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SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2015

England out to silence critics against

WELLINGTON: are determined to would not be dwelling on that series as restore their World Cup credibility in a conditions in Wellington would be com- crunch Pool A match Sunday against an pletely different. improving Sri Lanka. “We got beat by Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka so ’s men return to it’s important we go out there and try to Wellington’s Westpac stadium for the fix- stamp our authority in conditions that ture, scene of a humiliating eight- should favor us,” he said. loss to New Zealand on February 20. Finn said England’s poor start meant That defeat, a day-nighter in which they were treating all their remaining pool England folded so quickly that ground staff fixtures-against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and did not need to turn on the floodlights, fol- Afghanistan-as must wins. lowed a 111- drubbing by in “It’s very important for us and these their opening match. three games are almost each like a quarter- A subsequent win over minnows final, but we thrive on that sort of pressure Scotland was greeted with relief rather and hopefully it will bring the best out of than jubilation, and opening batsman us.” said England needed to make a After three matches, England are placed statement against Sri Lanka. beneath Bangladesh and Afghanistan on Ali said victory against the 1996 champi- the Pool A table. ons would restore the battered self-belief A loss to Sri Lanka would leave them of the team, which has been flayed in the facing an early exit if the group throws up British media. “(It’s) a very important game, any upset results. if we can win that it will give the team a lot Today’s match will be Sri Lanka’s third in more confidence of being a very good one- eight days, having played Afghanistan last day side and a major side in the competi- Sunday and Bangladesh on Thursday. tion.” he said. Sri Lanka made a shaky start Former Sri Lanka great Muttiah to their own campaign, suffering a 98-run Muralitharan said the schedule was “not loss to New Zealand and a real scare ideal” preparation for a dangerous against Afghanistan. encounter against an England side keen to But they clicked in a 92-run win over prove a point. Bangladesh last Thursday which included But he said Sri Lanka’s looked centuries for and “ominous” against Bangladesh and sling- . arm fast bowler finally Sri Lanka defeated England 5-2 on home appeared to be finding form. soil late last year in a series that prompted “He looked much more like his old self, Morgan’s predecessor to be his had some of that old zip about axed as one-day . it and that is a great sign for a team that But paceman Steve Finn said England really needs him to fire,” he said. —AFP

SYDNEY: ’s AB De Villiers celebrates after scoring a 150 runs during their Pool B match against the West Indies. —AP De Villiers blasts 162 as SA demolish Windies

SYDNEY: South Africa captain AB de Villiers edge and was caught behind for a . two in three balls, removing du Plessis hammered the second-fastest in World The West Indies lost any remote chance they caught behind for 62 attempting a shot through Cup history as he led his side to a crushing 257- had with the pair’s exit. Jonathan Carter (10), extra cover and then trapping Amla leg before run victory over the West Indies at the Sydney (31) and (nought) for 65. Cricket Ground on Friday. De Villiers finished on all fell in the space of seven balls to leave their But de Villiers and Rossouw began to dramat- an unbeaten 162 off just 66 balls as South Africa side at 53 for five. Leg-spinner trig- ically up the tempo, raising their hundred stand raced to the second-highest World Cup total of gered the collapse and finished with five for 45 off 60 balls. The skipper brought up his 50 off 30 408 for five, behind only the 413 for for five from 10 overs. De Villiers, who made his century balls and Rossouw’s half-century came off 31 made by India against Bermuda, a non-Test off 52 balls, teed off late on, plundering 34 off balls. WELLINGTON: England batsman Moeen Ali catches a rugby ball during training nation, in Trinidad in 2007. Holder’s penultimate over-two sixes, three fours De Villiers unfurled some remarkable shots in ahead of their 2015 Cricket World Cup Group A match against Sri Lanka. —AFP The Proteas’ skipper’s was also the and a two-and then 30 off his last over. Holder the closing overs, easily clearing the ropes. In the fastest 150 in ODIs and de Villiers now has the finished with one for 104 off 10 overs. last 10 overs the Proteas piled on 150 runs. Preview fastest fifty, hundred and 150 in ODI cricket-all Apart from the spectacular de Villiers show, Rossouw was caught behind off Andre coming against the West Indies. there was a solid supporting cast from the South Russell, having struck six fours and a six. Jerome South Africa’s second win of the tournament African top order with contribut- Taylor claimed the catch of the day to dismiss Pakistan look to rescue put them firmly back on track for the quarter- ing 65 off 88 balls, 62 off 70 and David Miller for 20 with a splendid one-handed finals after their abject 130-run loss to India and slamming 61 off 39 balls. effort on the boundary that prevented what revived their bid for a maiden World Cup title. Off-spinner Gayle struck in the 30th over with seemed a certain six. —AFP World Cup campaign On a night for the statisticians, this result also equalled the biggest winning margin, in terms SCOREBOARD BRISBANE: Pakistan’s calamity-hit World opener by seven wickets with Hamilton of runs, at a World Cup match set when India Cup campaign stops off at Brisbane on Masakadza (85 in that game), Brendan beat Bermuda by 257 runs in 2007. SYDNEY: Completed scoreboard in the World Cup Pool B match between South Africa and the West Indies at the Sunday where they will look to get their Taylor (43) and Sean Williams (39) all likely De Villiers demolished the West Indians with yesterday: first points on the board and so keep their to play at the Gabba today. Zimbabwe’s eight sixes and 17 fours and was particularly sav- quarter-final hopes alive against a bruised only other two wins came way back in 1995 age on West Indies captain , clout- South Africa C. Gayle b Abbott 3 and battered Zimbabwe. in and 1999 in Sheikhupura. ing four sixes off the pace bowler’s final over. Q. de Kock c Russell b Holder 12 M. Samuels c de Kock b Abbott 0 On the field, 1992 champions Pakistan Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, who H. Amla lbw b Gayle 65 J. Carter c de Villiers b Morkel 10 The fastest-ever World Cup century was made F. du Plessis c Ramdin b Gayle 62 D. Ramdin b Tahir 22 have been mauled by 76 runs by bitter enjoyed innings of 83 and 67 in the 2013 by Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien, off 50 balls, against R. Rossouw c Ramdin b Russell 61 L. Simmons lbw b Tahir 0 rivals India and suffered a 150-run rout at series in Zimbabwe, said it was crucial to England in Bangalore during the 2011 tourna- AB de Villiers 162 D. Sammy st Ramdin b Tahir 5 the hands of the West Indies. get the defeat against the West Indies out ment. D. Miller c Taylor b Russell 20 A. Russell c Abbott b Tahir 0 Off it, the squad have been in turmoil of their system and concentrate on reboot- It was a miserable effort in reply by the West F. Behardien not out 10 J. Holder c Amla b Steyn 56 with eight players fined for breaking a cur- ing their faltering World Cup campaign. Indies as they tumbled to 151 all out off 33.1 Extras (lb2, w11, nb3) 16 J. Taylor not out 15 few, reports of a bust-up in training and “We must forget it and learn from it. We overs, with their big guns and Total (5 wkts, 50 overs) 408 S. Benn c Amla b Morkel 1 chief selector Moin Khan being sent home just need to improve our performances,” succumbing early on to Kyle Did not bat: D Steyn, K Abbott, M Morkel, I Tahir Extras (lb5, w3) 8 in disgrace for visiting a casino. said the veteran. “If you got tapped in the Abbott. Fall of wickets: 1-18 (de Kock), 2-145 (du Plessis), 3-146 Total (all out, 33.1 overs) 151 Zimbabwe, meanwhile, go into the previous two games, then you can’t per- (Amla), 4-280 (Rossouw), 5-328 (Miller) Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Gayle), 2-16 (Samuels), 3-52 Gayle, who blasted a World Cup record 215 Bowling: Taylor 8-1-64-0 (1nb, 4w); Holder 10-2-104-1 (Carter), 4-52 (Smith), 5-53 (Simmons), 6-63 (Sammy), 7- game on the back of a four-wicket win over form. Every game is a new game, and now with 16 sixes in his last innings against (2nb, 2w), Russell 9-0-74-2 (1w); Samuels 2-0-14-0; Benn 63 (Russell), 8-108 (Ramdin), 9-150 (Holder), 10-151 the UAE, a 62-run loss to South Africa and a we have to leave it behind and prepare for Zimbabwe, exposed his stumps, swung his bat 10-0-79-0 (1w); Sammy 7-0-50-0; Gayle 4-0-21-2 (3w) (Benn) 73-run defeat by the West Indies in a game the next one and try to win all other games. and was middle stump by Abbott for Bowling: Steyn 7-0-24-1 (2w); Abbott 8-0-37-2 (1w); where Chris Gayle made the first double That is the only way.” three in the second over. Samuels, who made an West Indies Morkel 5.1-0-23-2; Tahir 10-2-45-5; Du Plessis 3-0-17-0. century in World Cup history. Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad has unbeaten 133 in the same match, got an outside D. Smith c Miller b Tahir 31 Result: South Africa won by 257 runs. The African side have found it hard to been cleared to play in the game despite restrict opposition batsmen-West Indies suffering an ankle injury, an official said feasted on their bowlers to the tune of 372 Friday. The 23-year-old right-hander was for two while South Africa helped them- sent for an MRI scan after team practice in selves to 339 for four. Brisbane, complaining of pain in his left Size of 2019 World Cup still to decided — ICC Pakistan haven’t played since February ankle but has been judged fit to play. 21 but despite the break, giving them plen- Shehzad scored 47 in the opening SYDNEY: The number of teams taking part in would leave us with a long group stage, at the Bangladesh in 2018. ty of time to chew over over their prob- defeat by India but managed just one in the 2019 World Cup hasn’t been finalised, the end of which the eight teams everyone thought Although they are both members of the 10- lems, they will be buoyed by knowing they Pakistan’s thrashing at the hands of the International Cricket Council told AFP on Friday would get through had made it into the quarter- strong Test ‘elite’, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh traditionally hold the upper hand against West Indies in Christchurch. Zimbabwe as it responded to growing criticism that its pro- finals.” have generally been ninth and tenth in the rank- Zimbabwe. have two points from three Pool B games posed cut risked damaging the sport’s develop- Asked what his feelings were following the ings and could well find themselves involved in They have won 27 of their 30 ODI meet- with skipper Elton Chigumbura demanding ment. initially improved showing by the four Associate a qualifying event featuring the likes of Ireland ings, taking their most recent series 2-1 in his bowlers match the promising form of Cricket chiefs have come under fire for their sides-Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland and the and Afghanistan. Harare in 2013, although they did lose the the team’s batsmen.—AFP plan to reduce the number of teams involved in UAE-at the World Cup, Richardson said: “There’s a “We didn’t want to go to 10 nations without England in four years’ time to 10 from the 14 tak- sense of relief. Our biggest concern before the providing a pathway where you could have the ing part in the ongoing tournament in Australia tournament was that these teams would be leading associates and the lower-ranked Test and New Zealand. uncompetitive.” nations scrapping it out,” said Richardson. “All But ICC chief executive David Richardson, in a An online petition calling for the ICC to aban- will have an opportunity to qualify.” telephone interview with AFP, said Friday: “I’ve don its plan to reduce the number of teams in The best way to improve a ranking is to beat learnt never to say never to anything. I’m sure 2019 has already gathered more than 13,000 sig- higher-ranked teams, yet the Test nations are not the format of the next World Cup will be debat- natures. obliged to play Associate or junior teams such as ed after this one has finished.” Ireland beat one But Richardson said the thinking in reducing Ireland, who beat the West Indies in their World of the elite Test match nations for the third suc- the number of teams had been motivated by Cup opener, outside of major tournaments. cessive World Cup when they defeated the West trying to get as near to the “best format” 1992 “It’s a good point about the rankings. We are Indies by four wickets in their 2015 opener, while World Cup The nine sides taking part in Australia working with the full (Test) members to make Thursday saw tournament debutants and New Zealand 23 years ago all played each sure they play as much as possible against the Afghanistan’s astonishingly rapid progress con- other, with the top four going straight into the Associates,” Richardson said. tinue when they defeated Scotland by just one semi-finals. “We are looking at upwards of six ODIs each wicket to record their first World Cup win. “The best format was 1992,” said Richardson, year for the Associates, although some of these “I’m pleased with the performances of the South Africa’s wicketkeeper at that World Cup. may be against each other. But the fixture sched- qualifiers so far, but the bigger tests are still to “You had nine teams, then the semi-finals. There ule is congested.” , Australia’s for- come,” said Richardson. “The question is what do was something up for grabs in every match.” But mer World Cup-winning captain, is among those you want the World Cup to be? Do you want it to Richardson denied the 2019 World Cup would who believe the emerging nations deserve their be a jamboree of world cricket or the pinnacle of be a ‘closed shop’ of the elite Test-playing place. “It is definitely important to have the min- the one-day game?” nations. now countries to grow the game in different “Heading into this tournament there was crit- As things stand, the eight top-ranked one- markets,” Waugh told Friday’s Sydney Morning BRISBANE: Pakistan cricketers (left) and prepare to bowl icism that the format (where 14 teams are split day sides as of September 30, 2017, will qualify Herald: “ “The World Cup of soccer has 32 coun- during their training session ahead of the 2015 Cricket World Cup Pool B match into two groups of seven, with the top four in automatically with the final two spots to be tries. Cricket needs more than eight teams play- against Zimbabwe. —AFP each pool qualifying for the quarter-finals) decided by a qualifying tournament in ing.” —AFP