Australia captain Ricky Ponting strode majestically to his 35th Test hundred to help his side recover from a shaky start in the opening Test against the West Indies on Thursday. Ponting used a West Indies attack hamstrung by the withdrawal of key strike bowler Jerome Taylor to serenely progress to 158.
Chaminda Vaas lost his nerves, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul kept his, and struck a four and a six off the last two balls to hand the West Indies a sensational one-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first one-day international on Thursday. Chasing 236 for victory from their allocation of 50 overs, the West Indies entered the final over at Queen’s Park Oval needing 13 runs to win.
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=cwc_home"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/300732/Icon_CWC.gif" align=left border=0></a>West Indies became the second side to book a place in the Super Eight quarterfinals of the World Cup after beating Zimbabwe by six wickets in their Group D match in Kingston on Monday. Chasing 203 runs from their allocation of 50 overs, West Indies struck gold with 13 balls to spare when captain Brian Lara lofted Elton Chigumbura over wide long-on for a six.
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Ireland gave their countrymen a St Patrick’s Day to remember when they clinched a sensational three-wicket victory over Pakistan to send the former champions crashing out of the Cricket World Cup at Sabina Park on Saturday in Jamaica. Chasing a revised target of 128 from 47 overs, Ireland held their nerve to hit the jackpot.
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Zimbabwe and Ireland played to a thrilling tie in a tense finish to their World Cup Group D match at Sabina Park in Kingston on Thursday. Opener Jeremy Bray carried his bat for an undefeated 115 off 137 balls, his second one-day international hundred, to give Ireland a sniff of a chance.
Under-strength Zimbabwe and debutants Ireland may look like a lightweight contest in a World Cup group which also includes mighty West Indies and Pakistan. But both need a win on Thursday if they are to have any hope of progressing in the tournament.
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West Indies captain Brian Lara acknowledged his side had a major problem to overcome if they are to fulfil their goal of becoming the first host nation to win the World Cup. The 37-year-old Lara believes his side has to overcome the kind of catastrophic batting collapse that saw them dismissed for 85 in 25.5 overs in Friday’s nine-wicket defeat to India.
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/ 20 February 2007
Ever since their stunning capture of the International Cricket Council Champions Trophy for the first time three years ago in England, there has been widespread optimism in the Caribbean that West Indies could be the first host nation to win the World Cup.
West Indies cruised to a 19-run victory over India on Sunday, wrapping up a 4-1 one-day series victory after a fine all-round batting and bowling display. Chasing 256 runs from their 50 overs to win, India were dismissed for 236 in 48 overs to leave West Indies buoyant heading into next month’s four-Test series.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo and compatriot Dave Mohammed wrecked Zimbabwe’s batting to leave West Indies with a modest victory target of 153 in the fifth One-day International on Wednesday at the Beausejour Cricket Ground. Bravo captured three wickets for 24 runs from 9,2 overs and Mohammed collected three for 37 from 10 overs on his ODI debut.