DURHAM: Angelo Mathews hadn’t bowled a ball in an ODI for 18 months and hadn’t even bowled in the nets all-tournament for Sri Lanka. But when the moment came he answered the call for his country and, with his very first ball, removed Nicholas Pooran in the 48th over to set up a dramatic win over the West Indies. In an enthralling ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup clash in Durham, the 32-year-old former all-rounder rolled back the years to quell a West Indies fightback. Pooran was on 118 and leading…
BIRMINGHAM: If Jonny Bairstow was looking for reassurance that English crowds really do want the side to do well, he came to the right place. Of all the major international grounds, Edgbaston, on the outskirts of rejuvenated Birmingham, has become the most synonymous with support for the home side. Fans turn out in force, lubricate their larynxes and loyally shout on England from the first ball to the last. No more so than in the bustling Hollies Stand, the huge expanse named after the Warwickshire wrist-spin bowler who famously bowled…
BIRMINGHAM: Hostility. Fear factor. Control. Wicket-taking ability. Everything a potential ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 champion team could wish to possess from a pace attack, Pakistan’s resurgent side have in abundance. It is little wonder Sarfaraz Ahmed’s outfit are given endless raucous support from their army of fans when they have fast-bowling trio Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi and Wahab Riaz to swoon over. On a day of glorious sunshine at Headingley, a sea of green banged their drums, blew their horns and generally made a cacophony of noise as…
Imad Wasim and Wahab Riaz’s heroics wrestled victory from the jaws of defeat as Pakistan moved into the ICC Men’s World Cup top four with a nerve-jangling three-wicket win over Afghanistan in Leeds. VIEW MATCH CENTRE Sarfraz Ahmed’s men have invoked the spirt of their 1992 champions following a difficult start to the competition and entered Saturday’s clash at Headingley on the back of successive victories over South Africa and New Zealand. But they were forced to work for victory in the face of an exceptional Afghanistan performance, rallying…
Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) – How has it come to this?It’s a question many England fans will be asking now their side’s World Cup hopes are in the balance. An England side widely tipped to end their World Cup drought by triumphing on home soil find themselves facing the very real prospect of a first-round exit heading into their match against unbeaten India at Edgbaston on Sunday. England, despite coming into the World Cup as the top-ranked side in one-day internationals, have lost three pool matches, including their last two,…
South Africa would love the chance to start this World Cup all over again, but they will have to console themselves with a Hashim Amla throwback instead. The South African great rolled back the years with a masterclass in Durham on Friday as his side completed a routine nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka. For what might be the final time at an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup – Amla laid the platform for a Proteas side that, while already eliminated, are clearly determined to finish with a flourish. In truth it…
MANCHESTER: India has the look of a team just coming nicely to the boil, much like the English summer that is forecast to reach heatwave territory at the weekend. Their 125-run victory knocked West Indies out of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and maintained their status as the only unbeaten side left in this tournament. India reclaimed the No.1 spot in the ICC ODI Team Rankings for the first time in 14 months – to add to their equivalent status in the Test rankings – before they had even…
Birmingham (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Twenty-seven years and a generation apart, Pakistan’s World Cup bears striking similarities with their 1992 campaign — when they started slowly but ended up lifting the trophy in Melbourne. An identical sequence of wins and losses, and other eerie parallels, have struck a chord with millions of fans who believe that Pakistan could be set to come out on top once again. In both World Cups, Pakistan started with a one-sided defeat to the West Indies, before recovering to win their second game — against…
BIRMINGHAM :Pakistan, a historically unpredictable team specialising in theatrical comebacks, remain in World Cup contention after overwhelming previously unbeaten New Zealand in a group match which will revive unwelcome memories for the Kiwis. Imran Khan’s 1992 side, famously enjoined by their captain to fight like “cornered tigers” after only two wins in their first six matches, an identical record to the present team, beat another hitherto undefeated New Zealand side in the semi-finals. Pakistan went on to defeat England in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the current…
Mumbai (AFP) – West Indies batting legend Brian Lara was given the all-clear and discharged from a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted because of chest pains. “He was discharged at 12:00 pm (0630 GMT).His condition is normal,” hospital spokesman Parag Dhurke told AFP. Lara was rushed to hospital on Tuesday in India’s financial capital where he is currently working for Star Sports, the official broadcasters of the ongoing cricket World Cup. The 50-year-old Trinidadian underwent an angiography “as a precaution”, Dhurke said.”His health is good,”…