Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies
It all seems too fresh, I am refering to the Cricket World Cup 2003 hosted by South Africa. The India vs
Pakistan match, the Kenyans going beyond the first round, and of course the India v Australia Final match, in which the Australians beat India fair and square. Well the next Cricket World Cup is here! Played every four years, this time is going to be the hosted by the West Indies in 2007. Even though it is too early to start speculating or predicting about the chances of different teams taking the Cup home, it is worth while to look at where things stand now. The World Cup groups are given in the table. The venues for the cricket matches are Kingston Jamaica, St Lucia, Trindad & Tobago Antigua, Guyana, Grenada and Barbados. The hosts play Pakistan in the opening match of the tournament (Group D) at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica on 13 March. The final will take place at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on 28 April. Each team plays the other in the four groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 8 stage where teams will play each of the remaining teams - except the team that advanced from their own group. The top four go to the semifinal and then the top two will play the final. Also interesting to see based on past performance and the group team composition, Group D seems the most competitive, with West Indies, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Group B is also a tough group to be in with Srilanka, India and Bangladesh. Group C has some competition too with England, New Zealand and Kenya as the strong teams. Group A looks all for Australia and South Africa to go to the Super 8 stage. All the Cricket Fans around the globe would be certainly looking forward to this event in the Caribbean.
Australia Carries Natwest Challenge
Australia beats England in the next two cricket matches to win the Natwest Challenge. Down 0-1 they beat England by 7 wickets in the 2nd cricket match. In the 3rd cricket match Australia beat England by 8 wickets. Starting of with a 1-0 lead England lost to the Aussies 2-1 in the Natwest Challenge. The Star performers for Australia were Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist with the bat and Brett Lee with the ball. Brett Lee took 5/41 (man of the match) restricted England to a score of 223-8. Flintoff scored 87 his score highest against Australia. Ponting (111) shared a third-wicket stand of 120 with Damien Martyn, who was 39 not out as his side reached a target of 224 with six overs remaining. In the Final match Gilchrist scored a match winning century of only 101 balls.Final Scores 2nd cricket match Australia won the toss and decided to field England 223 for 8 (50.0 overs) A Flintoff 87 (112) B Lee 41/5 Australia 224 for 3 (44.2 overs) Ponting 111(115).
Final Score 3rd cricket match Australia won the toss and decided to field England: 228-7 ( 50.0 overs ) K P Pietersen 74 (84) J N Gillespie 44/3 Australia: 229-2 ( 34.5 overs ) A C Gilchrist not out 121(101).
