India Sets up Semi Final Clash with Pakistan in World Cup Cricket 2011

With a superb 5-wicket victory, India has ensured a semi-final encounter with arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing World Cup Cricket 2011. Excellent all-round performance from Yuvraj Singh guided India towards the victory which has brought an end to four-time world champion Australia’s current campaign. So, it is pretty much clear that cricket world is going to see a new world champions this year.

Winning the toss, Austrlaian captain Ricky Ponting decided to bat first. The Aussies had a good start to the match thanks to very good batting display from captain Ponting and Brad Haddin. Ponting secured his 30^th ODI and 5^th World Cup century on his way to play an excellent innings of 104 off 118 balls.

Haddin scored 53, but Clarke, Mike Hussey and White did not big score. In the end, David Hussey’s unbeaten 38 off just 26 balls helped Australia put a respectable total of 260 runs on the board. Ashwin, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh got 2 wickets each for India.

In reply, India lost Sehwag’s wicket early, but Tendulkar and Gambhir kept India on course. Tendulkar got out after scoring 53 runs off 68 balls and on the way became the first member of 18,000 runs club in ODI cricket. Gambhir was playing very well, but upon reaching his half-century the left-hander unfortunately lost his wicket in a mix up with Yuvraj while attempting to take a risky single. Dhoni also got out after scoring 24, leaving Yuvraj and Raina under pressure.

However, the two left-handers did not disappoint their captain guiding India towards the victory with 5 wickets and 14 balls left in hand. Yuvraj remained not out at 57 off 65 balls, while Raina played an unbeaten innings of 34 off just 28 balls. Yuvraj Singh was adjudged man of the match for his match winning performance.

India would now face arch-rival Pakistan in the second semi-final of the tournament on April 30, 2011 at Mohali.

New Zealand vs Zimbabwe ICC Worldcup 2011: Kiwi bowlers did a great job

The World Cup Cricket 2011 is going on now. The Group-A match between New Zealand vs. Zimbabwe match is the 18^th match of the ongoing ICC cricket World Cup 2011. It is taking place at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad. Many people are now looking for the live streaming of the match. To see the live streaming visit:

http://crictime.com/live-cricket-streaming.htm

New Zealand is at number 4 spot in Group-A with 2 points and Zimbabwe is on 5^th position with same amount of points. Today’s match is very important for both team. Winning this match will ensure their advancement in the next stage in the top four.

The match is going on now and it looks like Zimbabwe has run out of luck. It lost all its wicket and scored only 162 runs. Winning the toss Elton Chigumbura, Captain of Zimbabwe team decided to bat first. KD Mills took 2 wickets giving 29 runs while TG Southee took 3 wickets giving the same amount of run.

For more information about the match, you can check our Cricinfo website.

India vs England World Cup Cricket 2011: Time and Venue

On Sunday (27 February), India and England are taking on each other in a Group B match of ICC World Cup 2011 in Bangalore. Both sides started off the tournament with victory, but a victory in Sunday’s match would prove to be a psychological booster for the winning side. So, India and England- both are determined to give their best in their bid to win the match.

Time and Venue

Sunday’s important day/night match between India and England will begin at 14:30 local time (09:00 GMT) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

This match was originally scheduled to take place at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, but after the failure of the Cricket Association of Calcutta (CAB) to meet ICC’s deadline of preparing the ground, this match was shifted to M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Owned and operated by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is one of the most notable cricket grounds in India as well as in South Asia. It has a seating capacity of 50,000 crowds and is used as the home ground of Karnataka State Cricket Team and IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. International cricket of all three formats- Test, ODI and T20- is being held regularly in this stadium.

India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Australia are four competitors to win the ICC World Cup 2011 trophy

ICC World Cup 2011 is now very much closer. Only few days are left to kick off the 10^th edition of the ODI format cricket tournament. Ahead of this biggest cricket event, fans are organizing different religious functions for the success of their national cricket team. On the other hand, cricket experts keep themselves busy to find out the probable teams who can win the trophy this year.

According to cricket experts, there are four cricket competitors who have the highest possibility to win trophy. These four countries are- India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Australia.

India is one of the co-host countries of this tournament and their performance in all formats of cricket game is impressive. But it is said that they will be put under immense pressure for the matter of being one of the co-host countries. So, the big challenge for Indian cricket team is to perform well under pressure.

No doubt, India is one of the few strong teams and according to former cricketers like Mohinder Amarnath and Bisehn Singh Bedi, India has the most balanced side with the combination of senior and young players and bowling is their main strength. It is also believed that they will repeat the history of 1983 when India won their ICC World Cup trophy. To fulfill their dream of winning the trophy after 18 years gap, they will have to hold the nerve on the specific day.

However, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has already proved his ability to play under pressure.

After India, it is Sri Lanka who has the most probability to win the trophy. Not many people think Sri Lanka as the hot favorite team of this tournament. Even, their performance in the upcoming tournament is also questionable. They won the trophy in 1996 which was organized in their country.

What about South Africa? South Africa is also performing well but they will have to face some problems to play in spin condition.

Defending Champion, Australia, has moved into the World Cup campaign as unpredictable team. They will have to fight to hold their title. Australia is not in good form and that is why gamblers may not want to take risk with Australia.

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Zimbabwe Squad for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Zimbabwe Cricket Union already announced their final squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which will begin from 19 February 2011. Their final squad consists of 15 players. The list of players are given below-

Zimbabwe 15-man squad: Elton Chigumbura (captain), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Sean Ervine, Gregory Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Christopher Mpofu, Raymond Price, Edward Rainsford, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, and Sean Williams.

Non-travelling reserves: Terrence Duffin, Tinotenda Mawoyo, Njabulo Ncube, Tinashe Panyangara, Vusi Sibanda.

The squad includes six batsmen, three specialist spinners and three fast bowlers.

Fans will be surprised to see the exclusion of some top players like Njabulo Ncube, Terrence Duffin, Tino Mawoyo, Tinashe Panyangarara and Vusi Sibanda. The reason of not selecting them in the main squad was their poor performance. However, they have been named in the non- travelling reserves.

The surprising inclusion of this squad is perhaps Sean Ervine. This former Zimbabwean player has been recalled in the national squad after six years. His last game against Bangladesh at Bulawayo was in 2004. It is expected that his all-rounder form in the South Asian sub-continent will help Zimbabwe to play well. It is not sure that he can give his team the best form as he had no relation with national cricket team for long time. However, his absence in the national cricket will make impact in his form as he has played domestic cricket in Australia for Western Australia. Now, his present club is Hampshire. It is a cricket club in the English county cricket.

Sean Ervine has played 42 ODI matches and 5 Tests for Zimbabwe. In ODI cricket, he has scored 698 runs at an average of 25.85 and with the ball, he has taken 41 wickets. His form in test cricket is not bad at all. He can play an important role in the lower order position and as an occasional bowler. As per three-year contract, he has joined to play for Zimbabwe. The interesting thing is that his younger brother, Craig Ervine, has also been included in the main squad.

However, hardly anyone could think that Zimbabwe will tour without their experienced opening batsman, Hamilton Masakadza. Because of his poor form, selectors did not include him in the World Cup squad. In 2010, he was out of form. No doubt, selectors will have to find someone to replace him in the opening position. However, Masakadza was not picked in 2003 because at this time he was at university in South Africa and in 2007 because he was out of form and lack of consistency in the ODI format of cricket game.

Elton Chigumbura was named the captain of Zimbabwe cricket team. It is obviously a big challenge for this young player. Fans are eagerly waiting to see how he can handle this pressure.

Tatenda Taibu has been included as the main wicketkeeper while Regis Chakabva and Charles Coventry will be back-up option for any emergency. Tatenda Taibu has the highest possibility to make open with Brendon Taylor.

Except Sean Ervine, there are two other all-rounders in the squad and they are Greg Lamb and Chigumbura.

However, Zimbabwe bowling action does not look much stronger. Chris Mpofu, Ed Rainsford and Shingirai Masakadza are only three fast bowlers in the squad. Keeping the South Asia condition in mind, selectors have picked Prosper Utseya, Graeme Cremer and Ray Price as specialist spinners.

Zimbabwe has been placed in Group A along with Australia, Canada, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

They will start their ICC World Cup 2011 campaign against Australia on 21 February at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad.