India favourites to win World Cup

Sangakkara says India were favourites to win."They have got to the finals so everyone will look to the Indians to keep doing that and keep playing as well as they have," he said."We're not underdogs, we're a pretty good unit," he added. "But we have to know the fact that the Indians, over the last year or two have been tagged as the favourites to win this World Cup. I'm sure they will be looking at themselves as favourites too. We will just turn up tomorrow and play as well as we can."

Sri Lanka had lost the 2007 World Cup final to Australia after Adam Gilchrist's scored a brutal 149. Sangakkara said the lessons from the game have not been forgotten. "Hopefully, there won't be a repeat of. But even if that happens, then we've got to have the aptitude to adjust and get back into the game," he said."We're all excited, but it's nice to see that it's controlled excitement," he said. "Everyone's comfortable and having a laugh but you can also see a steely determination. World Cup final is a huge occasion, so it's tough to do too much extra.


Since the 2007 World Cup where the Lankans knocked India out in Port-of-Spain, the two sides have met an surprising 33 times in ODIs. India have had a good run, winning 18 times to Sri Lanka's 13, while two were no-results. They know each other inside out, get on well on and off the field, and Sangakkara didn't think they can be expecting to be surprised, Not being too emotional about anything. Trying to be clinical and stay grounded and in the moment. Try and plan and execute them as much as possible, but things can change in the middle and it's significant to be fluid."

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Advertisement rates break all records

Nothing can be bigger than an India-Pakistan knock out game in a World Cup. So, it's not shocking that ad rates for the live broadcast of the game has broken all records.Sources tell NDTV that spot rates for ten seconds of advertisement have risen six times to Rs. 18 lakh. The rates for group stages matches were sold at Rs. 3.5-4 lakh per ten seconds. The previous record for spot rates was Rs. 14-15 lakh (per ten seconds) during the IPL final in 2009.

So far, all matches featuring team India have attracted higher rates. Spot rates for the India-Australia quarterfinal match was Rs. 10-12 lakh (per ten second) while that for India-England match was Rs. 7 lakh (per ten second).

The spot ad rates for the final match are projected to be sold at a enormous Rs. 24 lakhs (per ten second).The mother of all matches has not only affected ad rates, but ticket prices have soared in the black market too. A Rs. 250 ticket fetched Rs. 2,000 while Rs. 500 tickets went for Rs. 4,000. A Rs. 1,000 ticket sold for as high as Rs. 6,500-7,000.

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Shaun Tait retires from one-day cricket

Australia fast bowler Shaun Tait has retired from one-day cricket to focus on the Twenty20 form of the game. The 28-year-old, part of the Australia side knocked out of the World Cup by India last week, is quit domestic and international 50-over cricket. He will focus on Twenty20 matches for Australia, South Australian Red backs, Surrey and the Rajasthan Royals. He said: "This is not a decision I have taken lightly but I believe it is one that will help me prolong my career."

Tait, a fast strike bowler, helped Australia win their third straight World Cup in 2007 and took 11 wickets in seven matches at this year's competition."In reality, playing all year round for Australia and South Australia is not allowing my body to stand up as I would like and I do not want to be compulsory into retirement through career-ending injuries," he added."Twenty20 cricket allows me to handle my body to a level where I feel I can continue to contribute to the game for some time yet.


"My goal was to confidently help Australia retain the ICC Cricket World Cup. However, with our involvement now completed I feel it is the great time to move on in a new direction."Tait made his Test debut in the 2005 Ashes series but found the rigours of the five-day game too much as a slingy, shoulder-heavy, action put great strain on his body. In January 2008, he took an unclear break from the game, citing physical and touching exhaustion, before returning later the same year to focus his efforts on Twenty20s and one-dayers.

In 35 one-day internationals, he has taken 62 wickets at an average of 23.5, while in 19 Twenty20 games for his country, he has 28 victims at 17.7.Cricket Australia general manager Michael Brown said: "Shaun has been an main contributor to Australia's short form cricket over the last few years."Bowling at the speeds he generates places an unusual strain on his body and Cricket Australia compliments the decision he makes today."

WC is main tournament of my life

Sachin Tendulkar

Months before the start of the 2011 World Cup, the entire cricket the public was abuzz with the talk of how this was one of the mainly significant tournaments for the genius of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar. However, Sachin, who is playing his last World Cup remained quiet and decided to focus on the task on hand. But, just a day before Team India’s all main quarter-final against defending champions Australia, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has finally came out in the open and conceded that the ongoing cricket World Cup in the sub-continent is indeed the most important tournament of his memorable cricket career.

Sachin, who has never been very expressive about his feelings, started his World Cup career in 1992 and has equaled Javed Miandad’s record of playing in six World Cups after representing the country in the ongoing edition. Over his two-decade long cricket career, the little master has set and broken every record possible but has longed for the memorable World Cup success that has eluded Team India since that memorable win in the 1983 edition of the quadrennial tournament.

The dream was nearly realized when India made it to the final of the 2003 World Cup but ended up as the runners-up after losing to Australia in the final. Tendulkar was also not a part of the T20 World Cup winning squad that was led by MS Dhoni.

A victory in what in all probability is his last World Cup would be the icing on the cake and would be the perfect parting gift for the man who has done more for Indian cricket than any other cricketer. "Yes, it is the most important tournament of my life," Sachin was quoted as saying by a leading newspaper. “"Everyone wants the team to do well. I need to focus all my energies on how to go about doing my job," he added. Team India take of Australia in the quarter-final before possibly squaring up against arch-rivals Pakistan in the semis.

World Cup Quarter Final : India vs Australia

Former captain Sourav Ganguly on Monday said Team India have the capability to beat Australia in the World Cup quarterfinals in Ahmedabad on Thursday, maintaining 'M.S. Dhoni's men are a better side'.Sourav's team had lost to Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting's side in both the league match and the final in WC 2003. On being asked if India can beat Australia in what is being called a revenge game, Sourav told, "Yes, there is no doubt about it. India have a good chance of beating Australia. India is a better side."


Speaking on India's main expect against the Aussies, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav said, "I don't mind him failing against the West Indies. Every time he has got out reasonably, he comes out all guns blazing in next match. I hope to see him putting India in a good position against the Aussies."Tendulkar had failed to score big in both the games in WC 2003, when India won all their matches, except against the Aussies. India's only WC winning captain Kapil Dev also said, "They have the ability to beat the Aussies."

Tuffey replaces Bennett for New Zealand

International cricket chiefs on Sunday approved New Zealand's Daryl Tuffey as a replacement player for the injured Hamish Bennett at the World Cup. The Black Caps originally called up seamer Tuffey into their squad on Wednesday as cover for Kyle Mills. Bennett suffered an injury to his left ankle and Achilles muscle while bowling during New Zealand's loss to Sri Lanka in Mumbai on Friday. He is the first player to be replaced due to injury in the New Zealand squad for the event.


The 32-year-old Tuffey has played 94 one-day internationals, taking 110 wickets. Meanwhile, New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori believes he will be fit to face South Africa in the World Cup quarter-finals following missing two matches with a knee injury. "I should be all right to get through the batting and bowling, it is just the running around that is hampering me a little bit," said Vettori. "But I still have a few days left and I am confident of being available."

Tendulkar eyes ton of tons in final Group Match

Sachin Tendulkar can complete another landmark on Sunday by hitting his 100th international hundred as India tackle West Indies in the World Cup's final group match. Both sides have yet to make sure of their quarterfinal places, although the qualifying picture from Group B will become a lot clearer after South Africa, who are already through, face hopefuls Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday. As well as the qualification picture, most of the 38,000 fans at the Chidambaram Stadium will be anticipating Tendulkar's 100th international hundred.

The India star moved to 99 centuries (51 in Tests and 48 in one-day internationals with a majestic innings of 111 in his side's earlier group match against South Africa. However, even a 'Sachin special' was not enough to prevent a three-wicket defeat by South Africa where India, on a belting batting pitch in Nagpur, contrived to lose their last nine wickets for just 29 runs as they slumped from 267 for one to 296 all out."When you hit those big shots, you tend to forget that you are playing for the country and not for the crowd," India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.

Runs are set to be harder to come by in Chennai, where no batsman managed a fifty on a naturally bowler-friendly pitch during England's exciting 18-run win over the West Indies on Thursday. The good news for India is that West Indies have no equivalent of Proteas' fast bowler Dale Steyn. But their batsmen, who will be expected to bat far more sensibly in the power play after collectively losing their heads against South Africa, will do well not to under-estimate a youthful Windies attack that worried England.

Sachin's Records:

	Matches	Inns	Runs	N.O	Avg	SR	100	50
Test	177	290	14692	32	56.94	53.96	51	59
ODI	449	438	17953	41	45.22	86.39	48	93

Battle of the batters

Group A Match:New Zealand vs Sri Lanka

While the Sri Lankan players returned to the dressing room after sweating it out for nearly two hours at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, one man was not quite done. Even as his mates chose to escape the sweltering heat, skipper Kumar Sangakkara decided to have a 45-minute long knocking session with coach Trevor Bayliss. Sri Lanka may have qualified for the quarterfinals, but Sanga knows the importance of his side’s day-night encounter against New Zealand on Friday. Momentum is what he is looking for and the performance in the league stage doesn’t quite top his priority list. As far as the Lankan skipper is concerned, it’s the knock-out games that really count.


“Every side likes to build momentum. It is important to carry to that momentum into the next stage. At the same time, the side might not win its last league stage encounter, but there’s nothing to worry. It’s the quarters, semis and the big final that really count,” Sangakkara said. A win on Friday will take New Zealand (8 points) to the top of Group A, but Australia (9) will have to lose to Pakistan if the Kiwis are to finish as table-toppers. And given that both teams are evenly matched, a cracker is certainly on the cards. The Lankans, though, hold a slight edge thanks mainly to their superior bowling attack.

Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan can be a handful on any pitch in the world. The Black Caps will truly miss the presence of their inspiring skipper, Daniel Vettori and seamer Kyle Mills, both of who are out injured. Friday’s contest will, however, be dominated by batsmen. Four days ago, New Zealand had posted a enormous 358 runs against minnows Canada. Brendon McCullum’s century and Ross Taylor’s sixer-studded 74 thrilled the Sunday crowd.Sri Lanka and New Zealand have tasted defeat only once in this tournament. While Sanga & Co ran into an inspired Shahid Afridi in Colombo, the Kiwis were done in by Australia’s pace trio in Nagpur.

Ponting compares Hiral Patel with Sehwag

As Hiral Patel cracked the likes of Brett Lee and Shaun Tait to all corners of the Chinnaswamy Stadium during a World Cup match here, Australian captain Ricky Ponting said the Canadian batsman reminded him of Indian swashbuckler Virender Sehwag. Patel’s blazing 45-ball 54-run innings had the Australians on the back foot before the defending champions regrouped to skittle out the Canadians for 211 and chase the total with ease."He plays a lot like Sehwag," Ponting said after his team's seven-wicket win over the North Americans in a group A match here on Wednesday night.


Ponting felt it would be difficult for the title-holders to fight back if bigger teams get off with the kind of blistering start that Patel gave to the Canadians."We did well to get wickets and restrict them today. But against good teams with deeper batting line-up (it would be hard)," Ponting said. The unidentified factor most likely worked to Canada's advantage and Ponting said his team would be better against Pakistan."We didn't know much about him and the others. We just saw some clippings of them. He required some room and played some wonderful shots.

"But Pakistan, we know their game better," he said before adding, "It's always great playing Pakistan. One never knows about Pakistan. They have been good but against New Zealand they were ordinary."Ponting has, so far, failed to live upto his billing in the World Cup, but hoped he would click in the larger games. "There wasn't much left for me to do today. Hopefully, I am saving them for the big matches," he said. Asked about his angry reaction following his collision with Steve Smith while taking a catch, Ponting said, "It wasn't a great reaction. But it wasn't designed or intentional. It just happened in the spur of the moment. If it looked bad, I apologise."

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England in must-win match to prevent early World Cup exit

Their morale low after a shock loss to Bangladesh, an injury-hit England take on the West Indies in a crucial Group B match on Thursday requiring an complete win to keep their World Cup hopes alive. England have endured a roller-coaster World Cup so far having won two games, with the humdinger against South Africa, holding India to a tie but their loss to minnows Ireland and Bangladesh have made this one a must-win bout even to be able to think of quarterfinal qualification. Presently they are in the fifth position with just five points.


With four teams competing for the three quarterfinal places from the group after South Africa booked their berth with a clinical win over the Ireland on Tuesday, even a win will not suffice for England and they have to wait for the results of the match between India and West Indies and then pray South Africa defeat Bangladesh. India, with seven points, are in the second place while the West Indies and Bangladesh have six points apiece. But English cricketers are insisting that the team always brings out the best in crunch games and can still win the World Cup.

Coming into the tournament as underdogs, the West Indies, led by Darren Sammy, have a slight edge having won all their last three games after the loss to South Africa, but they have not yet been fully tested in the ties having played against lowly-ranked opponents. They have their last big match against India here on Sunday. Unpredictability has been the seal of England's campaign so far as is evident from their bouncy journey and their woes have only compounded with doubts over the fitness of Strauss and key strike bowler Graeme Swann, who kept away from practice yesterday after recovering from a stomach bug.

Indian team cancels practice session

Peeking from behind the buttress roots of the grand banyan tree at the IIT Adyar campus, a little spotted deer and its mother looked quizzically at the nearby buzz and activity. Those who attended the ongoing lectures inside the IIT campus left early, while the absentees had already formed a massive circle around the college playground.

They watched professional grounds men quickly prepare four practice pitches for nets, while two buses full of khaki-clad policemen took their positions around the students. Everything was in place for the Indian cricket team’s practice session in the cusp of their college-going supporters, until the team management decided to call it off last minute.



Apart from being a terrible waste of time and public resources, the IITians walked back into their classrooms with dissatisfaction, because of a few late arrivals in India’s Chennai camp. Coach Gary Kirsten had just arrived late this afternoon from Mumbai, while four other players Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh were to arrive only on Wednesday morning. While Mahendra Singh Dhoni has often insisted that one or two practice sessions will not make the team any better, Team India could have done without missing this session, especially since they lost their last game against the South Africans.

Many of the Indian players, such as Gautam Gambhir, required that extra time in the nets to find their strokes and their confidence, while the likes of Yusuf Pathan would’ve used that session in image re-building. The bowlers, in fact, have more work to do. Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel have to work on their death bowling and come up with new tactics, while Ashwin, Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla need to regain the skipper’s confidence. There’s work aplenty, but Team India, on Tuesday, had different ideas.

England World Cup on line against West Indies

England head into their final Group B match against the West Indies on Thursday knowing defeat will signal the end of their World Cup battle. Even victory may not be enough for Andrew Strauss's men to go through to the knockout stage with England having to rely on other results going their way. A see-saw competition for England has seen them lose to Ireland and Bangladesh yet tie with India and beat a highly-fancied South Africa side. Significantly, that win over the Proteas came at Chennai's Chidambaram Stadium where England held their nerve on a stridently turning pitch to win a low-scoring thriller by six runs.

Now they will look to off-spinner Graeme Swann to again put the squeeze on the batsmen in a match that isn't quite as decisive for the West Indies, who return to the Chidambaram three days later for a group finale against India."It does give things a confident amount of clarity," said Swann, all but unplayable at times while taking one for 29 against South Africa."If we win four games, we win the World Cup which is very simple. If we'd won our first four games it would have been a much nicer position to be in but there's no point in looking back. It all comes down to Thursday."



Swann, who in his first over in Test cricket took two wickets against India in Chennai in 2008, added: "I hope the wicket is like to the South African one. If I could roll it up and take it around with me, I happily would."However, he warned: "The West Indies have got Sulieman Benn, who is a fine spin bowler in my opinion."The West Indies also have two big-hitting batsmen in opener Chris Gayle and the in-form Kieron Pollard who can change the impetus of a match in a short space of time in a way none of their England counterparts have ever managed.

Pollard hammered 94 off just 55 balls as the West Indies beat Ireland by 44 runs last time out and it was an innings the all-rounder hopes has rid him of the tag of being 'just' a Twenty20 cricketer."What's been said about me being a 20-over specialist, that's just history for me now," Pollard, said."I had an opportunity to prove myself and there cannot be a bigger stage than the World Cup to do that. My innings showed what I can do. I will use this as a positive."Whether the Chennai pitch remains the best one to tee-off remains to be seen. But the good news for the West Indies is that a win against either England or India will see them into the quarterfinals and even two defeats may not be enough to end their World Cup.

Collingwood dismisses retirement talk

England's Paul Collingwood has scotched rumor on his one-day future after coming in to bat at number eight during the World Cup beat to Bangladesh. Collingwood quit Tests during the Sydney Test against Australia in January this year to allow himself to focus on one-day internationals and Twenty20 cricket. The Durham all-rounder, who led England to a eminent World Twenty20 triumph last year, has had an unimposing run in the tournament so far, managing just 61 runs and one wicket from four league matches.

He missed the win over South Africa through injury."One reason I retired from Test cricket was to prolong the one-day side of things and I still feel I have major contributions to make," Collingwood, 34, said."I'm still the Twenty20 captain. I want to continue that as well. It's not in my mind to even think about things like this (my future)."Collingwood shrugged off England's topsy-turvy form at the World Cup where they need to beat the West Indies on Thursday to keep up their hopes of a last-eight place.


"I see things rising very much how the Twenty20 did last year in the West Indies. We scraped through the group stages, but once we did we actually put our performances together and went on to win it."We really need to focus on getting this complete game. You put the whole thing together, and we're a frightening team. We want to do that against the West Indies."Collingwood said the scheduling of the World Cup that follow on the heels of a gruelling Ashes and one-day campaign in Australia, was no excuse for their showing so far.

"It's not ideal having two huge series or tournaments together, it's like having two Olympics in the same winter. But we can't make that as an excuse. "We have to beat the West Indies. It's not all over for us and if we can win four games on the trot we can win the World Cup."Collingwood has garnered 5,092 runs and 111 wickets from 197 one-day internationals.

McCullum feels confidence growing for New Zealand

Like Canada skipper Ashish Bagai rightly pin-pointed in the end, New Zealand won the match an hour into the day. It was a period when Canada's seamers were supposed to build the pressure, take wickets and exert control on a pitch glistening with moisture. Instead it was Brendon McCullum who stamped his authority and built early energy for New Zealand which they never lost for the rest of the game. McCullum's maiden World Cup century is bound to bring cheers to New Zealand, a team in the upgrading phase.



Despite winning four out of the five group games so far, including the last three on a trot, New Zealand continue to remain pretenders. Injuries to key players like Daniel Vettori and today Kyle Mills pulling out due to a leg strain, the inconsistency of the top-order, and the untested middle-order, which has not got enough time due to easy victories against Kenya and Zimbabwe, are questions that nag New Zealand. Still, McCullum believed that the team was on the right path.

"The camp is slowly building some confidence. We are slowly starting to play how we want to play and we move into the next game knowing that we have played well over the last couple of games," he said. New Zealand started their battle by thrashing Kenya in their opening match, but perished against Australia in what was initially ticked as a marquee clash. John Wright was reasonably admonished at the lack of application from the batsmen and gave them an earful in private, while jotting a list of do’s and don'ts.

India expect to get their peaking order right

A closer look at the games will reveal that India, rated by many as tournament favourites, have been far from impressive. They were given a run for their money by Bangladesh in the tournament opener. England almost chased down 339. The batting wobbled against Ireland and The Netherlands too gave plenty of headaches to the team as from a position of strength, they suddenly collapsed.

The match against England exposed the team's thin bowling resources and was a pointer that against teams of equal strength, India will struggle. With two tough games coming up, one each against South Africa, on Saturday and against West Indies in Chennai on March 20, the team better pull up its socks. Yes, the quarterfinal berth may have been assured, but there are important brownie points to be scored. The games against South Africa and West Indies will be the true pointer of whether India will be probable to go deeper into the tournament.



There is an opinion being expressed that India took the games against Ireland and The Netherlands a bit too lightly while they were batting and the scratchy wins were a result of that. While the bowling is the biggest weak link, the fielding too is nothing much to write about. Skipper MS Dhoni admitted that the team has many slow and un athletic fielders and hence step up in fielding can't be expected during the course of the tournament. But a crucial drop in the knock-out games or a missed run out chance could bring the hosts' campaign to an early end.

But everything isn't so gloomy. Yuvraj Singh's form should cheer up even India's biggest critics. In what can be termed as more good news for the favourites, the team tied a match against England, who in turn defeated South Africa; West Indies, who are scheduled to play the last league match against India, lost to South Africa. A simplistic evaluation of these dynamics is likely to give the boys in blue a psychological edge ahead of the mouth-watering contests. India have been notoriously slow starters in major tourneys, but if they peak at the business end of the tournament, no one would complain.

Resurgent West Indies face Ireland threat

Aware that any slip-up could pose a serious threat to their quarterfinal chances, a resurgent West Indies will take on giant-killers Ireland in an interesting group B match of the cricket World Cup here on Friday. With two victories in three matches, the West Indies are standing on the brink of quarterfinals and a win against Ireland at the PCA Stadium on Friday will more or less secure their place in the last-eight stage. With four points in their kitty, the West Indies are in the third place in Group B behind India and England but in advance of South Africa on net run rate. The top four sides from each group qualify for the quarterfinals.

After the defeat at the hands of South Africa in their tournament-opener, the Caribbean side made a strong comeback and demolished the Netherlands and co-hosts Bangladesh in their next two outings. But the West Indians are aware of the challenges posed by the Irishmen and would do well not to take the game calmly as hard matches against India and England await them in the tournament after Friday's day encounter."We have played against them quite a lot and know what they are capable of. But we can't take any side for granted in this contest particularly after the way Ireland played against England," senior West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan said ahead of Friday's match.

"Every game is a must win game for us in this tournament. We will just go out there play and enjoy."The West Indies have a strong batting line-up and will be looking to explosive Chris Gayle for a firm start. Young Darren Bravo showed great potential at the number three position while the middle-order has loads of experience in Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivanarine Chanderpaul. Also, in Keiron Pollard down the order, the West Indies have a batsman who can tear apart any bowling side on his day. However, the West Indies, who have a legacy of producing great fast bowlers, have some concerns on the bowling front. Apart from Kemar Roach, they don't have a quality pacer in their attack.

Pietersen out of cricket World Cup

England's Star batsman Kevin Pietersen will miss the rest of the World Cup, with a team spokesman announcing Monday he would be returning home to undergo a hernia operation."Kevin Pietersen will go back to the United Kingdom in the next 24 hours because of a hernia injury," said the spokesman."England have applied to the ICC for Eoin Morgan to come as a replacement player."Pietersen, moved up the order to open during the World Cup, made just two off three balls during England's Group B win over his native South Africa on Sunday, and it is now 27 one-day internationals since his last century.

Team officials said Saturday that Pietersen would undergo an operation, but only after the contest, although the player did say the injury would "no doubt impact my preparation" during the World Cup. However, the procedure has been brought forward after the 30-year-old was clearly worried during Sunday's six-run win at the Chidambaram Stadium where he looked more of a threat with his part-time off-spin than with the bat. Pietersen’s injury was diagnosed following England's 6-1 one-day series loss in Australia which came after the Test side's Ashes series triumph.

The batsman's early departure from the World Cup raises questions over his future in the 50-over form of the game, with Pietersen having frequently complained about a crammed international schedule. Advancing the surgery might allow Pietersen to appear in this year's Indian Premier League. His original plan for a six-week course of treatment after the World Cup coincided with the profitable event, which starts next month. Pietersen is due to earn around $650,000 (400,000 pounds) playing for IPL side the Deccan Chargers this season. However, England would like their star batsman to be well-rested ahead of a busy home season of international cricket, featuring series against Sri Lanka and India.

Former Ireland batsman Morgan would have been in England's original squad but for a finger injury. His replacement, Ravi Bopara, made a man-of-the-match winning 60 against South Africa in Chennai on Sunday. However, both Morgan and Bopara are middle-order batsmen which leaves England needing to find a new opening partner for captain Andrew Strauss. Either Jonathan Trott or Ian Bell could now be promoted up the order. England’s victory over previously unbeaten group leaders South Africa revived a faltering World Cup battle which has featured a stuttering win over the Netherlands, a tie with co-hosts India and a shock defeat by Ireland.

Yuvraj hopes to play main role for India in WC

Star cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who steered India to a easy win over Ireland late Sunday with his all-round show, hoped to play a key role in the future big matches in the ICC World Cup series."It's been a very good day for me as I was in form with bat and ball. I am happy to have stayed till the end to finish off the game on a winning note," a beaming Yuvraj told reporters after India beat Ireland by five wickets in 46 overs in Group B fixture at the Chinnaswamy stadium in this tech hub. Though excited over his maiden five-wicket haul, a first in the World Cup, Yuvraj sought to down play the rare success by saying he was only a part-time bowler.

"You can say it was my day though it may not be like that every day. But you can't equate me with a world class spinner like Harbhajan Singh and upcoming spinners like Piyush Chawla. I just tried to put brakes on Ireland when they were trying to combine after losing two early wickets," the south paw asserted. Admitting that the team had lot more to do in all departments for winning the remaining three league matches and then to lift the World Cup, Yuvraj said it did not matter if he bats in the fourth, fifth or sixth slot as long as he plays well and stays till end to post a big score or chasing to win.

"If we have to prove that we are a good team we have to win all the matches irrespective of whom we are playing against. As an all-rounder, I have an important role to play in the team, more with the bat than ball, as I am only a part-time leg bowler who tries to make up for other bowlers," Yuvraj clarified.Asked he had paved his place in the team with a match-winning performance by scoring a successive 50 after a similar knock against England Feb 27, Yuvraj said he was finding his form to be in good nick so that he could build partnerships and last till the end for putting up or chasing big scores.

Irish pledge extreme attack against India

Ireland's giant-killing cricketers have vowed to play aggressively in Sunday's World Cup match against India as they effort to add the host nation to their list of scalps. The non-Test-playing nation provided the upset of the tournament to stun England by three wickets on Wednesday and all-rounder John Mooney said they would take on the same courageous approach in Bangalore."Our expectations going into the India game will be the same and we will go all out. Every game we play, we play to win," said Mooney, who took four wickets and scored a crucial 33 not out against England.

"As it was against Bangladesh, it will be the same against India too."It didn't happen in the first outing, but we went out with the same attitude against England and the approach will be the same against India."Ireland, who lost a close opening match against Bangladesh, have two points from as many games and a win over India would be a main step towards reaching the quarter-finals. They owed their victory to dominant batsman Kevin O'Brien, who hammered a 50-ball hundred - the fastest in World Cup history - as they overhauled England's imposing 8-327.

India, with three points after two matches, including a dramatic tie against England, may be struggling to find the right bowling combination but O'Brien said the hosts had the resources to keep pressure on his team."A couple of bad matches won't make them a bad bowling attack. I've seen the likes of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh and they're very good bowlers," said O'Brien, who turned 27 on Friday."It's going to be a tricky game on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it as it's not every day that you play in front of 50,000 screaming fans."

India need to back up their batting with tight bowling and fielding against Ireland, who showed the depth of their batting against England as lower-order batsmen Alex Cusack and Mooney made essential contributions. The hosts' batting looked formidable in their two matches so far, with Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli cracking centuries against Bangladesh and Sachin Tendulkar scoring 120 against England. But India's bowling has left a lot to be desired despite trying out different combinations as they conceded 283 runs against Bangladesh and could not defend 338 against England in the tied match.

Afridi rescues Pak from the edge

Shahid Afridi struck with the ball once again to help Pakistan score what was eventually a complete triumph over Canada in the World Cup match at the Premadasa stadium on Thursday. Chasing a modest 185 to win, Canada could muster only 138 giving their rivals a 46-run win. The Pakistani captain hasn't contributed with the bat as much as is probable from him in this tournament. However, as a bowler, he has more than made up for his batting blemishes. His five for 23 on Thursday follows an equally inspiring five for 16 against Zimbabwe and his four for 34 against Sri Lanka on this venue.

Afridi's fifth fiver in ODIs took his wickets tally in the tournament to 14 -- the highest in the tournament thus far. His effort helped Pakistan to their third straight win in this edition and second in two meetings over Canada. It was also the former champions 10th win in 17 matches against six defeats -- at the Premadasa, while the result also helped bolster the overall record of the teams batting first at the venue in 75 day/night games played at the venue, the team batting first has won a whopping 46 and the team batting second only half the number.

Coming to the match ,a day after Ireland had upset England, another minnow, Canada, gave a good account of themselves, at least for two-thirds of the match. Only their batsmen could not complete the work that their bowlers had so believably done. The end result was a third successive loss in the tournament. The Canadian innings began on a disastrous note, with both the openers Ruvindu Gunasekara (8) and Nitish Kumar (2) going back to the pavilion inside the first five overs.

Captain Ashish Bagai (16) frustrated the Pakistani bowlers by sticking at the wicket for a few overs before his opposite number attentive him leg before. However, even he couldn't propel his side's poor scoring rate. If the Pakistani innings was slow that of the Canadians was slower. Only 25 runs were scored in the first 10 overs and the total was just 50 after 20 overs. In fact the Canadian scoring rate was well under three-runs-per-over till the 29th over.