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).

Australia Vs Zimbabwe

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).

Bangladesh VS India ICC World Cup Match

India win first ICC World Cup Cricket match 2011
Tigers post respectable total of 283/9

In the attractive Bangladesh-India opening match of the ICC World Cup Cricket 2011, India have won, but Tigers posted for Bangladesh a respectable 283 runs for 9 wickets.
Bangladesh team lost the game no hesitation but the tigers have fought back with bravery and determination in opposition to a powerful opponent. On their part, the Tigers performed very well against India but their total runs fell short of resisting the rival's victory.

India's Virender Sehwag was adjudged the man of the match. Bangladesh raced to 51-0 in the first five overs as seamer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth accepted 24 in his third over, together with four boundaries by Imrul Kayes (34).

Tamim, who put on 56 for the first wicket with Kayes, added another 73 for the second with Junaid Siddique to lift Bangladesh to 129-1 by the 24th over.
After Siddique was stumped off Harbhajan Singh, Tamim and Shakib added 59 for the third wicket when Patel ended the opener's confrontation by having him caught at mid-wicket. Shakib holed out in the deep off Yusuf Pathan in a bid to step up the scoring, ending Bangladesh's bid to force an improbable win.

A blistering 175 runs by hard striking opener Virender Sehwag and a century by Virat Kholi powered India to a huge 370 for 4 in 50 overs in opposition to hosts Bangladesh in the opening match of the ICC Cricket World Cup,2011 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday.

With this huge innings, India ready the ground to take retribution for their defeat against Bangladesh in their last World Cup match at Port of Spain in West Indies in 2007.

The right handed opening batsman from Delhi, Sehwag, started his World Cup promotion with a boundary through cover off the very first ball of the innings off a Shafiul Islam delivery. His 140-ball 175-run innings was furnished with 14 fours and five sixes before he was clean bowled by Bangladesh spinner Shakib Al Hasan.

Earlier, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and sent favorites India in to bat first on a wonderful batting pitch to the surprise of cricket pundits.His decision to bowl first backfired immediately as the Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar scored 24 runs in first two overs of the innings, bowled by pacer Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain.

Bangladesh were able to check Indian's run rate when spinner Abdur Razzak came to bowl in the fifth over. He conceded only four runs in the first over. India lost their first wicket of batting genius Sachin Tendulkar with the score on 69 runs in 10.5 overs. Sachin fell victim to a run out by Shakib/Mushfiq combination when trying to take a single pushing the ball to mid on. Sachin and Sehwag were stuck at the same end as Sehwag did not respond to Sachin's call for a single. The master batsman Sachin scored 28 runs off 29 balls hitting four boundaries.

Festive crowd greets World Cup

A group of supporters represent the red and green provide their voice to Bangladesh's cause during the opening game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

The biggest advantage of watching a game from the stands at the side of the realistic and not covered in an air-conditioned press box is that you miss nothing of the buzz, the group heartbeat of the thousands who are inside the stadium egging on their individual to do better and larger things.

So it turned out to be a quite inspirational and reinvigorating knowledge for this journalist to renovate ties with the gallery and it will stay a unforgettable one as there couldn't have been a better occasion than the opening match of the World Cup 2011 between Bangladesh and India.

The intensity of the atmosphere, the intensity of the emotions kept building during the morning as all roads in Dhaka apparently led to a common destination: the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

For a radius of more than a kilometre either side of the stadium, vehicular movement was restricted. But that did very little to dampen the joyful mood of the fans. The thousands were not in a mood to complain, they were unbothered about the strict security measures that on instances even amounted to being hassled. They were in a mood to rejoice; to rejoice the advent of the World Cup, and on a bigger note, to rejoice cricket.

Selim, a student from Mirpur, was holding his shirt in his hand as he had painted his body in green. Proudly he said: "I will not wear a shirt today, I will be highlighted in green and support the Tigers."

But it wasn't no more than Bangladeshis. There were some Australians on their holiday and Europeans too living in Dhaka who chose the day to take on the Tigers as their own.

Inside Sher-e-Bangla, the modern and inspiring home of Bangladesh cricket, the environment reached fever pitch. First it was the national anthem and then when the coin smiled for the Tigers.

But the choice by Shakib Al Hasan to field first was taken with suspicion at the start which turned into disappointment as Virender Sehwag and co stamped their authority on the game.But to live up to the good name of the Dhaka crowd, they were appreciating every good stroke played by the Indian batsmen.

Sehwag dead for the pavilion for an reliable 175-run knock and by the time he had left the crowd grew into such a generous mood that they almost felt sad for the Nazafgarh man for not reaching a double hundred. And the mood changed little afterwards in the game as people chanted and shouted well into the night.

Wow start to WC

Bangladesh face India tomorrow in opener of 14-nation cricket fiesta

Outside, the blaring drone of a hundred improvised trumpets held evidence to the thousands who had queued up external the stadium. Inside the Bangabandhu National Stadium, however, an volatile celebration of color, music, dance and continuous noise signaled the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 which will be jointly held in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. Amidst blinking strobe lights, fluttery lead kites and a thousand tempting cheers both in and out of the stadium, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 formally open, thereby inspection another box in a long list of achievement for a young nation.

ICC Cricket Worldcup 2011 theme song Bangla

Cricket World Cup Showcases Giant Cricket Bat

People pose with a giant cricket bat exhibit in Dhaka February 10, 2011. The demonstrate is part of decorations all through the city to coincide with the ICC World Cup Cricket from February 17, which will be in cooperation hosted by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. The tournament itself gets ongoing on 19th February when co-hosts Bangladesh and India meet in Dhaka. Sri Lanka begins their campaign in opposition to Canada on 20th February. Australia is the reigning champions having won the 1999, 2003 and 2007 events.

ICC World Cup creates scope to brand BD

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Monday the forthcoming ICC Cricket World Cup-2011 will open up new opportunities for branding the host country Bangladesh and prominence its positive image before the global community, report agencies.

"In the present world perception, sports are not a mere entertainment rather they help branding a country. The social and financial situation of the country will be consolidated if Bangladesh can be recognized through the world cup cricket," she said.

The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating the renovation and development works of Bangabandhu National Stadium ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup-2011 in the morning.

Hasina said Bangladesh must have to utilize the opportunities to establish the beautiful country to the world community through the tournament.

Highlighting the significance of sports for sound health and mind, Hasina said her government will do whatever necessary for the improvement of games and sports in the country. In this context, she called upon all concerned for patronization of various indigenous games along with cricket and football.

The Prime Minister said it is a subject of pride for Bangladesh as the South Asian country is going to host Cricket World Cup when the inaugural function would be held in Bangabandhu National Stadium on February 17.

Mentioning her government's seriousness for successful games and sports in the country mostly the cricket, she said Bangladesh cricket has earned the one day status in 1997 and test status in 2000. In continuation of the development, she said Bangladesh has clinched victory over all test playing teams so far.

"once upon a time, we will be able to win the Cricket World Cup if the payers could keep on the trend of their success," she hoped.

She said her government had allocated Taka 350.8 million for development of Bangabandhu Stadium, Taka 785 million for Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Taka 628 million for Fatulla Khan Shaheb Osman Stadium, Taka 712.8 million for Zahur Ahmed Stadium in Chittagong and Taka 564.7 million for Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna.

A total of Tk 4.0 billion has been allocated for the renovation of the stadiums, she said and asked the authorities anxious for properly maintaining the stadiums after the Cricket World Cup.

The renovation and modernisation works for the new look BNS includes ICC hospitality box, BCB hospitality box, expansion and improvement of VIP lounge, renovation of floodlight, expansion and improvement of media centre with air cooler and gallery shades.

World Cup Ticket Crises

Not two, only one ticket!

NOT AGAIN: Cricket tragics seen sitting on the footpath in front of Dhanmondi's Dhaka Bank branch at seven in the morning yesterday waiting for a chance to buy tickets for the opening ceremony of the World Cup.

Latent irregularities marked the first day of selling the World Cup's opening ceremony tickets at different Dhaka Bank branches in the city yesterday.
According to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) a total of 9,700 tickets have been put on sale and the tickets are being sold throughout 10 branches of the bank.
As of the filing of this report, it was yet unclear whether all the tickets for the opening ceremony had been sold out.
"We have reserved the tickets open till the date of the opening ceremony, but based on the response, I think the tickets will be sold out by tomorrow [Monday], if they haven't been before," said BCB's Ticket and Seating Committee chairman, GS Hasan Tamim state that he had yet to receive official confirmation from Dhaka Bank about how many tickets had been sold.
But many in queue were left confused at a sudden U-turn by the Dhaka Bank authorities, who went back on their innovative advertised agreement of allowing a maximum of two tickets per individual.
"I lined up since 11:30pm last night [Saturday] to get two tickets for my parents," said Selim, a 25-year-old student who had queued up at the Gulshan Branch. "But once within the bank, I was aware that I would only be able to buy one, instead of the two tickets that was advertised."
"Far more people turned up than we had possible. We were only given 400 tickets and thus were advised by the police ADC that due to security reasons it would be best if we appeased a larger number of people rather than giving two to each."
"We handed them about 10,000 tickets and we only told them that one person can get a maximum of two tickets, nothing else," said Tamim.
Dhaka Bank's administrative vice-president, Azad Shamsi however stated they had received only 7,000 tickets from BCB and recommended that they had distributed the tickets evenly across the ten branches.
Further attempts to contact him over telephone proved futile.

Sri Lanka v Netherlands WC 2011 Warm Up Match

NEL Vs Sri lanka won by 156 run
NEL :195/10(47.3) SL:351/5(50)

Sri Lanka scored 351-5 in a relaxed 156-run win over the Netherlands in their World Cup warm-up match on Saturday.
Tillakaratne Dilshan hit a run-a-ball 78 while Thilan Samaraweera (60), Chamara Silva (54) and Chamara Kapugedera (50 not out) contributed to a large score at the Sinhalese Sports Club.
The Netherlands were in no way in the chase, scoring at a slow rate and losing wickets regularly. Dilhara Fernando took 4-43 as Sri Lanka bowled them out for 195.
Tom de Grooth was the Netherlands' top-scorer with 76 off 96 balls, including 10 fours and a six. His partnership of 80 with Bas Zuiderent helped his team get in touch with a respectable total after stumbling to 117-6.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat first and his openers Dilshan and Upul Tharanga started aggressively, sharing 117 runs for the first wicket.
Left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar dismissed Tharanga for 47, caught by Wesley Barresi.
Dilshan hit 12 boundaries before being caught by Eric Szwarczynski off spinner Adeel Raja.
Chamara Silva hit 54 off just 33 balls together with seven boundaries and Samaraweera's 60 came off 59 balls, together with five fours and a six.
Seamer Mudassar Bukhari returned the best bowling figures for the Netherlands with 2-52.
Sri Lanka's first batsmen captain Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene did not bat, allowing the lower middle order some match practice. The home side also rested ace bowler Muttiah Muralitharan.
The Netherlands is among four associate members of the International Cricket Council playing at this year's World Cup, along with Kenya, Ireland and Canada.

South Africa vs Zimbabwe Warm up Match Scorecard

In the World Cup 2011 Warm up matches South Africa play his first match against Zimbabwe on 12 Feb 2011. South Africa is from one of most wanted team in this world cup 2011.His all preceding match they provide evidence that they will prove a better performance according to all previous world cups .
Zimbabwe 152 (41.5 overs)
South Africa 153/2 (23.3 overs)
South Africa won by 8 wickets

ICC world Cup Preperation match Bangladesh VS Canada

Perfect practice for Tigers

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan appeals for a wicket during his stellar display with the ball in yesterday's warm-up match against Canada at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
Bangladesh made a confident start handing a nine-wicket defeat to Canada in their first lead-up match to the World Cup at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.

Previous Result of World Cup Cricket

Year	Date	Venue	Finals	Result
1975	Jun 07-Jun 21	England	WI vs AUS	WI won by 17 runs
1979	Jun 09-Jun 23	England	ENG vs WI	WI won by 92 runs
1983	Jun 09-Jun 25	England	IND vs WI	IND won by 43 runs
1987	Oct 08-Nov 08	India,Pakistan	AUS vs ENG	AUS won by 7 runs
1992	Feb 22-Mar 25	Australia,New Zealand	PAK vs ENG	PAK won by 22 runs
1996	Feb 14-Mar 17	India,Pakistan,Sri Lanka	AUS vs SL	SL won by 7 wickets
1999	May 14-Jun 20	England,Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland	AUS vs PAK	AUS won by 8 wickets
2003	Feb 09-Mar 23	Kenya,South Africa,Zimbabwe	AUS vs IND	AUS won by 125 runs
2007	Mar 13-Apr 28	West Indies	SL vs AUS	AUS won by 53 runs

History of ICC Cricket World Cup

The ICC Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of men's One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organized by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), with beginning qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament which is held every four years. The tournament is the world's fourth biggest and most viewed sporting event. According to the ICC, it is the most vital tournament and the pinnacle of achievement in the sport. The first Cricket World Cup competition was organized in England in 1975. A separate Women's Cricket World Cup has been held every four years since 1973.
The finals of the Cricket World Cup are competition by all ten Test-playing and ODI-playing nations, together with other nations that meet the criteria through the World Cup Qualifier. Australia has been the most victorious of the five teams to have won the tournament, taking four titles. The West Indies have won double, while Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka have each won once.
The 2007 Cricket World Cup matches were held between 13 March and 28 April 2007, in the West Indies. The 2007 tournament had sixteen teams competing in a pool stage (played in round-robin format), then a "super 8" stage, followed by semi-finals and a final. Australia beat Sri Lanka in the final to retain the contest.
The 2011 Cricket World Cup would be held between 19 February and 2 April 2011. The tournament will be co-hosted by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. There are 14 countries that would be participating for the tournament.

History of ICC Cricket World Cup

The ICC Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of men's One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organized by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), with beginning qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament which is held every four years. The tournament is the world's fourth biggest and most viewed sporting event. According to the ICC, it is the most vital tournament and the pinnacle of achievement in the sport. The first Cricket World Cup competition was organized in England in 1975. A separate Women's Cricket World Cup has been held every four years since 1973.
The finals of the Cricket World Cup are competition by all ten Test-playing and ODI-playing nations, together with other nations that meet the criteria through the World Cup Qualifier. Australia has been the most victorious of the five teams to have won the tournament, taking four titles. The West Indies have won double, while Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka have each won once.
The 2007 Cricket World Cup matches were held between 13 March and 28 April 2007, in the West Indies. The 2007 tournament had sixteen teams competing in a pool stage (played in round-robin format), then a "super 8" stage, followed by semi-finals and a final. Australia beat Sri Lanka in the final to retain the contest.
The 2011 Cricket World Cup would be held between 19 February and 2 April 2011. The tournament will be co-hosted by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. There are 14 countries that would be participating for the tournament.

History of ICC World Cup

Feature of ICC World Cup 2011

Feature of ICC World Cup 2011

	Date & Time	Match	Venue
1	19 Feb,2011 08:30 AM GMT	IND vs BAN	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
2	20 Feb,2011 04:00 AM GMT	NZ vs KEN	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
3	20 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT	SL vs CAN	Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota
4	21 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT	AUS vs ZIM	Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera
5	22 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT	ENG vs NED	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
6	23 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT	PAK vs KEN	Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota
7	24 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT	SA vs WI	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
8	25 Feb,2011 04:00 AM GMT	AUS vs NZ	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
9	25 Feb,2011 08:30 AM GMT	BAN vs IRE	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
10	26 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT	PAK vs SL	R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
11	27 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT	IND vs ENG	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
12	28 Feb,2011 04:00 AM GMT	ZIM vs CAN	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
13	28 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT	WI vs NED	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
14	01 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	SL vs KEN	R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
15	02 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	ENG vs IRE	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
16	03 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT	SA vs NED	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
17	03 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	PAK vs CAN	R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
18	04 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT	NZ vs ZIM	Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera
19	04 Mar,2011 08:30 AM GMT	BAN vs WI	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
20	05 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	AUS vs SL	R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
21	06 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT	SA vs ENG	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
22	06 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	IND vs IRE	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
23	07 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	CAN vs KEN	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
24	08 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	PAK vs NZ	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
25	09 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	IND vs NED	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
26	10 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	SL vs ZIM	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
27	11 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT	WI vs IRE	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
28	11 Mar,2011 08:30 AM GMT	BAN vs ENG	Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
29	12 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	IND vs SA	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
30	13 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT	NZ vs CAN	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
31	13 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	AUS vs KEN	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
32	14 Mar,2011 03:30 AM GMT	BAN vs NED	Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
33	14 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	PAK vs ZIM	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
34	15 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	SA vs IRE	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
35	16 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	AUS vs CAN	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
36	17 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	ENG vs WI	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
37	18 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT	NED vs IRE	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
38	18 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	NZ vs SL	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
39	19 Mar,2011 03:30 AM GMT	BAN vs SA	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
40	19 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	AUS vs PAK	R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
41	20 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT	ZIM vs KEN	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
42	20 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	IND vs WI	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
43	23 Mar,2011 08:30 AM GMT	A1 vs B4 (1st Quarter Final, C)	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
44	24 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	A2 vs B3 (2nd Quarter Final, D)	Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera
45	25 Mar,2011 08:30 AM GMT	A3 vs B2 (3rd Quarter Final, E)	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
46	26 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	A4 vs B1 (4th Quarter Final, F)	R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
47	29 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	Winner C vs Winner E (1st Semi Final)	R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
48	30 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT	Winner D vs Winner F (2nd Semi Final)	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
49	02 Apr,2011 09:00 AM GMT	SF1 vs SF2 (Final)	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai