Win takes Tigers to brink of WC quarter-finals

Bangladesh cruised to a six-wicket win over the Netherlands Monday which takes them to the brink of the World Cup quarter-finals as Pakistan looked to seal their own passage.

Co-hosts Bangladesh are now in fourth position in Group B on six points, with the top four teams qualifying for the last eight and know a win over South Africa on Saturday will take them through.

The Dutch won the toss in Chittagong and opted to bat but slumped to 160 all out in 46.2 overs despite 53 not out from the dangerous Ryan ten Doeschate. In a reckless display of running between the wickets, the Netherlands lost four wickets to run outs.

Abdur Razzak picked up 3-29 in 10 overs, while fellow spinners skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Suhrawadi Shuvo claimed one wicket apiece.

Untroubled Bangladesh surpassed the target in the 42nd over with left-handed Imrul Kayes making 73 not out. Kayes put on 92 for the second wicket with Junaid Siddique (35) after opening partner Tamim Iqbal was bowled by Mudassar Bukhari off the fourth ball of the innings without scoring.

"It was a nervous win because we had to win to stay in the contest. I thought the boys showed their character and bowled in really good areas and kept the pressure on," said Shakib, who said qualification was still in the Tigers' hands.

If the West Indies beat England on Thursday in Chennai, Bangladesh will qualify regardless of the outcome of the South Africa match.

No team from Group B has yet capable for the knockout round. Bangladesh, India, West Indies, South Africa and England are all in the mix, with one Test team certain to miss out.

Most significant win?

The two-wicket victory over England in the crucial group tie of the ICC Word Cup 2011 can be dubbed as the most significant in the 66 win history of Bangladesh in the ODI arena.

So far Bangladesh have played 242 ODIs, losing 174 of them. The Tigers on different occasions stirred the cricket world with stunning wins but the depth of the victory against England is unparalleled.

Down with the 58-run all out humiliation, criticisms from all quarters, allegation of not applying themselves and in a do or die situation of the existence in the greatest show of the cricket, Bangladesh have never been in so much pressure.

Playing in the home ground amid the pressure of expectations the going was too hard for the cricketers.

Luck was in the favour of Bangladesh from the very beginning as skipper Shakib al Hasan won the fourth successive toss in as many matches this World Cup. The decision was proved right as Bangladesh spinners exploited the weakness of their opponents and shared seven of the ten wickets among them.

The target of 226 was definitely obtainable in the slow pitch that never assisted the bowlers apart from offering a few unpredictable low bounces. Bangladesh skipper Shakib al Hasan’s mode of dismissal was the clear evident of the low bounce when Graeme Swann’s flighted delivery did not rise to the height that Shakib expected.

The foundation was set by Tamim Iqbal and his partner Imrul kayes and the under pressure skipper Shakib Al Hasan kept the boat firmly afloat towards the bank of victory. However, England bowlers were able to hit back and mounted the pressure that took the nerves of the young cricketers.

With Bangladesh struggling on 169 for eight the irritated spectators started to leave stands. Routing of Bangladesh seemed to be a matter of time. But they were left repenting for missing the greatest show of the Bangladesh cricket when Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam proved all the anticipations wrong. The six and the four hit by Shafiul off Graeme Swann in the 42nd over and the piercing boundary through the covers hit by Mahmudullah that notched up the victory will remain ever green in the mind of the people who witnessed them.

And the victory kept Bangladesh alive in the World Cup Cricket, kept the hype of it and moreover arrived as the booster that will continue to inspire the Tigers in the future, for sure.

Lankans first to last eight

Sri Lanka openers Tillakaratne Dilshan (R) and Upul Tharanga run between the wickets on their way to a huge 282-run stand against Zimbabwe in a World Cup Group A match at the Pallekele Stadium yesterday. It was the highest opening stand for the first wicket in World Cup and fourth highest partnership for any wicket in one-day internationals.

Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed 144 before taking 4-4 to help Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe by 139 runs and reach the World Cup quarterfinals on Thursday.

In cooperation with fellow opener Upul Tharanga, who hit a career-best 133, Dilshan put on a new World Cup opening stand of 282 to guide Sri Lanka to an imposing 327-6 before a packed 30,000 crowd at Pallekele Stadium.

Zimbabwe made a fighting reply with Brendon Taylor (80) and Regis Chakabva (35) through a solid 116-run start before the innings fell apart, as they lost their last their last nine wickets for just 63 runs.

Dilshan, who bettered his earlier best of 4-29 against India at Dambulla in 2005, also became the 11th all-rounder, and the second Sri Lankan behind Sanath Jayasuriya, to score a hundred and take four wickets in an ODI.

The result meant Sri Lanka, with seven points from five matches in Group A, becomes the first side to enter the last eight.

New Zealand, with six points from four matches, Pakistan (six from four) and defending champions Australia (five from three) are virtually certain of satisfying the three other qualifying places from the group.

Result: Sri Lanka won by 139 runs.
Man-of-the-match: T Dilshan.

India pack off Netherlands for 189

NEW DELHI, Mar 9 (AFP): India relied on a pace-spin combination to bowl out the Netherlands for a below-par 189 in their World Cup match Wednesday.

Spinners Piyush Chawla and Yuvraj Singh shared four wickets while fast bowler Zaheer Khan grabbed 3-20 after Dutch captain Peter Borren selected to bat before a 30,000 crowd at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.

Borren offered the only fight with a late cameo of 38 runs off 36 balls, with three fours and two sixes, in an otherwise unsatisfactory batting performance by the Netherlands on a placid track.

A win in this day-night clash will close to assure India of a place in the quarterfinals. The Netherlands have lost all their three matches so far and languish at the bottom of the Group B table without a point.

The Dutch were off to a steady start with openers Eric Szwarczynski and Wesley Barresi negotiating India's bowling attack with amazing ease in the first 15 overs. Szwarczynski, one of two changes in the Netherlands team, hit Zaheer for two fours in an over and looked composed until he was bowled by a googly from leg-spinner Chawla. Szwarczynski made 28 with four fours and shared 56 runs for the opening wicket with Barresi.

Yuvraj struck in his very first over when he had Barresi (26) trapped leg before for his 100th wicket in one-day internationals.

Sponsors behind Shakib

Different sponsors of Shakib Al Hasan pledged their support to the all-rounder despite the ongoing controversy. After the devastating defeat to West Indies last Friday, Shakib has faced great pressure from all quarters and it multiplied after he hit back at former cricketers and after a picture of him was published on a news website.

Different sponsors of Shakib Al Hasan pledged their support to the all-rounder despite the ongoing controversy. After the devastating defeat to West Indies last Friday, Shakib has faced great pressure from all quarters and it multiplied after he hit back at former cricketers and after a picture of him was published on a news website.

But lubricants giant Castrol, one of Shakib's major corporate sponsors, confirmed that they were correct behind their brand ambassador. "Players have ups and downs in their career. He's going through a tough time in the game but we are sure he will bounce back in the next game," said Castrol's brand manager Nahid Hasan. "We are with him at the moment and we know that one good game will do him a lot of good," added Nahid.

United Commercial Bank Limited also confirmed that Shakib will get their full backing. "His age is an issue but people make mistakes at that age. We are supporting him," said Tarek Uddin, UCBL media manager. It doesn't harm our relationship with Shakib," he said.

Pepsi too has said there is no possibility of the soft drink huge pulling out.

Fans get hold of tickets

Opportunity of a positive result from Bangladesh in their vital tie against England in Chittagong on Friday was high among the fans as they started to get hold of their match tickets yesterday.

Fans standing long hours under the sun got their prized possession in exchange for the authentication letters from the A K Khan premises at Alankar near the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.

“Ah! I have got my two tickets after standing for six long hours!” exclaimed Saiful Alam Munna a college student, as his face glowed with joy.

He was one of the early ones to get the ticket as he came at the wee hours. Behind him thousand more of cricket lovers waited for their turn.

“I have come here at 5am and waited at least six hours for the tickets. At a standstill it seems a dream come true that I would enjoy a super event like the World Cup”.

He, however, termed the process of ticket distribution as a bit slow and said, “People who have come from far distances are suffering a bit as they have to wait for long and it's a hot day too”.

He said the environment of the city has sensitive his enthusiasm and hoped that Bangladesh will get back to their rhythm and fight against England.

His feelings were shared by Zarin Sultana, a student of Accounting Department of Govt. Hazi Muhammad Mohsin College who collected her tickets from the same booth.

in spite of having complaints about the slow movement of ticket distribution, and that too under a hot sun, she said she was willing to endure all that to see the Tigers play well.

Meanwhile Riaz Babu, an official of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) who is nominated with ticket distribution management, said the allotment of tickets from booths will run till 2pm on the match day (March 11) if necessary.

He said around four thousand people have collected their authentication letters online to enjoy the Match against England.

Sakib stokes new controversy

Bangladesh captain Sakib al Hasan triggered a new debate by questioning the records of former cricketers who have criticized the wobbling Tigers following Friday’s embarrassing nine-wicket defeat to West Indies.

I feel really bad when I see the former cricketers talk like common fans. They understand a lot, played a lot and went through this kind of situation a lot of times. It is really unsatisfactory, Sakib said in his article in a Bengali daily on Sunday.

His comments came in less than a week after the all-rounder had openly insulted a television journalist at a press conference before the West Indies game. Asked about his game plan at the pre-match press conference, Sakib astonished everyone when he returned the same question to the reporter.

Bangladesh, facing a rampant West Indian attack, appeared clueless and devoid of any plan and was all out for 58, their lowest one-day total. The game ended well before the scheduled innings break, sparking an angry reaction from the fans.

The former cricketers also criticized the team for what they said an careless batting in television talk shows and newspaper columns.

We are in this situation for the first time since the Twenty20 World Cup in 2009. What we are facing once in every two or three years, they faced it more often. So they so should keep it in mind while talking,’ he said.

His comments reasonably did not go well with the formers cricketers who also questioned his authority to write column in the middle of such an important tournament. ‘I think when a tournament is ongoing one should not be allowed to write any column,’ said former captain Roquibul Hasan.

‘It shows a great audacity and a great insult to senior players. He doesn’t know the history of Bangladesh cricket and that is the saddest part,’ he said. ‘I think he should remember he represents his country and if this is the approach of the captain then I am sorry to say that we are headed for bad time.

Another former captain Minhajul Abdein said his insult to former cricketers is like refusing to admit the war of independence. ‘It’s like not recognizing the freedom fighters because of whom we got the independence,’ Minhajul told reporters.

‘Does he know how we got the Test status, how we had won the ICC trophy for which he has been playing the World Cup?

If he talks like this it only means he is not concentrating on his game properly,’ said Minhajul, the first Bangladeshi cricketer to be named man of the match in a World Cup game.

Keep your feet on the ground

A group of cricket lovers make a appeasing gesture on behalf of the nation to the West Indies team in front of the Sheraton Hotel yesterday for the unsavory occurrence caused by a few on the previous night.

Very rarely do a team's actions and words join to paint as clear a picture as Bangladesh's performance against Ireland and their captain Shakib Al Hasan's words did at the post-match conference on the Friday before their disaster against the West Indies. In truth, that picture could only be seen in full after their surrender against a focused Caribbean team two days ago.

Disbelief, and not much else

A Bangladeshi fan reacts with disbelief as another home wicket falls on the way to their hard to believe surrender for 58 against the West Indies at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

It is not gentlemanly, it is not smart and it has usually never had a place in cricket. But now and then, on some seemingly God-forsaken days, you have used up every other word in the dictionary and yet nothing manages to quite hit the spot. On such days, no adjectives do your feelings justice and swearing really is the only thing that will do.

And for the scores of Bangladeshi fans who had turned up sporting their red and green for yesterday's crunch match against West Indies, swearing seemed to be the only way they could give good reason for the hardly believable events transpiring before their eyes on a sunny Friday afternoon.

There was nothing to foreshadow the astonishing fall down; no clear sign that such a shocking wreck was impending, none whatsoever of a crash that shamed even the yo-yo stock market in Dhaka. In short, events seemed mysterious. And when things are such, swearing, it seems, is the only way to ease the dissatisfaction souls.

“What is happening out there?” screamed a young woman, clawing at her face in utter disbelief. Her announcement, a remarkable endorsement of the collective mistrust prevailing in the stands, was amazing only because of its lack of expletives. Most others were not so kind, and the match had already descend under a dark cloud before the masses started chanting 'bhua bhua' in that exclusively Bangladeshi style of expressing dissatisfaction.

The rut started with shock when Tamim Iqbal flashed wildly at a Kemar Roach delivery to depart for a three-ball duck. At that point, most of the capacity crowd had not yet warmed their seats. Some were still queuing up to get into the stands when the audibly collective groan flooded in through the turnstiles.
A young man decked in Bangladesh colours was confused.

“Did we just lose the toss?” he hopefully asked. But reality hit him with a thud when the man three spots ahead of him checked his phone. “Tamim is out,” he said. “What a bad!”

And so it began.

It was a performance that started off bad, got worse in the middle, and by the end was barely even believable. A performance that left you feeling disgusted just watching it; full of ridiculous shots and terrible decision making. It got worse and worse and when you thought it couldn't get any worse it got worse again.
By the end of a miserable Bangladesh innings that had lasted exactly 18.5 overs, the fans had already started hurling their 4 and 6 placards onto the field in a collective sign of anger.

And by the time the innings changed over for the West Indian batting, people had already started sarcastically betting on the outcome of the match.

“I say it takes West Indies five overs to knock this off,” said Jawad from Dhanmondi. People pooled their bets and when Chris Gayle caressed Shafiul Islam to the cover-point boundary, sarcastic cheers rang around the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

It was perhaps the lowest moment in Bangladesh cricket, and Shakib Al Hasan himself confessed as much at the press conference following the game. But for the twenty-odd thousand, many of who had paid through their teeth to manage a ticket in the black market (tickets sold from between BDT 2500 to BDT 15000), this really was not good enough.

But it was Hossain, a young entrepreneur from Gulshan, who perfectly put the cap on an atrocious Bangladesh performance through an expletive-riddled statement.

“I spent much more time looking for a ticket, than I did at the game itself,” he said. “And I paid 7000 taka as well. This was not worth a single penny.”

Yesterday evening, not one of the 26,000 plus at the stadium would disagree.

Humiliation written on captain's face

LEADING THE CHARGE: West Indies captain Darren Sammy celebrates after picking up Bangladesh opener Imrul Kayes's wicket during their World Cup match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan tried his best to hide his frustration as much as he could, but the young captain's expression after his team's humiliating nine-wicket defeat showed that West Indies had pulled them down to earth yesterday.

In his brief career Shakib embraced defeats many times besides some brilliant successes, but what happened at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday was something new for him which he would never try to recall.

Previously, the all-rounder always came down hard whenever he faced any bitter question, what to some extent has earned him a bad name in media, but he was as humble as he could be while addressing a post-match briefing after his side's capitulation.

"We have to sit down and think about what happened today," was the humble answer from the Bangladesh skipper who added: "It was not our day."

Bangladesh recorded their lowest ODI total at their favorite venue when they were bundled out for 58 runs in 18.5 overs which West Indies overcame in just 12.2 overs losing one wicket to finish the day-nighter in shortest possible time.

When the World Cup draw was done Bangladesh consciously thought that the West Indies were the only big team they could beat beside two Associate Member countries Ireland and Netherlands to ensure their quarterfinals berth. But it now turned into a frightening experience for them.

"It was a bad day for our cricket as we played poor cricket in the middle. It was absolutely the bad day in my cricket career also, but you never know things can get even worse in future," admitted Shakib when asked whether it was the saddest day in his career.

"It's very tough now but not impossible to qualify for the quarterfinals. Still we have a chance because we have three group matches in our hand and we must win two. I believe the batsmen will come back hard in the next games because they are capable to do better," hoped Shakib.

Bangladesh have six days before their next game against England on March 11 in Chittagong and Shakib said that they had to work hard during the break if they were to get out of this hiccup.

The time might have come for the Bangladesh think-tank to accept the fact that their batting was never out of question despite the record series victory against New Zealand.

Shakib saw the other side of the coin yesterday and it may help him give a long look back at everything.

Disbelief, and not much else

A Bangladeshi fan reacts with disbelief as another home wicket falls on the way to their hard to believe surrender for 58 against the West Indies at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

It is not gentlemanly, it is not smart and it has usually never had a place in cricket. But now and then, on some seemingly God-forsaken days, you have used up every other word in the dictionary and yet nothing manages to quite hit the spot. On such days, no adjectives do your feelings justice and swearing really is the only thing that will do.


And for the scores of Bangladeshi fans who had turned up sporting their red and green for yesterday's crunch match against West Indies, swearing seemed to be the only way they could give good reason for the hardly believable events transpiring before their eyes on a sunny Friday afternoon.

There was nothing to foreshadow the astonishing fall down; no clear sign that such a shocking wreck was impending, none whatsoever of a crash that shamed even the yo-yo stock market in Dhaka. In short, events seemed mysterious. And when things are such, swearing, it seems, is the only way to ease the dissatisfaction souls.

“What is happening out there?” screamed a young woman, clawing at her face in utter disbelief. Her announcement, a remarkable endorsement of the collective mistrust prevailing in the stands, was amazing only because of its lack of expletives. Most others were not so kind, and the match had already descend under a dark cloud before the masses started chanting 'bhua bhua' in that exclusively Bangladeshi style of expressing dissatisfaction.

The rut started with shock when Tamim Iqbal flashed wildly at a Kemar Roach delivery to depart for a three-ball duck. At that point, most of the capacity crowd had not yet warmed their seats. Some were still queuing up to get into the stands when the audibly collective groan flooded in through the turnstiles.
A young man decked in Bangladesh colours was confused.

“Did we just lose the toss?” he hopefully asked. But reality hit him with a thud when the man three spots ahead of him checked his phone. “Tamim is out,” he said. “What a bad!”

And so it began.

It was a performance that started off bad, got worse in the middle, and by the end was barely even believable. A performance that left you feeling disgusted just watching it; full of ridiculous shots and terrible decision making. It got worse and worse and when you thought it couldn't get any worse it got worse again.
By the end of a miserable Bangladesh innings that had lasted exactly 18.5 overs, the fans had already started hurling their 4 and 6 placards onto the field in a collective sign of anger.

And by the time the innings changed over for the West Indian batting, people had already started sarcastically betting on the outcome of the match.

“I say it takes West Indies five overs to knock this off,” said Jawad from Dhanmondi. People pooled their bets and when Chris Gayle caressed Shafiul Islam to the cover-point boundary, sarcastic cheers rang around the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

It was perhaps the lowest moment in Bangladesh cricket, and Shakib Al Hasan himself confessed as much at the press conference following the game. But for the twenty-odd thousand, many of who had paid through their teeth to manage a ticket in the black market (tickets sold from between BDT 2500 to BDT 15000), this really was not good enough.

But it was Hossain, a young entrepreneur from Gulshan, who perfectly put the cap on an atrocious Bangladesh performance through an expletive-riddled statement.

“I spent much more time looking for a ticket, than I did at the game itself,” he said. “And I paid 7000 taka as well. This was not worth a single penny.”

Yesterday evening, not one of the 26,000 plus at the stadium would disagree.

ICC approves replacement

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved Devendra Bishoo as a replacement player for the injured Dwayne Bravo in the West Indies World Cup squad.

Bishoo, a 25-year-old leg-spinner, has not been capped by the West Indies. He has played 21 first-class matches and 13 domestic Twenty20 games while the Guyanese-born bowler also played for the West Indies A team last year.

Bravo is the 11th player to be replaced in the tournament and the third for the West Indies after Adrian Barath and Carlton Baugh.

The eligibility of a replacement player is subject to approval by the ICC before he can be officially added to the squad.

Tickets available for WI game

For those viewers who chosen their ticket pick-up point as 'venue and banks' during purchase, they can collect their tickets of the Bangladesh-West Indies match at the Shaheed Sohrawardi Indoor Stadium in Mirpur on March 2.

This was informed by a press release of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the tournament.

Tickets will be distributed on appearance of the document provided from the banks. No tickets are available for sale as all tickets of the Group B game has been sold out.

In the meantime, Bangladesh Cricket Board has made a request to the spectators and fans to give greatest importance to their own safety and to be respectful of fellow supporters. The board urged everybody to practice common sense and discipline while celebrating.

The plea came after news of a road accident during victory celebrations after the win against Ireland that resulted in the tragic death of 14-year-old Azad.

Ahsraful thinks WI beatable

Times to say: Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Ashraful (L) carries along two bats after enjoying a full length batting session in the nets at the Mirpur Indoor facility yesterday

The West Indies have emerged as the opponents most possible to confirm the third scalp that would propel Bangladesh into the quarterfinals of the ICC World Cup 2011 and former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful found a lot of logic behind the belief.

Tigers back to Practice

                 Bangladesh national cricket team resumed training at SBNS on Monday.

After a two-day rest from cricket, Tigers resumed their World Cup campaign with a practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Monday.

After their close win against Ireland in the second group match, Bangladesh now look forward to the match next to West Indies on March 4 at Mirpur, brimming with assurance and hope.

“When a team wins, they get confidence and due to our win in the previous match the entire squad is more confident now. We believe if any of the departments fail to perform, the other department will be there for back-up,” said Raqibul Hasan who played a reasonable innings of 38 runs against Ireland when Tigers were opposite a batting fall down.

Bangladesh winning the toss, batted first and even after a blistering start by opener Tamim Iqbal, Tigers ultimately lost their way after losing a pair of wickets in rapid sequence, setting a target of 206 runs for the Irish team, but the score was astonishingly defended with a excellent attempt by the bowling department, particularly by pacer Shafiul Islam who distorted the course of the game for the local boys.

“There was a time when Ireland be in position. They had more balls than runs to score and at that moment Shafiul brought a breakthrough that changed skewed the balance of the game. We absolutely want him to carry it on to the next matches,” added Raqibul.

Team Bangladesh, with adjustments, strategies on and off the field has a much dissimilar outlook now. Mohammad Ashraful, who normally bats at number three or four now comes out at number seven, to maximize utilization of batting power play. Raqibul has also been lowered to number six from four and by far has exposed signs of dependability.

“I am still to get the heat of the position but whenever I will get the chance, I will try to utilize it to the fullest. As per the team planning, I was told before that I might need to play lower down the order, for which I took provision. I started batting in the lower order from the practice match against Pakistan and till now I am contented and enjoying it thoroughly,” said Raqibul.

England make a thrilling tie with India

England made a thrilling tie with  India in their Group B clash of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in Bangalore on Sunday. Chasing India’s enormous total of 338 off 49.5 overs, England notched up 338 for the loss of eight wickets in the fixed 50 overs. Andrew Strauss of England fractured a marvelous 158 off 145 balls together with 18 boundaries and a over boundary while Ian Bell hit 69 off 74 balls in the middle of four fors and a six.

Zaheer Khan grabbed three wickets at the cost of 64 runs while Munaf Patel and Piyush Chawla bagged a pair of wickets each for 70 and 71 runs correspondingly. Left-handers Yuvraj Singh (58) and Gautam Gambhir made half-centuries, while opener Virender Sehwag contributed 35 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni inclined in with 31.

Dhoni won the toss and chosen to bat first, and Tendulkar and Sehwag put on 46 for the first wicket in 7.5 overs. Sehwag fell when he tried to guide a ball from pace bowler Tim Bresnan, that was outside the off-stump, through the empty slips only to find wicket-keeper Matt Prior dived to his right and get a good one-handed catch.

Sehwag, who had starred in India's win over Bangladesh with a luminous 175 in the tournament opener at Mirpur on February 19, scored 35 today off 26 balls with the help of six fours.

Tendular, quite hesitant in the early stages and unable to find gaps in the tight England field, slowly came into his own and brought up the 50 of the innings with a brilliant flick to the hurdle front of square and then followed it up with an even more beautiful shot, this time to backward of square.

Tendulkar creates history

Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar smacks a six during their World Cup match against England at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday.

Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday reached another milestone as he became the uppermost century-maker in World Cup history by scoring his fifth hundred in the impressive event.

The 37-year-old Tendulkar reached the landmark during the group B clash against England when he glanced strongly built paceman Tim Bresnan for a boundary towards the fine leg region in the first ball of the 35th over. It was his 47th ODI century and his 98th overall.

earlier India captain Sourav Ganguly, current Australia captain Ricky Ponting and his former team-mate Mark Waugh have all scored four World Cup hundreds.

With Ganguly and Waugh retired, it is only Ponting who has a chance to match or surpass Tendulkar. Tendulkar scored 120 runs from 115 balls and the knock was decorated with five sixes and 10 fours.

Tendulkar, playing his sixth World Cup, also holds the records for most runs and most half-centuries in the flagship event of the ICC.

He has accumulated 1,944 runs in 38 matches and has scored 13 fifties so far, followed by Ponting with 1,577 runs in 41 matches.

Ganguly is the only other Indian who has managed to score more than 1,000 runs in World Cup matches. He scored 1,006 runs in 21 matches and stands 11th in the list of highest run scorers in World Cup.

During the course of his innings, Tendulkar shared a magnificent 134-run partnership for the second wicket with Gautam Gambhir, who scored 51 runs.

Afridi bowls Pakistan to victory

Shahid Afridi took four wickets and Misbah-ul-Haq notched a second succeeding half century as Pakistan upstaged Sri Lanka in a highly-charged World Cup Group A match by 11 runs on Saturday. Afridi, who became the 11th player to take 300 wickets in ODIs, finished with 4-34 to help Pakistan defend a 278-run target, as they limited Sri Lanka to 266-9 in 50 overs for their second win in the tournament.

Chamara Silva, who made a 78-ball 57, gave Pakistan a scare with a 40-run stand with Angelo Mathews (18) before the 1992 champions held their nerve to win. The win gave Pakistan four points from two matches and top spot in the table.

It was 30-year-old Afridi who kept Pakistan on track by bowling dangerous opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (41) and Sangakkara before having Thilan Samaraweera (one) stumped and Mathews caught in the deep.

Pakistan could have finished the match earlier had wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal not missed stumping Sangakkara on two occasions off spinner Abdur Rehman while Rehman also dropped a simple chance off Silva.

Pakistan were earlier set on course for a big total by in-form Misbah-ul-Haq, who finished with an unbeaten 83 and Younus Khan (72) who added 108 during a fourth-wicket stand of 108.

With Pakistan looking set for a 300-plus total, Sri Lanka’s bowlers, especially Muttiah Muralitharan, kept a tight line and length, only allowing Pakistan 36 runs in the five-over batting power-play. Misbah hit six boundaries during his 91-ball knock.

Pakistan, who won the toss and batted, lost Ahmed Shahzad (13) in the sixth over, before Mohammad Hafeez (32) and Kamran Akmal (39) steadied the innings during their second wicket stand of 48.

Hafeez opened up, hitting paceman Nuwan Kulasekara for a well swept six, but a crazy run out accounted for his downfall when he swept Muralitharan to backward square-leg without noticing Kamran running down to his end.
Wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara’s throw went over the bowler’s head but Hafeez, leaving his crease late, had no time to recover. Hafeez hit four boundaries and six during his 31-ball knock.

Kamran, who hit five boundaries in his 48 balls, was stumped off Rangana Herath who finished with 2-46. Younus top-edged Herath in the 41st over, and was smartly caught by Jayawardene after hitting four boundaries during his sedate 76-ball innings.

Tigers cross Irish hurdle

Bangladesh players celebrate the fall of Irish captain William Porterfield's, second from left, wicket during their World Cup match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

SCORES IN BRIEF

BANGLADESH: 205 all out in 49.2 overs (Tamim 44, Imrul 12, Mushfiqur 36, Shakib 16, Rokibul 38, Naeem 29, Razzak 11;
Johnston 2-40, Botha 3-32, Dockrell 2-23)

IRELAND: 178 all out in 45 overs (Porterfield 20, Joyce 16, N O'Brien 38, White 10, K O'Brien 37, Botha 22; Shafiul 4-21, Razzak 1-30, Naeem 1-36, Shakib 2-28, Ashraful 2-42)
Result: Bangladesh won by 27 runs.
Man-of-the-match: Tamim Iqbal.

Joy & unabated celebration

Once again the vivacity of the crowd at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur yesterday proved the ultimate winners. The packed thousands saw their favorite Tigers initially bite the dust yet kept singing, dancing, drumming and cheering as loud and as long as they could. And in the end saw their unending fervor bore fruition as the Tigers ran home with a 27-run victory against Ireland in an utterly lively encounter. If you were not here to witness it, you missed a hell of a party.

“I cannot tell you how glad I am tonight. It was my birthday, and I could not have wished for a better gift than this. This will remain one of the most memorable occasions of my life,” said one, a chartered accountant from Shyamoli, who was one of those 25,000 fortunate to witness a memorable win by the Tigers.

Long after the victory, the jubilant supporters thronged the street outside the stadium, honking horns, beating drums, and shouting at the top of their voice: Go, Tigers go.

“I thank Shafiul for the way he tilted the match in our favor with those four wickets. In fact, I knew all the way that we would win once the Tigers had scored 205 runs. I'm sure they will win more matches with performance like this one,” shouted Roksana Munni

Yet the crowd kept believing in the Tigers. Every single run was cheered on by the crowd as if it was the winning run, every opposition appeal was boisterously disapproved of as if the campaign was at stake.

“We know Bangladesh were beaten twice by Ireland, but we are not counting those and don't want to give those defeats a place in the mind,” was the conviction of Adil who came from Shantinagar.

The theme of the song speaks about the fall from grace of a mighty emperor. Mighty may not be the Tigers, but still they were the big brothers against their Associate counterparts. So they had the onus to restore that pride and restore it they did.

Police beat up cricket fans in Bangalore

Police used bamboo sticks to beat cricket fans trying to buy tickets in Bangalore on Thursday as World Cup organizers criticized Indian officials over rising ticketing disorder.

Fans queuing for seats at India's game with England in Bangalore on Sunday were baton-charged by police as vast crowds pushed towards the gates of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Several people were injured and taken away on stretchers as police attempted to stay order among the throng of several thousand fans, an AFP reporter witnessed.

All 7,000 tickets put on sale on Thursday sold out within hours, departure many disappointed fans who had waited at the ground all night.

A letter from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to organizing committee chairman Sharad Pawar was leaked early Thursday airing "serious concerns" over distribution and sales of tickets for the tournament.

There was particular concern over plans to sell the remaining 4,000 tickets available for the April 2 final in Mumbai over the counter.

"With the important demand and small availability there is potential for disorder and physical injury when the box office sales open," the ICC warned. "For this reason we strongly recommend that this sale of tickets be cancelled."

The ICC's worst fears were quickly realized when huge numbers of excited fans descended on the stadium in Bangalore to purchase tickets for the high-profile India v England game.

The ICC told Pawar in the letter that issues surrounding distribution of tickets "had now reached critical status and need your instant involvement."

It said Kyazoonga, the official ticketing company, had not been given printed tickets in time to deliver them to customers.

"We have received many complaints from fans that purchased tickets but are yet to receive them despite having paid for these tickets more than six months ago."

Gifts bring a smile to Titu

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal (L) gifts his jersey to disabled fan Titu , also seen is his opening partner Imrul Kayes (C), at the GP-BCB Academy Ground yesterday.

The Daily Star's photo of the physically challenged young beggar Mohammad Titu, who was plying the roads of Karwan Bazar in a Bangladesh national team jersey, had garnered a marvelous response from a wide range of people over the last couple of days.

And a number of those responses bore frustration yesterday, when Titu found himself the recipient of different financial and logistical support from a wide side view of people and corporate.

Striking Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal, who had pledged his World Cup jersey to the young beggar, delivered on his promise and also further assisted him by pledging a sum of Tk 3,000 every month for the young man. Tamim's teammate, wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim also gave Titu his training jersey at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

Housewife Nargis Rahman, from Eskaton who was the first in a long line of callers to enquire about Titu, also delivered on her assure to provide him with a wheelchair, which she handed over at The Daily Star office on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue yesterday.

Zahir Ahmed, chief executive officer of Mir Telecom, and Directors of the company Ruslan Nasir and Mahreen Nasir presented Titu two tickets for the Bangladesh-Ireland match and also presented cash assistance.

Titu, who lost his legs in a road accident a couple of years back, expressed his gratitude to all of his well-wishers and said that these gifts would help him to survive in a better way.

Titu, who lives in a slum, at the back the FDC in Karwan Bazar, supports two siblings on his daily income. After being infected with the World Cup bug, he had saved two days' income to buy a Bangladesh team shirt.

After getting the gifts, Titu prayed that the Tigers performed their best in the World Cup.

England beat Netherlands at Nagpur

Andrew Strass led the English team to a victory in opposition to The Netherlands at the Vidarbha Cricket organization Stadium in Nagpur on Tuesday 22-Feb-2011 in the 5th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

Netherlands had set a respectable target of 292 for the opponents for the loss of 6 wickets. The highlight of the Dutch batting was century by Ryan ten Doeschate.

Ryan ten Doeschate was declared the Man of the Match. He scored 119 runs in 110 balls after striking 9 fours and 3 sixes.

England was able to achieve the target in the 49th over. It scored 296 at the loss of 4 wickets in 48.4. Andrew Strass played a captain's innings to score 88 runs in 83 balls. His comfortable start acceptable his team to seal a close victory in the 49th over.

Australia Vs Zimbabwe World Cup match

Australia wins yet again in CWC

Australia long-drawn-out its winning run in ICC Cricket World Cups to one more match when it beat Zimbabwe by 91 runs on Monday at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera in Ahmedabad.

In a Group A match, Australia batted first and posted 262 for 6 in its 50 overs and then bowled out Zimbabwe for 171 in 46.2 overs.

Australia got off to a slow but positive start with Shane Watson (79: 92b, 8x4, 1x6) and Brad Haddin putting on 61 for the first wicket in 18.5 overs. after that, Australia increasingly built its innings as Watson added vital runs with the middle-order.

After Watson's going away, Michael Clarke (58: 55b, 4x4) remained unbeaten as he propelled Australia to a challenging total. For Zimbabwe, Ray Price (1-43), Prosper Utseya (1-43), Graeme Cremer (1-41) frequents the wickets around. Chris Mpofu was the best bowler on view with 2-58.

In its respond, Zimbabwe lost wickets at regular intervals and only two partnerships of note was stitched jointly. Elton Chigumbura and Sean Williams added 44 runs for the fifth wicket. Later Prosper Utseya (24) and Graeme Cremer (37) shared 49 runs for the eighth wicket.

For Australia, pace bowlers Shaun Tait (2-34) and Mitchell Johnson (4-19) shared the wickets around. The other wicket-taker was off-spinner Jason Krejza (2-28).