth who went for 24 in his third over. Bangladesh moved to 51 in five but Kayes fell as soon as Munaf Patel replaced Sreesanth.
Munaf operated within the stumps and was difficult to hit. Kayes played on trying to force him through the covers and Tamim pulled a straight ball to midwicket.
There will be better days for Bangladesh in the World Cup, but India's campaign as hot favourites couldn't have begun better.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 -Teams & Venue

Aravinda de Silva: World Cup Preview

The 1996 World Cup was very special for all of us Sri Lankans, especially those who featured in it. It was great that I could play the way I did in the semifinal against India in Kolkata and then in the final against Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. I made an impact both with the bat and the ball. That century (107) and three wickets (3-42) proved crucial as we beat Australia by seven wickets.

Even though people may think that anger propelled me to play the way I did, especially after Australia refused to play in Sri Lanka due to security reasons. However, that wasn’t the case. There was no anger, just the motivation to win the Cup for all the people back home.

In a situation like that, in a Cup final, one has to keep one’s head about. We had to counter-attack, considering the situation we were in. That’s the way we played from the beginning of the tournament. It changed the way One-Day Internationals are played.

Everyone’s looking forward to this World Cup more so because it’s very evenly poised. Almost all top teams have the chance to lift the trophy. I don’t see anyone in particular as the real favourites. It will depend on the day and how the teams handle pressure. There’ll be pressure on all teams and not just the hosts India and Sri Lanka. What that means is that there’s opportunity for minnows to cause a few upsets, for they are the ones with nothing to lose and can go all out.

From Sri Lanka’s point of view, a lot will depend on Kumara Sangakkara. He is the captain, the wicketkeeper and one of the main batsmen of the team, the team revolves around him. Apart from him, there are Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan, two very accomplished batsmen in the line-up. The three of them have to click almost every game for Sri Lanka to do well.

Our batting is pretty set and in the bowling too, I think we are well-balanced and have a lot of variety. We have Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando and Nuwan Kulasekara. One can never discount the greatness of Muttiah Muralitharan. He is still as motivated and rearing to go. And of course there’s Ajantha Mendis. It’s an interesting mix.

There’s a lot of talk about how Mendis has been figured out by all teams and there’s no mystery element left to him, which was his main weapon. But, I think he is still as capable of winning matches as before. Over time, it is but obvious that teams will understand your style better and read you better. But that doesn’t mean his talent is on the vain.

It was a very difficult decision and a very emotional moment for me when it was decided that Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas have to be left out from the World Cup squad. They’ve been my teammates for such a long and they are such fabulous players with great records to back. But at the end of the day, as a selector, I have to do the right thing. I have to pick fifteen of the best available players on current form. Taking that into account, I don’t think it would have been possible to include them.

All in all, I think we have a good team going into the World Cup. A lot of people are trying to draw parallels between this team and the one that won the tournament in 1996. I don’t really see any similarity, both teams are different and both have their own strengths and weakness. I think the batting was much stronger in 1996 but this time around we have a much better bowling attack. There’s a lot of variety as well as experience. We have a lot of match-winners in the attack. But at the end of the day, it’s a team effort and the whole team has to click.

I have been asked that there is a possibility of me becoming the first man to win the World Cup as a player and as a selector. Of course, that will be wonderful. But, even Krishnamachari Srikkanth has that chance.

Aravinda de Silva is Sri Lanka's Chief Selector and was instrumental when Sri Lanka won their maiden World Cup in 1996 where he scored a brilliant century in the finals.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Artistes perform at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Dhaka

India vs New Zealand Cricket Match Update

After opting to bat first, India posted 360 for 5 in its 50 overs. New Zealand was bowled out for 243 after 43.1 overs in its chase, as India won by 117 runs.