Azad Majumder

Shane Watson struck a world record of 15 sixes to take Australia to a crushing nine wicket victory over Bangladesh in the second ODI on Monday.

At the start of the World Cup South Africa captain Graeme Smith finally snapped when he was asked yet again about his team's reputation for choking.

New Zealand stunned South Africa on Friday by knocking the form team out of the World Cup in the third quarterfinal.

Favourites India launched the World Cup with fireworks from Virender Sehwag and the expected opening day big victory over their co-hosts.

Opener Virender Sehwag ignored an injury to smash 175 and lift India to a massive 370-4 in the opening match of the World Cup against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh was expected to come to a standstill later on Saturday when the country hosts India in the opening match of the Cricket World Cup in Dhaka.

South Africa paceman Dale Steyn, fresh from being named player of the series in the recent Bangladesh tour, is proud his name is now being bracketed with some of the world's best. ''Just to be put in the same bracket like [Muttiah] Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Pollock or Shane Bond, it's remarkable,'' he said in an interview on Thursday.

After setting an opening partnership record and declaring their first innings on 583 for seven, South Africa also posted a wicketkeeping record on the second day of the second Test against Bangladesh on Saturday. With two catches behind, wicketkeeper Mark Boucher overtook Adam Gilchrist and took his tally for Test wicketkeeping catches to 401

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith is under no illusions how tough it will be for his side to win their Test series in Bangladesh but believes they have the firepower to come home with victory. The first of the two-match series starts in Dhaka on Friday, and the second will begin on February 29 at Chittagong.

The stench of death from bloated corpses wafts through the air at Swarankhola, a small fishing village in souther Bangladesh that bore the brunt of a deadly cyclone last week. Three days after Cyclone Sidr swept through the Bay of Bengal, a walk through the village is like a walk through a valley of death.

Bangladeshi police broke up a protest march by hundreds of Muslims after Friday prayers over the publication of a cartoon that they say offended their religion. Bangladesh suspended publication of Alpin, a weekly satire magazine of leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo, and its publishers apologised.