ICC World Cup 2011

[DexteR]

<iframe src='http://i.imgci.com/homepage/wc2011_countdown.swf' scrolling='no' frameboder='no'></iframe>

See the Last post for most recent Updates


Welcome to the SD Cricket World Cup 2011 Central. Here we are going to discuss everything related to the Cricket World Cup 2011 which is to be played in India - Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February 12 to April 2, 2011 (Warm-up Matches start Feb 12th, 2011 and Group Matches start Feb 19th, 2011.)

I would like to bring all the news and happenings related to the ICC World Cup. You are also encouraged to share news, your knowledge and insight as we move along.

This Video below will help you know more about the schedule, venues and more about the ICC World Cup.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BSmMNN0BaQ"]ICC World Cup 2011[/ame]

[Sadaf Gondal]

[sheem]

aahhooo

maza aya bara match ka

[naz]

ayar lite he chale gaye thi 14 balls thi or 18 runs per lite gaye sheem video de do kahe se dekhna hia wo last ka match yaar
kiya india ab q.final main nahi jaye ga ?

[Killer]

about pakistan. i think team ko wohi rehna cahye including kami,
changes mai hafiz ko bahir krna chahye, aur rehman ki jagha ajmal ko lena chaye..

pakistan ko do mai se ik match jeetna hay to qualify.. so i think zimbawe easy target hoga..so ziada changes k bajae, her hal mei matach jeetne per focous krna chaye.. even i wonder wo b upset na kardain bcoz i don't believe our team..they are unpredictable..

All the best to pakistan. and i wish, afridi ki apni performance (batting) improve hojae kyon ke iswaqt batsmen ki ziada zerurat hay...

[naz]

aj dekho south africa ko main yehe soch rahe thi yaha Pakistani team hoti tu har he jate kitni fight ki in logo ne 7bastmen tak sahi batting kar raha tha yaha hamare shuro ke 4 out hojate tu tention shuro hojati ke jee ab kiya hoga ...

[Sadaf Gondal]

ayar lite he chale gaye thi 14 balls thi or 18 runs per lite gaye sheem video de do kahe se dekhna hia wo last ka match yaar
kiya india ab q.final main nahi jaye ga ?

India vs South Africa Highlights World Cup 2011 | My Cricket Highlights

u can watch all the parts.

[Sadaf Gondal]

No fear for focused Taylor
Unsurprisingly for a team that won their previous match by 110 runs against Pakistan, a meeting with Canada doesn't hold any fears for New Zealand. Ross Taylor, their stand-in captain, believes if his team are assertive Canada are bound to crumble in Mumbai where the renovated Wankhede Stadium, the venue for the final next month, is staging its first game of the tournament.

"We know that if we can put the so called minnows under pressure earlier on, we can try to dominate from there," Taylor, who is covering for the injured Daniel Vettori, said confidently. "But we have to try and restrict them. We know the result should be a win,"

Taylor also ruled out New Zealand playing with the specific intention of bettering their net run-rate in order to strengthen their standing in terms of who they may face in the quarter-finals. "Net run rate may play a part but the focus is to win the next two games whether chasing or batting first," he said. "Playing Canada you don't start doing things differently compared to playing against India for example. You've got to do good preparation."

Taylor is leading New Zealand on the back of his thunderous, unbeaten 131 against Pakistan which included brutal assault in the final overs where New Zealand ransacked 112 runs from the final six overs. Kyle Mills and Tim Southee then bowled aggressively to demolish the Pakistan batting top order so maintaining that momentum is the key for New Zealand going forward.

"We know we are a good side," Taylor said. "We believe in each other to put up good performances. The confidence in the camp is getting higher. Once you are on a roll and in cricket if there is some momentum going you get a bit of confidence from the momentum and you start playing better."

His counterpart, Ashish Bagai, will expect nothing less from his own team either after they scored a convincing victory against an out-of-sorts Kenya in Delhi. That win came after demoralising losses in the first three matches. "We are getting better and better with each game, the performances if you have noticed is getting better and better," Bagai said.

But Canada have had some tough few weeks. At the outset they had singled out the contests against Zimbabwe and Kenya to earn points. However, the brittleness of the batting was exposed against Zimbabwe where, chasing 298, Canada's top six fell for 66. Bagai likened their team appearing the World Cup as turning up to the Olympics once every four years without enough quality preparation and didn't want to be too harsh on his batsmen, but admitted mistakes had been made.

"In the first three games, and even the practices games, it was disappointing for us with the bat," he said. "We talked about having some self-belief for the guys coming in, getting to another level. Yes, we have a few young guys up the order who are struggling. But I still feel that senior guys like me, John [Davison] and Rizwan [Cheema] have to take some responsibility. We did not do that. Hopefully, the last two games, we can use the last game as a confidence booster for us."

Davison, Canada's most senior batsman, needs to stand up for his team. He began the tournament with consecutive ducks before being left out and on his return he was moved into the middle order agains Kenya where he came in for the final moments. Canada have played New Zealand at the last two World Cups in South Africa and West Indies and, on both occasions, Davison has hit sparkling fifties - the first one in 2003 was the third fastest at the time. The time has come for Davison to refresh those memories and create a new mark.

[Sadaf Gondal]

Vettori to miss Canada game

Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, will miss his team's next game against Canada on March 13 because of a knee injury. Vettori hurt his right knee during the game against Pakistan and is now hoping to be fit for New Zealand's last league game against Sri Lanka on March 18 in Mumbai.

"At the moment Dan's staying with us," opener Martin Guptill said. "I think he is probably going to miss the next game. But he is staying with us for the rest of the tournament which is good for us." Guptill said the team had not decided who will take Vettori's place yet. "Not too sure what they are going to do. We haven't had a selection meeting yet. The decision will be taken tomorrow."

Vettori's movements appeared to be seriously restricted after a diving effort for an attempted catch at mid-on in the sixth over of Pakistan's innings, and two balls later he limped slowly from the field. At the time, he struggled to walk around the boundary, being helped along by the support staff, and had ice treatment in the changing room while the vice-captain Ross Taylor oversaw the 110-run win.

Ellery Tappin, the New Zealand media manager, said Vettori had strained a ligament in his right knee. "It's not a tear or something significant. He is targeting the Sri Lankan game."

[Sadaf Gondal]

Australia mull Michael Hussey selection
Ricky Ponting has nominated David Hussey and Steven Smith as the men in danger of being axed from Australia's side to squeeze Michael Hussey in for Sunday's match against Kenya. However, the Australians won't be tempted to rest any of their best XI, with Ponting's men desperate for action having been twiddling their thumbs during a two-week break since their last full game.

Hussey has trained strongly since joining the squad in Bangalore as the replacement for Doug Bollinger, impressing the medical staff with how quickly he has recovered from surgery on his hamstring. The Australians will wait to see how Hussey handles Saturday's training session before confirming him in the side, but Ponting said it would be a difficult call as to who would miss out.

"It's going to be a very tough decision, and one that up until a week ago we probably didn't think we'd have to make," Ponting said. "I've had a close look at [Mike] the last couple of days in training. He's striking the ball really well. The physio forced him to do some quite intense running yesterday out on the ground. He got through that particularly well.

"I think if you looked at two players that you'd have to single out who are in the same sort of position as Mike plays, it's going to be unfortunately probably his brother or someone like Steven Smith. They're the roles that Mike will come and play for us. We'll have that sorted out by the morning."

The chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, was due to join the touring group on Saturday evening to replace David Boon as the selector on duty, and the Hussey decision is the only one likely to be required for this game. The backup players Callum Ferguson, Tim Paine and John Hastings will remain on the sidelines, but could come in to contention for Wednesday's clash with Canada.

The first-choice batsmen are in need of some valuable time in the middle, having not batted since the win over New Zealand in Nagpur on February 25. While sides like Sri Lanka and England have only one group match remaining, the Australians have three to play, and men like Ponting and Cameron White have spent hardly any time at the crease.

"We won't be resting," Ponting said. "We've had enough rest over the last 16 days. We've had about one-third of a game in the last 16 days. We've trained really hard, we trained really well leading into the Sri Lanka game and this week since we've been here in Bangalore, we've trained particularly well again, so we're really keen to get out there and play some cricket.

"What it does do, it gives you a chance to prepare very well. We should be exceptionally well prepared for the next two games we've got coming up because we've had such a long break. It gives our players a chance to get over any little niggles they might have had from the previous games as well. We're probably the only team in the tournament that will have a break that long. "

The Australians have played Kenya twice before in World Cups, winning with relative ease on both occasions, and the Kenyan outfit of 2011 is notably weaker than their previous line-ups. But Ponting said there was no way his men would slip in to complacency against Kenya, whose only wins against Test nations since 2003 have come against Zimbabwe.

"We won't take any game lightly," Ponting said. "We want to go out there and play the best cricket that we can. We know that we've got Kenya and Canada and then Pakistan just around the corner, then you've got quarter-finals and semi-finals. We haven't played a great deal of cricket yet in the tournament, so it's all about us getting our way right in the business end of the tournament, so that means that we go out tomorrow and play the best game of cricket that we possibly can."

[Sadaf Gondal]

Kenya up for tough match - Kamande

Jimmy Kamande, the Kenya captain, has said his team has put the demoralising defeat to Canada behind it and is looking forward to the challenge of facing world champions Australia.

"It's been tough for us, losing against Canada was tough for the whole team since we thought that was our best chance of winning a game in the tournament," Kamande said a day ahead of the Australia encounter, "but now Canada is history, we have got to move forward, Australia's coming up and that's what we are concentrating on."

Kamande said the team enjoyed pitting itself against the big sides, and said it held out 'hope' in the clash against Australia. "Everybody who hasn't played against Australia thinks this is a very good opportunity because you never know in life you may never get to play against Australia," he said. "So everybody is looking forward to it, the guys are up for it, and as long as the guys givn 110%, I'll be happy. You never know, the team that plays better cricket on the day will carry the day."

The main stumbling block for Kenya has been their batting, which has flopped on each of the four matches they have played in the tournament so far, leading to heavy defeats. "The greatest concern has been the top-order batting, in each and every game, even the last one against Canada, most of the times we have been 100 or less for five wickets," he said. "We have a lot of talent in our team, a few guys who have spent time in the middle, hopefully we can moving forward from one guy doing well to two-three guys doing well in a game."

Kenya already have no chance of reaching the quarter-finals after losing four matches, but felt the remaining games were also important for the experience they will provide. "This tournament is a stepping stone to Kenyan cricket again," he said. "A lot of guys here have never been to the World Cup, we know what it takes to achieve here, whatever we gain, we take it back home with us and try to improve our performance."