BCCI doubles reward for India's World Cup players

Amid speculation that Indian cricket players are unhappy with the prize money announced for their ICC World Cup 2011 triumph, the BCCI increased it from Rs one crore to Rs two crore each.

The BCCI, in its working committee meeting here, decided to increase the incentive to Rs two crore per player, which is still less than the Rs 5 crore each that the players had reportedly demanded.

"The cash incentive to the members of the World Cup winning Indian team has been increased from Rs 1 crore per player to Rs 2 crore per player," BCCI secretary and president-elect N Srinivasan said in a media release.

The decision comes after speculation that several top Indian cricketers made an informal demand to the cricket board to increase the reward money to Rs 5 crore instead of just 1 crore for winning the biggest cricketing event after 28 years.

However, such reports were rejected by the BCCI with Srinivasan terming them as incorrect.

India won the ICC World Cup beating Sri Lanka in the final on April 2 at the Wankhede Stadium.

Immediately after the triumph, BCCI President Shashank Manohar had announced a reward of Rs one crore for each of the 15-member World Cup squad.

He also announced that the support staff would be awarded Rs 50 lakh each.

India in Final; Beat Pakistan by 29 runs

Disciplined bowling by India saw them beat Pakistan by 29 runs on Wednesday to set-up a World Cup final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai on Saturday.

Pakistan, chasing 261 for victory, were dismissed for 231 with a ball to spare after all of India's five bowlers took two wickets apiece.

Misbah-ul-Haq, who top-scored for Pakistan with 56, helped take them from 208 for nine to a situation where an unlikely 30 was needed off the last over.

But Zaheer Khan held his nerve, bowling four dot balls before Misbah holed out to Virat Kohli to the delight of a capacity crowd.

India's 260 for nine after winning the toss against their arch-rivals was built around man-of-the-match Sachin Tendulkar's 85.

But they might have made considerably less had not the star batsman been dropped four times in an innings that still left him one short of a hundred international hundreds.

Tendulkar was dropped again, on 45, when Younus at mid-off failed to hold on to a mistimed drive off leg-spinner Afridi.

Riaz, however, had Kohli caught by Umar Akmal at backward point and next ball clean bowled Yuvraj with a swinging full toss.

Tendulkar was given a third reprieve by Pakistan on 70 when wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal failed to hold a tough chance off an edged Afridi leg-break.

And he was on 81 when a leaping Umar Akmal at short mid-wicket dropped a checked drive against off-spinner Hafeez.

3rd Semi-Final: NZ won by 49 runs, SA are eliminated

South Africa woes at the World Cup seems never ending, their humiliating loss today ensured they would have to live with the Chokers tag for another 4 years. They have made a habit of coming into the World Cup as favorites and then going back after losing from a winning position and it was no different today as they wasted an opportunity from a very promising position.

After the early loss of the openers, Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor ensured there were no further setbacks for the New Zealanders with a healthy stand of over 100. The going was slow initially, but what was most important from the Kiwis' point of view was that they did not lose further wickets. The duo batted for 25 overs putting on 114 runs to take NZ to a good position at 130/2 in the 32nd over.

The fall of Rossco, against the run of play, to the increasingly impressive Imran Tahir for 43 opened the floodgates for the Proteas. With a solid platform set by the right hand-left hand duo and New Zealand batting deep, SA's best chance to restrict the Kiwis was to pick up wickets as quickly as possible. The bowlers ensured just that for South Africa. From a solid 130/2, New Zealand had slumped to 156/5. From a position of strength in the 32nd over, NZ had slipped to damage control in the space of 36 balls.

Earlier, South Africa had opened the bowling with left-arm spinner Robin Peterson and soon rewarded through the wicket of Brendon McCullum (4). His new ball partner, Dale Steyn dismissed the struggling Martin Guptill for one soon after.

Ryder smashed six fours en route to completing his fifty with a single off Kallis. His well paced innings ended when Colin Ingram took a catch at deep mid-wicket off Morkel with more than 11 overs to go.

Morkel took three late wickets to finish with three for 46 while Kane Williamson helped NZ end with a defendable total on the board with a fine innings of 38. The young right hander made the most of his good memories at the ground when he got to a hundred against Bangladesh.

South Africa were setback early, chasing the sub par total in the very first over in bizarre fashion. Hashim Amla chopped a ball straight onto Brendon McCullum's boot and the ball popped up for Daniel Vettori to complete an easy catch. Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis consolidated the innings with a steady stand 61 and with the likes of AB de Villiers and the in-form JP Duminy to follow it looked like South Africa would canter to victory.

Smith's wicket came against the run of play to give Jacob Oram his first wicket. Kallis nearing his fifty went for a pull that was brilliantly snapped up by Oram. Kallis' wicket turned out to be the moment that turned the match in New Zealand's favour.

Duminy departed after adding 13 with de Villiers while their main man, who was also on wicket-keeping duties today, was run out thanks to a sharp piece of work by Martin Guptill. Johan Botha and Robin Peterson were out in quick succession as whispers of SA and their now-famous-act of choking started doing the rounds.

Faf du Plessis was South Africa's last hope and he kept the Proteas in the hunt till he was out for 36 to hand NZ the match.

Oram ended the match with 4 wickets and 2 superb catches.


Man of the Match: Jacob Oram

India end Australia dominance at World Cup Cricket

Yuvraj Singh was India's hero yet again as the hosts ended Australia's 12-year reign as World Cup champions with 5 wicket quarter-final win on Thursday.

Yuvraj Singh 's unbeaten 57 -- his 4rth fifty of a tournament where he is averaging over a hundred -- saw his team home after they'd been wobbling at 187 for five.

India reached their target of 261 with 14 balls to spare and victory set up a dream semi-final against Pakistan in Mohali on March 30.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting scored his 1st international century in over a year in a total of 260 for six.

But it wasn't enough to maintain his team's bid for an unprecedented fourth straight World Cup title and fifth in all.

Ponting credited Yuvraj and Suresh Raina for the win.

India, aiming for a first World Cup title since 1983, needed 54 to win off the final 10 overs.

Yuvraj eased fraying home nerves with a square-driven four off Brett Lee and, with erratic speedster Shaun Tait conceding 13 runs in the 41st over, the target became well under a run-a-ball.

Raina struck a brilliant straight six off Lee then Yuvraj ending the match with a four off Lee.

He was well-supported in an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 74 by Raina (34 not out).

Opener Sachin Tendulkar had earlier looked in sublime touch.

But Australia denied him his 100th international hundred when he was caught behind off Tait for a fluent 53 during which he became the first batsman to score 18,000 one-day international runs.

Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli batted steadily in a stand of 49 before Kohli (24) slapped a full toss from part-time spinner David Hussey straight to Michael Clarke at short mid-wicket.

Now the question was could the remaining batsman avoid panic. Unfortunately for India, left-hander Gambhir couldn't. One ball after surviving a run-out, he set-off for a non-existent single and was well-beaten by Cameron White's throw to David Hussey having made 50.

Instead, at 168 for four, the pressure was back on India and that only increased when captain Dhoni fell for seven after a cut off Lee was well caught by a diving Clarke at point.

West Indies won by 9 wickets against Bangladesh

West Indies took a massive stride towards the World Cup quarter-finals by pounding lackluster Bangladesh by 9 wickets in a key Group B match on Friday.

Lanky spinner Sulieman Benn grabbed 4-18, and fast bowlers Kemar Roach and skipper Darren Sammy claimed three each, to bowl out Bangladesh for their lowest ODI Cricket total of 58 in 18.5 overs.

The West Indies surpassed the small target in 12.2 overs even before the lights came on for the day-night game at the packed Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka.

Chris Gayle, who had been ill at the start of the game, remained unbeaten on 37 off 36 balls, while Darren Bravo was on nine after Devon Smith was bowled by off-spinner Naeem Islam for six.

With only their 2nd win in the last 11 one-day internationals, the West Indies have four points from three matches, the same as group leaders South Africa, who have played one match less.

Bangladesh, with one win from three games, was left with a mountain to climb to stay in contention for the quarter-finals.

The hosts must win their remaining league matches against England, South Africa and the Netherlands to ensure a place in the last eight.

Man of the Match: Kemar Roach

Kemar Roach hat-trick, Windies won by 215 runs

Kemar Roach taken six wickets, including a hat-trick, and Kieron Pollard cracked 60 off 27 balls to help West Indies thrash the Netherlands by 215 runs in the ICC World Cup on Monday.

Kieron Pollard built on the platform laid by Chris Gayle, who made 80, as West Indies posted 330-8 before bowling out their hapless opponents for 115 off 31.3 overs in the Group B game at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

The Caribbean’s total was the highest at the ground, which is coming off a 12-month suspension over a dangerous playing surface.

The Netherlands hardly posed any threat in the lop-sided encounter, crumbling to 36-5 by the 11th over after early strikes from Roach, who took 6-27, and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn (3-28).

The 22-year old Roach then returned to collect only the 6th World Cup hat-trick and the first of this tournament, when he sent back Pieter Seelar, Bernard Loots and Berend Westdijk.

Dutch hope Ryan ten Doeschate, who scored 119 against England, failed to repeat his magic, trapped leg before wicket for seven by Benn. Tom Cooper provided the only resistance for Netherlands with an unbeaten 55 off 72 balls.

For the West Indies, Chris Gayle put on 100 runs for the opening wicket with Devon Smith (53) after the West Indies were put in to bat on a placid wicket in the day-night clash.

Kieron Pollard, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, hammered five fours and four sixes on his way to the third-fastest World Cup half-century before Ramnaresh Sarwan chipped in with a 42-ball 49.

South Africa crushes West Indies in style

Debutant leg-spinner Imran Tahir took four wickets and AB de Villiers struck 107 not out as South Africa coasted to a 7-wicket win over the West Indies in the World Cup 2011 on Thursday.

Tahir (4-41) and off-spinner Johan Botha (2-48) shared six wickets to help South Africa bowl out the West Indies for 222 off 47.3 overs before de Villiers slammed his 10th one-day century to seal the fate of their rivals.

JP Duminy (42*) hit the winning run as South Africa reached the target with 43 balls to spare in their opening day-night Group B clash at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

De Villiers put on 119 runs for the third wicket with skipper Graeme Smith (45) after South Africa had been reduced to 20-2 following the dismissal of Hashim Amla (14) and Jacques Kallis (4) in the space of five runs.

Man of the match: AB de Villiers

Pakistan have completed a huge victory against Kenya

Pakistan opened their World Cup campaign with a thrashing win over mediocre Kenya side by 205 runs in a group A match at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium.

For Kenya it is their 2nd following defeat in the mega-event after being demolished by New Zealand by 10 wickets in their tournament-opener on Sunday.

Pakistan will next play Sri Lanka in Colombo on Saturday.

Against Kenya, Pakistan produced superb all-round display to seal the match in easy circumstances. After piling up a mammoth 317/7 on the board, they dismissed the minnows for a paltry 112 in 33.1 overs.

Even though he failed with the bat, Captain Shahid Afridi (5/16) led from the front while defending the target. For Kenya only four batsmen reached double figures with Collins Obuya top-scoring with a gutsy 47 off 58 balls.

Apart from Afridi, pacer Umar Gul picked up two Kenyan wickets while giving away just 12 runs.

Earlier, Pakistan's middle-order came up with a superb batting display to guide the team to a massive 317/7 after opting to bat. Shrugging off a poor start, Kamran Akmal (55), Younis Khan (50), Misbah-ul-Haq (65) and Umar Akmal (71) chipped in with valuable half-centuries each to post a challenging total.

Praveen Kumar ruled out World Cup, replaced by Sreesanth

Praveen Kumar has been ruled out of the ICC World Cup 2011 after failing to recover from an elbow injury.

S. Sreesanth, who undergo a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy, was named as the replacement for Praveen Kumar.

"The ICC has confirmed that Praveen Kumar can be replaced in the squad by Sreesanth," BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.

Praveen Kumar, who returned early from the ODI series in South Africa to recover in time for the World Cup, went to England for further treatment but doctors took a final call on his fitness and ruled him out after the medical check-ups.

The Uttar Pradesh bowling-all rounder underwent a fitness test at the NCA but it seems the injury had not healed as fast as was expected, a BCCI source said.

India name preliminary World Cup squad

Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane are included in the 30-man preliminary squad for the 2011 World Cup, while there was no place for veteran Rahul Dravid and Irfan Pathan.

Yusuf Pathan made it to the list of probables following his good performances against New Zealand in the recently concluded ODI series. Also named in the squad was Parthiv Patel, who hit two half-centuries in the last two matches of the five-match ODI series against New Zealand.

The batting had the likely names of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. The ones who are likely to be challenging for a place in the final fifteen are Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahana, Saurabh Tiwary, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara.

The fast department had well-known seniors such as Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar, while Vinay Kumar also found a spot. The spinners were led by Harbhajan Singh and included Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra and R Ashwin, while Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja made it as the bits-and-pieces men.

The side had four wicket-keepers with Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel and Wridhiman Saha joining captain MS Dhoni.

The final team is to be declared a month before the start of the World Cup as per the rules of the ICC and would be pruned to a squad of 15.

30-man list: MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Saurabh Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel , R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik, Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Cheteshwar Pujara, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar.

ICC: DRS to be used in all WC games

The International Cricket Council has said that it will use the Decision Review System (DRS) based on technology popularly known as ‘hawkeye’ for all the matches of the ICC cricket World Cup 2011.

The world's cricket governing body, however, said the hot-spot technology can be used as part of the DRS only in the two semi-finals and the final of the mega event to be held in the Indian sub-continent from Feb-April 2011.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni is known to be in favor of the hot-spot technology, which uses infrared sensors to show whether the ball has hit bat, pad or glove.

"All the matches of the ICC World Cup 2011 will have the DRS which will be based on virtual technology. It is just that the hot-spot technology will not be available for all the matches," an ICC representative told PTI.

"ICC is still talking to BBG Sports for four cameras to be used in two semi-finals and final to implement the hot-spot technology," she said, adding two cameras each could be used for each of the semi-finals.

The representative also said the ICC is yet to finalize the supplier for the virtual technology as it has asked for quotations from Virtual Eye and Hawkeye, the two firms that provide such services.

The ICC's clarification comes a day after one of its spokespersons said in Mumbai that the DRS will be used in the four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the final - a total of seven matches.