Afridi desperate to avoid repeat of upsets

Pakistan face Kenya in their opening World Cup match tomorrow, desperate to atone for their tragedy-hit 2007 tournament.
Four years ago, Pakistan suffered an embarrassing three-wicket defeat by Ireland and crashed out in the first round. Captain Shahid Afridi said his team will take all opponents here seriously.
“There have been so many upsets in the World Cup in the past, like the one against Ireland four years ago,” said Afridi. “So we have that in mind and we will be on our toes in every match, be it Kenya or Sri Lanka.”
Waqar staying clear of controversy
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said that the spot-fixing scandal, which sparked lengthy bans for three players, will not haunt his embattled team at the World Cup.
“I don’t think it will haunt Pakistan at all,” said Waqar. “We all know that we have been through tough times in the recent past but that does not mean that we don’t have talent. “Despite the problems we are a good enough team to beat anybody.”
Meanwhile, Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said his team was looking forward to their first real test in the World Cup against Pakistan after crushing Canada in their opening match.
“We’re looking forward to our next match against Pakistan who are a very good side,” said Jayawardene. “Pakistan have got some great individual players and we know how dangerous they can be, so we have to prepare ourselves and go in with a very positive mindset.”

ICC Cricket World Cup Opening Match - World Cup 2011

ICC Cricket World Cup Opening Match - World Cup 2011
Feb 19, 2011 will be the day when the opening match of the ICC cricket world cup 2011 will be played between the two co-hosts India and Bangladesh at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Bangladesh. Sri Lanka is the third hosting country, initially the other country Pakistan was also one of the co-hosts for the world cup but later ICC ruled out any possibility of world cup matches in Pakistan due to security concern, remember Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked by terrorists in Pakistan while they were on there way to the Stadium and many players had a narrow escape.

Coming back to the first match of the cricket world cup 2011 between India and Bangladesh. Both the teams are in Group B. England, West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands and South Africa are the other teams in the Group B.

India may seem to be the favorites for the world cup opener match however If you go by stats then the only world cup match played between India and Bangladesh was won by Bangladesh, also match in being played in Bangladesh thus the Bangla team can be a surprise package in the opening of the 2011 cricket world cup.

England Defeats Pakistan by Five Wickets in Opening Twenty20 Cricket Match

England beat Pakistan by five wickets today in the opening Twenty20 cricket international in Cardiff, securing victory with almost three overs remaining.

Eoin Morgan hit the winning runs, striking a boundary to finish unbeaten on 38. Michael Yardy was 35 not out, while wicketkeeper Steve Davies hit 33 runs.

England reached 129-5 from 17.1 overs after restricting the tourists to 126-4. The teams play again in Cardiff in two days, with a five-match one-day series starting Sept. 10. England won the Test series 3-1.

Earlier, Umar Akmal top-scored with an unbeaten 35 for Pakistan. Graeme Swann was the pick of England’s bowlers, taking 2-14. Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi each claimed two wickets in the England reply.

Pakistan was without three players at the center of an alleged betting scandal, who were suspended and charged with breaches of the sport’s anti-corruption laws last week.

]]>