England's struggles in this world cup are not at all surprising. they got hammered in their last ODI series and last time they played in india they lost the ODI series 5-0. england has put together a great test team but they have a long way to go in getting a top notch ODI team.

Pakistan is in the semi finals:stunned:

 

i just hope they play against India in the semi's and that will be wonderful:wideeyed:

The Aussies are going home :(

^ but Pakistan is playing against India in the semi final :dance:

 

India end Aussie World Cup reign

 

Yuvraj Singh played a match-winning innings as India, roared on by their supporters in Ahmedabad, knocked holders Australia out of the World Cup.

 

Ricky Ponting's 104, his first century for 13 months, guided a misfiring Australian batting line-up to 260-6.

 

It was a target that looked within India's compass, and Sachin Tendulkar's 53 set the hosts off in fine style.

 

Gautam Gambhir added 50 before Yuvraj (57 not out) saw India to a five-wicket win with 14 balls to spare.

 

The result ended an extraordinary run of success for the Aussies in the World Cup. Beaten finalists in 1996 when Ponting was a junior player, they won the next three tournaments, an imposing run that included a run of 34 matches without defeat.

 

But their fallibility was shown up by Pakistan, who beat them in their final group match of this tournament, and India's strong batting line-up proved too powerful for Ponting's men. The co-hosts did come under pressure when tossing away middle order wickets two-thirds of the way through their chase. But Yuvraj and Suresh Raina (34) pushed India across the line with a terrific partnership of 74 from just 61 balls.

 

India's next match is sure to be a huge occasion - a semi-final in Mohali against Pakistan next week.

 

Yuvraj said afterwards: "The pressure was something else, I knew there was Suresh yet to come and I knew if we could get a partnership we could take the game to the end. We just played it straight and used the pace.

 

"People say it's just another game, but beating the three-time champions I feel is really special for me and our team."

 

Ponting commented: "We competed hard, there's no doubt about that. We thought we were in with a chance at the half-way stage, and that we had a reasonable total.

 

"But we didn't bowl as well as we needed to, we needed more wickets from the middle order. Yuvraj and Raina played too well. We needed to get into their tail and weren't able to do that. "It's disappointing to be bowing out now. I wish India well for the rest of the tournament."

 

Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. The new ball was shared by the excellent left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who found plenty of turn.

 

Shane Watson and Brad Haddin weathered the early dangers before Watson attempted a slog-sweep against Ashwin in the 10th over, missed and was bowled.

 

The biggest stand of the innings followed, with Haddin joined by his skipper Ponting, and the two right-handers addied 70 in 13 overs.

 

Haddin played at a lovely tempo throughout, combining delicate nudges with some muscular smites, but departed for 53 when trying to loft Yuvraj through the covers and picking out Raina at extra-cover.

 

Ponting began his innings tentatively, unsurprisingly for someone with a previous tournament best of 36, but he moved his feet nicely to put Yuvraj away for two on-side boundaries and was soon threatening something substantial.

 

Yuvraj picked up a second wicket when Michael Clarke's ugly swipe ballooned to deep mid-wicket, and when Mike Hussey and Cameron White departed cheaply to the accurate Zaheer, Australia's ambitions were duly lowered.

 

On 91, one ball after launching Harbhajan Singh over mid-off for four, Ponting was given not out by umpire Ian Gould when India's most experienced spinner appealed for lbw. The decision may well have been reversed if India had not already used both their reviews, but Ponting went on to complete his fifth World Cup century.

 

Much of Australia's most effective biffing at the death was provided by David Hussey (38 not out from 26 balls) but it was hard to call a clear favourite during the break between innings.

 

When Tendulkar hit the first two legitimate balls he received for fours - the first a delicate nudge behind point, the second lifted over the slips off Shaun Tait - the home fans began to believe early on that it would be their night.

 

Virender Sehwag was bounced out by Shane Watson for just 15, but the Tendulkar and Gambhir stand of 50 in exactly 10 overs put India in good shape.

 

There was to be no 100th international century for Tendulkar - though he did pass 18,000 runs in ODIs and become the tournament's leading run scorer - as a fast delivery from Shaun Tait brushed his outside edge en route to Haddin. There was an anxious pause for the bowler while the umpires checked whether he had cut the return crease with his back foot.

 

Gambhir and Virat Kohli played the spinners so comfortably in India's next partnership that suddenly things began to look a little desperate for the Aussies, but they got a huge lift when they were gifted their next two wickets.

 

Kohli hit a knee-high David Hussey full toss to midwicket before Gambhir was run out when Yuvraj failed to respond to his call for a quick single - the third such breakdown in communications between the two batsmen.

 

When Mahendra Dhoni lashed a square cut off Lee to backward point, Clarke diving to claim an excellent catch, India still needed 74 to win from 12.3 overs with five wickets to win.

 

Another wicket would have put Australia firmly in control but instead Yuvraj and Raina played some of the boldest cricket of the day.

 

The 40th over, bowled by Lee, went for 14 and brought the crowd alive once again. Yuvraj raised his half-century from just 54 balls as Ponting looked for an inspired bowler to win him the match.

 

Lee, in what will surely be his last appearance for Australia, could not produce that inspiration. Instead he was lofted nonchalantly for a straight six by Raina.

 

Aside from providing the wicket of Tendulkar, Tait let down his captain with a barrage of wides, and Johnson was lacklustre.

 

The makeshift spin unit had tried its best and failed - and it was left to Yuvraj to hit the winning runs as he nailed a lofted cover-drive for four off Lee.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/9433596.stm

^ but Pakistan is playing against India in the semi final :dance:

 

What if it all turns nasty?:stunned:

i don't care but it will be fun to watch

i don't care but it will be fun to watch

 

Even if it ends up in a bloodbath?:stunned:

Come on New Zealand! What a result we have in store here! On the verge of beating South Africa!

 

Disappointed that Australia went out of it yesterday though.

they've done it!

 

S Africa collapse sees NZ through

 

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 quarter-final, Mirpur:

New Zealand 221-8 beat South Africa 172 (43.2 overs) by 49 runs

 

New Zealand joined India and Pakistan in the World Cup semi-finals as South Africa collapsed when in command of a straightforward chase in Mirpur.

 

New Zealand batted cautiously, making 221-8 with Jesse Ryder (83) key.

 

South Africa were excellent in the field and their varied bowling attack kept the Black Caps pinned down.

 

When they then reached 108-2 after 24 overs, the Proteas seemed to be cruising to victory, but they subsided horribly to be all out for 172.

 

With Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers batting so calmly just before the mid-point of the South Africa chase and having stayed ahead of an undemanding required run rate, New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori must have sensed the worst.

 

But the game changed dramatically when Kallis, on 47, attacked a gentle long-hop from Tim Southee and unerringly picked out Jacob Oram at deep midwicket.

 

Seven wickets remained and there was absolutely no reason for South Africa to panic - but they did just that, bringing to mind similarly ignominious exits in the 1999 and 2003 World Cups.

 

JP Duminy's questionable stomach for a pressurised situation was called into doubt again as he missed a cut shot against Nathan McCullum and was clean bowled.

 

Two balls later, things got significantly worse for Graeme Smith's team as Faf du Plessis called AB de Villiers through for a quick single that simply wasn't available. Even though Martin Guptill's return to Brendon McCullum had to be scooped up off the turf, De Villiers was well short of his crease and 102-2 had become 121-5.

 

The real frustration for South Africa was that De Villiers, the team's leading scorer in the tournament, had played quite beautifully in making 35 from 40 balls, but with him out New Zealand went from plucky outsiders to warm favourites.

 

They relished the situation and were ultimate excellent value for their win. Oram bowled Johan Botha, tentatively playing down the wrong line before having Robin Peterson caught behind.

 

Suddenly New Zealand bowlers were queuing up to take wickets, and McCullum grabbed the next one when Dale Steyn queued a catch to point.

 

For a while, Du Plessis gave South Africa renewed hope, but on 36 he drilled Oram (4-39) to extra cover, leaving World Cup debutant Luke Woodcock to claim the final wicket when Morne Morkel drove a catch to long-on.

 

Overlooked as serious contenders before the tournament, New Zealand progress to a semi-final in Colombo against either England or Sri Lanka next week in the last four. Andrew Strauss's team play in the final quarter-final on Friday in Colombo.

 

But South Africa, who finished top of Group B despite a defeat in similar circumstances to England in Chennai, are left with the familiar feeling of "what if?"

 

And, painful though such an observation will doubtless be, it would be hard to suggest that this particular South African defeat was not a self-inflicted one.

 

At the toss, Both Daniel Vettori and Graeme Smith wanted to bat first, and it was Vettori, after Smith had called incorrectly, whose team claimed that honour.

 

But with just 16 runs on the board, New Zealand were already two men down, Brendon McCullum chipping a catch back to bowler Robin Peterson before Martin Guptill skied a drive off Steyn to mid-off.

 

Ryder and Ross Taylor, clearly mindful of coach John Wright's instructions to ensure New Zealand must be only three wickets down at the 35-over mark, were watchful as they laid the foundation of the innings.

 

They put on 114, using up 27 overs. Ryder produced his fair share of boundaries but struggled to knock singles about; Taylor had the opposite problem.

 

All the while, Smith showed some very shrewd captaincy, persisting with attacking fields and frequently rotating his seven-man bowling attack.

 

Signs that the shackles might finally be broken came when Taylor slog-swept Peterson for six in the 32nd over. But an attempted repeat in the next over, bowled by Imran Tahir, resulted in an easy catch for Kallis at deep midwicket.

 

New Zealand now wanted a series of quick-fire cameo efforts and for Ryder to hit overdrive but neither happened. Morkel had Scott Styris bottom-edging onto his stumps before Ryder, running out of steam on 83, chipped Tahir tamely into the deep.

 

Morkel bowled two more batsmen with yorkers, leaving Kane Williamson (38 not out from 41 balls) to do the bulk of the lower-order hitting.

 

The resultant total looked thin, even after New Zealand had been boosted by a fortunate early wicket when Hashim Amla was caught by Vettori off wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum's boot - McCullum's brother Nathan was the bowler.

 

The slight inconsistency of bounce encountered by New Zealand's batsmen, and exploited to the full by South Africa's pace-and-spin attack, was less evident now the two sides had switched roles.

 

Kallis and Smith (28) put on 61 together, before Kallis and De Villiers continued to keep their team in decent shape. Even bearing in mind South Africa's past history of "choking" in such scenarios a New Zealand comeback looked unlikely, let alone a win by a big margin that keeps their World Cup dream alive.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/9434651.stm

i want kiwi's to win this world cup

England v Sri Lanka

 

England batting, Strauss did fantastically well, out for 5

230 target for Sri Lanka

 

looks tough out there, very humid

india v pakistan will be WAR!! in a good way though :P

England are getting thrashed!

England were comprehensively outplayed by Sri Lanka in Colombo

 

Cricket World Cup: Sri Lanka knock out jaded England

 

England crashed out of the World Cup as Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga hit centuries to guide Sri Lanka to an emphatic 10-wicket quarter-final win.

 

Jonathan Trott's stubborn 86 provided the spine as England battled to a seemingly competitive total of 229-6. But Tharanga and Dilshan made quick progress in the run-chase to take the game away from a tired England.

 

Dilshan ended with 108 and Tharanga 102 as Sri Lanka consigned England to only their fifth 10-wicket one-day loss.

 

This was an even more decisive quarter-final defeat than the one they inflicted on England 15 years ago, when another opener - Sanath Jayasuriya - clubbed 82 from 44 balls to set up a five-wicket win in Faisalabad.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/9435922.stm

^What a disgrace. They couldn't even manage to take one wicket. They should be ashamed of themselves.:angry:

That was utter rank by England. BUT they've played enough cricket this winter to last a career so I feel sorry for them. We're in spring right now. They've pretty much been playing non stop since the end of October.

india v pakistan will be WAR!! in a good way though :P

 

we never win against them:disappointed:

 

but lets see wht happens this time

That was utter rank by England. BUT they've played enough cricket this winter to last a career so I feel sorry for them. We're in spring right now. They've pretty much been playing non stop since the end of October.

 

Maybe so, but no wicket whatsoever?:dozey:

must give Trott credit though. He was consistent throughout the Ashes and also the leading ICC World Cup run scorer of the tournament playing in an average lineup. They might have gone home even earlier if it weren't for him!

pakistan india match to start in a few hours

 

:dance:

 

i just hope its not a shitty match with low scores, i want the whole experience

i don't even care if Pakistan loses (yes, im lying :p )

i don't even care if Pakistan loses (yes, im lying :p )

Heh, India's gotta win! :smug:

NO Pakistan will win:smug:

 

should we start a fight here and frighten every1 on coldplaying:lol: