***Cricket World Cup - 2003***

[Usman S.]

Old cricket related thread is here: http://www.pakdef.info/forum/showthr...&threadid=2277

[Usman S.]

Official 2003 Cricket World Cup song by Strings: http://www.muziq.net/showpage.php?pa...ype=pop&show=H

[Ammar Bhutta]

Big game tonight/tomorrow morning and its Eid as well. I hope the team will live up to our expectations. Inshallah.

[Junaid]

Reuters - 11 February 2003


SYDNEY, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Australian television stations reported on Tuesday that leg spinner Shane Warne had pulled out of the World Cup after apparently taking a banned substance inadvertently while recovering from a shoulder injury.

Warne, one of Wisden's five greatest players of the 20th century, returned to the Australian squad for the World Cup after making a much faster than anticipated recovery from a dislocated shoulder in December.

"Shane Warne is returning home from the World Cup after inadvertently taking a banned drug," Channel Seven television reported on Tuesday.

"It's believed it was medicine for his injured shoulder. He will not play the first match tonight against Pakistan," it said in a newsbreak.

The Australian Cricket Board in Johannesburg was not available to confirm the reports but said it would be holding a news conference with Warne at 0700 GMT.

© Reuters

[Saad Hasan]

Inspite of warnie's and Bevans' absence I am afraid Aussies would prove too much for Pakistan.....As much as I hate to say this Pakistan will be beaten quite easily and would further face an uphill battle in making the super sixes stage, even if it does, its points total would be low, thus making the super sixes stage only a formality........

[MohammedA]

Very dissapointing start. After Wasim and others had Austrailia on the back-foot and under pressure, Afridi bowls rubbish and gets smacked evreywhere. Plus he fails with the bat. If he has to play, he needs to come in at no.5 or 6. Why wasn't Saqlain picked????? Cannot belive this decision.
Pakistan briefly had a chance when Rashid and Wasim were batting, but once Rashid was gone that was it. Could have been a much close game with Saqlain and Anwar playing.

Anyhow, Inshallah, Pakistan will fight back and show some mental toughness in the next 5 matches.

[Aziz]

Australia opens Cup account with win over Pakistan
Australia has beaten Pakistan by 82 runs in its opening World Cup cricket match in Johannesburg.

Pakistan was dismissed for 228 in the 44th over, chasing 311 to win.

Ian Harvey starred with the ball for Australia taking four wickets, while Brad Hogg claimed three.

Earlier, Andrew Symonds led the way with an unbeaten 143, as Australia posted 8 for 310 off its 50 overs.

Bowler and Pakistan captain Waqar Younis caused controversy late in Australian innings when he was taken off midway through his second last over after bowling a head high full toss at Symonds.

Aziz

P.S. What the hell was wrong with Younis Khan???

[nausherwan]

Quote: Originally posted by Aziz Australia opens Cup account with win over Pakistan Australia has beaten Pakistan by 82 runs in its opening World Cup cricket match in Johannesburg. Pakistan was dismissed for 228 in the 44th over, chasing 311 to win. Ian Harvey starred with the ball for Australia taking four wickets, while Brad Hogg claimed three. Earlier, Andrew Symonds led the way with an unbeaten 143, as Australia posted 8 for 310 off its 50 overs. Bowler and Pakistan captain Waqar Younis caused controversy late in Australian innings when he was taken off midway through his second last over after bowling a head high full toss at Symonds. Aziz P.S. What the hell was wrong with Younis Khan???

What the hell was wrong with Younis Khan??

I say, what the hell was wrong with Waqar. That stupid decison of his to bowl first

What the hell was wrong with Afridi?

With Razzaq?

With Elahi?

With Inziman?

With Youhana?

All I can say is this team is a disgrace, especially the captian Mr. Burewalla Whatever his name is

[Saad Hasan]

Well to be brutally honest, if there is one player that is a liability and is taking up a spot to other well deserving, it is WAQAR himself.....There is simply no room for him.

Also, lets not forget Razzaq's miserable spell and failing with the bat, Razzaq got smacked all over a lot before Afridi and I think Razzaq has lost his bowling, he is very limited to begin with, can only manage inswing and does not have the ball ball that goes away from the batsman. Inswings gives only a very small room for error, even slightly drafting into the legs, let alone down the leg, are mouth watering for good batsmen, as Ponting dispatched Razzaq over midwicket off his very first ball....

Also, when we can't chase why the hell did we bowl first, and aussie's have proved to be shaky when chasing even modest totals in the recent series...

This is my eleven

1.Anwar (still the best batsman in the side, will score when it matters, last three one innings 71, 51, 28 not out)

2.Afridi (he is a trump card, should not be defensive at all as he was trying to play straight and managed a nick, should be given a free reign to massacare opposition bowling)

3.Razzaq (a la '99 should be moved to 1 down)

4.Inzi (great disappointment, seems to go in a shell under pressure and has never scored when it mattered the most, except for the '92 semis)

5.Younis (still the in form batsman, got a freak dismissal)

6.Youhana (a la '99 should be used in the late over charge)

7.Wasim(Capt. lets give credit where its due, wasim did a fine job in the last cup, despite the final)

8.Rashid

9.Azhar (bowled well in warm ups and not only gives an extra bowling option, but can bat and be used earlier in the inning as a pinch hitter)

10.Saqi (all the white countries as well as west indies cannot play spin at all, no matter how seaming the wickets always suicidal to play any form of cricket without a specialist spinner)

11.Shoaib (should be used sporadically, spells should not under any condition exceed 2-3 overs, noticed how he completely broke down in the second spell and could'nt produce any pace, got lucky with Ponting's wicket.)

[Junaid]

Assalaam Alaikum

Another pathetic display by the Pakistani team. A complete letdown, and that too on Eid day. With all the talent available, it's hard to understand the sort of performance these guys are giving. Wonder, how much of it has to do with the going bet rates?

[Sheikh]

Why didn't Saeed Anwar Open?!! He is only THE BEST opener Pakistan has!!

Pakistani Cricket Team has disgraced its fans with disunity and rampant laziness. I hope this type of performance is not a sign of our possible loss to India on March 1!

[Noman]

Quote: Originally posted by Sheikh Why didn't Saeed Anwar Open?!! He is only THE BEST opener Pakistan has!!

He was injured during nets. Hit on the elbow by a delivery from Shoaib Akhter.....

[Saad Hasan]

Looks like Shoaib used up all of his in the net sessions....

[MohammedA]

PAKISTAN PAY FOR LACK OF POSITIVE THINKING WORLD CUP-WINNING CAPTAIN LAMENTS A GOLDEN ...


By IMRAN KHAN.
Sport - Cricket - Pakistan pay for lack of positive thinking World Cup-winning captain laments a golden opportunity that went begging.

PAKISTAN'S spineless performance against the world champions Australia would not be so disappointing for their supporters if the team were not so talented.
Australia won not because they had more skill but because of their mental strength. The first hour of the match provided tremendous entertainment as Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis battled and gained ascendancy over the Australian top order. At 86 for four, the Australians were vulnerable and in a real crisis.
However, it was at this critical juncture that it began to become apparent why the Australians are world champions and Pakistan, despite their lethal bowling attack, had not done justice to their potential. Despite holding the upper hand, the Pakistanis lacked self-belief and faith in their ability. Rather than going in for the kill and attacking, instead they went on the defensive and amazingly looked to get the spinners' overs in, rather than bowl out Australia.
Shoaib at this point had only bowled four overs and could have been brought back to bowl out Andrew Symonds. Australia, on the other hand, looked positive, confident and were willing to score off any opportunity. The contrasting mindset of the two teams reminded me of a Wimbledon encounter between Vijay Amritraj and Bjorn Borg two decades ago. Amritraj had won the first two sets and was on match point in the third and yet his body language gave away his panic-stricken and flustered state of mind. Borg, on the other hand, looked calm and self-assured and went on to win.
Pakistan's negative mindset was also evident when they won the toss and put Australia in - despite knowing that their strength lay in batting first and defending with their powerful bowling attack. In the 1999 World Cup, Pakistan beat Australia in the qualifying rounds at Headingley by batting first and lost to India and even Bangladesh batting second. Moreover, West Indies beat South Africa and Sri Lanka beat New Zealand, batting first a few days ago. Both were underdogs in their respective matches.
It seemed that Pakistan's decision to bowl first was dictated more out of fear of the Australian pace attack rather than playing to their own strengths. When Pakistan did bat, they sent in the inexperienced Saleem Elahi at the crucial No 3 position. Surely the best batsmen must face the best opposition bowlers. Inzamam-ul-Haq is the only world-class batsman in the Pakistan line-up and had the best chance to blunt Australian's pace attack. Instead, he went in at four, not realising that it is much easier to bat at 10 for one rather than 10 for two. Ten for one is a setback and 10 for two is a crisis. It is far easier to avoid a crisis rather than to play in one.
It is worth noting that the West Indies and Sri Lankan victories were built on the innings of Brian Lara at No 3 and Sanath Jayasuriya at No 1.
When Inzamam did come in with two wickets down, the Australians, in their typical attacking style, brought back Glenn McGrath to take on Inzamam and get him out.
Australia look very confident and formidable. However, when the pressure mounts in the coming games they will feel Shane Warne's absence - especially if they reach the semi-final stages. It should be borne in mind that the 1999 World Cup was won by the big-match temperament of three Australian players: Steve Waugh, Warne and McGrath.
This brings me to the question which is on the minds of cricket lovers all over the world: What on earth was Warne doing taking banned substances? If it turns out that he had taken steroids to heal his shoulder in time for the World Cup, then I feel it is tragic for the game of cricket to see such a great entertainer banned for making such a silly mistake.
The other issue that is puzzling the cricketing world is England's refusal to play Zimbabwe. The initial reluctance was on moral grounds - on the poor human rights record of the Mugabe government. Now the match has been cancelled by the England and Wales Cricket Board because of fears of the players' security.
This raises some serious questions concerning the future of the game. Who decides who is violating human rights and when is a country safe enough to tour? Pakistan cricket suffered huge financial losses when India refused to tour on the grounds of Pakistan's support for the Kashmiri struggle. This is a dispute that Pakistan calls a freedom movement and India views as cross-border terrorism.
After September 11, New Zealand and West Indies cancelled their tours to Pakistan because of fears for the players' security. Similarly, Sri Lanka have suffered financially when teams have refused to tour for security reasons.
I hope that the International Cricket Council call for a conference of all the cricket-playing countries to decide on the moral issues of touring a country and, secondly, the security concerns for the players.
(c) Telegraph Group Limited, London, 2003.

[H Khan]

KIMBERLEY (South Africa), Feb 14: The Pakistan cricket team continued to make friends on their tour of South Africa when they made a surprise visit to the Kimberley Hospital on Thursday morning.

The cricketers, dressed in travel kits, visited the entire hospital and interacted with the patients, particularly with the children in paediatrics ward. Only those present at the scene can explain the delight and happiness that was visible on the faces of the sick children when they found the star cricketers next to them.

The local media gave prominent coverage to the visit with one newspaper publishing a front-page four-column picture of skipper Waqar Younis bending over one of the cots and chatting with a 5-year-old boy.

The Pakistan players distributed their green caps and toys to the children in the paediatric section and also promised to donate a television and video player.

"This is from the boys' hearts and not from the administrators. We will donate to the childrens ward a whole lot of toys, a television set and a video machine, but there is going to be a very humble donation the boys will make towards the hospital and further gifts will be conveyed to you soon," team manager Shaharyar Khan said at the paediatrics section.

"For you to come to Kimberley Hospital is a very great honour, as we have doctors here who make it possible for us to continue growing in stature and those doctors I am referring to are from Pakistan," chief executive of the hospital Dr Deon Madyo said.

Dr Hamid Shabbir said: "We want to thank the Pakistani team for the gesture they have shown by taking time off to spend time with us."

Shaharyar Khan, on behalf of the team, said the Pakistan team was a team of human beings with feelings. "I would like to say the boys were prepared and looking forward to interact with those who needed their support to recover."

[Junaid]

Pacemen inspire Australia win
By Brian Murgatroyd

Centurion, South Africa, Feb 15: Australia, led by superb fast bowling from Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee, hammered India by nine wickets with more than half their overs to spare on Saturday.

Man of the match Gillespie produced one of the most economical and effective spells in World Cup history as he took three for 13 from 10 overs while Lee bowled with awesome pace to capture three for 36.

They helped skittle India for 125, their lowest-ever World Cup total and the lowest score in 16 one-day internationals at Centurion Park, before openers Adam Gilchrist (48) and Matthew Hayden (45 not out) helped complete the rout by adding 100 in 17 overs.

The match, which ended after 22.2 overs of the Australian reply, was an anti-climax for the large crowd at Centurion, who had come in the hope of some entertainment from India`s highly-rated batting line-up.

Instead, what they got was world-class fast bowling from Lee and Gillespie, backed up by Glenn McGrath (one for 23), performances that justified Australia`s decision to leave out all rounder Ian Harvey and play just four specialist bowlers.

NO CONTEST The pace bowling trio effectively wrecked the match as a contest.

The victory also underlined Australia`s status as favourites to retain the trophy they won in England in 1999.

Ricky Ponting`s side look sure to end the group stages topping Pool A, with their remaining matches against two minor sides, the Netherlands and Namibia, plus Zimbabwe and England.

Ponting had lost the toss but that was just about the last thing that went wrong for him as he decided to give the new ball to Lee ahead of Gillespie.

Lee`s opening burst of two for 17 in six overs removed an out-of-sorts Saurav Ganguly (9) and Virender Sehwag, both falling to firm-footed wafts outside the off-stump.

When Lee was rested, Gillespie replaced him and struck immediately, forcing Rahul Dravid to play his first ball onto his stumps after making a single off 23 deliveries.

By the end of Gillespie`s spell, bowled without a break, only fellow Australian Gary Gilmour, with six for 14 against England at Headingley in 1975, had more economical figures against major opposition in the World Cup.

MISERLY FORM

With Glenn McGrath in equally miserly form at the other end, India subsided from 41 for one in the eighth over to 50 for five ten overs later.

Only Sachin Tendulkar, with 36, proved equal to the challenge presented by the Australian fast bowlers, but even he struggled and it took him over two hours to score those runs before Gillespie trapped him with a ball that cut back and kept low.

There was late resistance from Anil Kumble (16 not out) and Harbhajan Singh (28) as they added 40 for the eighth wicket but Australia`s brilliance was summed up by the way Darren Lehmann ran out last man Javagal Srinath with a direct hit from cover.

India were dismissed in 41.4 overs.

Australia looked to be heading for only their third 10-wicket win in one-dayers before Gilchrist was stumped by Dravid off Kumble after an entertaining and ruthless 60-ball stay including six fours.

His dismissal let in Ponting (24 not out), who had the satisfaction of hammering Harbhajan Singh for four to complete the win two hours ahead of the scheduled finish time, completing another very satisfactory day at the office for Australia. Reuters

[Sultan]

Not a great morale booster for India especially after nearly being 'hammered' by the Dutch

[Junaid]

Assalaam Alaikum,

Pakistan won, but our batting seems pretty brittle.

----------------------------------------------

Cricket-World-Wasim and Shoaib blast out Namibia

By Julian Linden

KIMBERLEY, South Africa, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Pakistan fast bowlers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar ripped out Namibia for just 84 to seal a crushing 171-run victory in World Cup Group A on Sunday.

Man-of-the-match Wasim captured five for 28 and Shoaib four for 46 as Namibia crumbled to the fourth lowest total in the tournament's history in reply to Pakistan's 255 for nine.

"This is like any other game, it's the World Cup," Wasim told a news conference. "You can't just take it easier against the so-called weaker teams, you have to treat every game seriously."

Namibia's innings lasted just 17.4 overs and 89 minutes, but it could have been even worse as they collapsed to 42 for nine before a partnership of 42 between Bjorn Kotze and Rudi van Vuuren doubled their total.

The last-wicket pair prevented the African team from posting the lowest ever World Cup innings score, still Canada's 45 against England in 1979.

Showing no mercy against a team of scratch amateurs, Pakistan's fearsome opening bowlers terrorised the Namibians from the outset.

Namibia lost five wickets in the first three overs, four batsmen made ducks and only three players, Jan-Berry Burger (14) and tailenders Kotze (24 not out) and Van Vuuren (14) reached double figures.

Wasim made the initial breakthrough when he had Riaan Walters caught behind without scoring in his first over, then Shoaib struck twice, getting Stefan Swanepoel caught at slip by Inzamam-ul-Haq and sending the ball crashing into Danie Keulder's stumps.

Wasim, playing a record 34th World Cup match, removed Gavin Murgatroyd (4) and Louis Burger (0) in successive balls but missed out on a hat-trick, a feat Shoaib also narrowly failed to achieve after dismissing Jan-Berry Burger and Gerrie Snyman.

Wasim blasted out Melt van Schoor (2) and Deon Kotze to complete his sixth five-wicket haul in one-day internationals and edge to within two victims of becoming the first player to reach the magical 500 milestone.

FASTEST DELIVERY

Shoaib, whose fastest delivery was timed at 159.1 kph, almost claimed a fifth victim himself when he bowled Bjorn Kotze with the total on 52, only to see the delivery called a no-ball, and off spinner Saqlain Mushtaq was left to pick up the final wicket.

"I wouldn't really say it dents our confidence," said Namibia captain Deon Kotze. "Once guys got in for a while they realised they could actually play it, so if anything it gives us a bit if heart.

"I don't think it's the sort of thing that we would now sit back and say we can't compete at this level."

Namibia's woeful batting display spoiled what had been a much improved performance by their bowlers.

After conceding 340 in their opening defeat by Zimbabwe, the African part-timers did well to restrict Pakistan.

Saleem Elahi scored a patient 63 off 100 balls to spare his team's blushes as the Pakistan batsmen struggled to master a pedestrian but enthusiastic Namibian attack.

Soundly beaten by Australia in the their first game, Pakistan opted to bat first to give their top order some practice.

Although no-one except Elahi passed 50, most of Pakistan's main batsmen spent some time in the middle, with Yousuf Youhana making 43, Rashid Latif 36, Younis Khan 28 and Saeed Anwar 23.

[Saad Hasan]

On the eve of the only game of consequence for Pakistan in this whole tournament, I would like to take the opportunity to predict that in any eventuality, whether Pakistan bats first or second, we would lose this game and with it any hope of advancing to the second round.

I think the main reason is that our team would be under tremendous pressure and contiunuing on from their shell shock batting against Namibia, where Elahi too 100 balls to score his 50, our batsmen would be too cautious and nervous to score freely:

Therefore, If England bat first, look for them to score in the 270+ range and any score above 200 would be too much for our batting lineup to chase. And in the event we bat first, I would imagine us scoring between 220-235 and that I am afraid would be within the capacity of even the medicore english batting....

All in all it would be a sad day

However I would love to be proven wrong......

[H Khan]

Alright Saad, I say Pakistan wins easily!

[Usman S.]

Anyone knows where one can see cricket matchs live on the net?

[Junaid]

Assalaam Alaikum,

I don't know where they have live games online, but you can read ball to ball commentary on cricinfo at the following link;

http://www-usa.cricket.org/link_to_d...22FEB2003.html

England won the toss and decided to bat making 246/8 in 50 overs. Pakistan are at 17/1 in 3.4 overs. Afridi is gone for 6. Saeed on 4 and Inzi yet to score.

-------------------------------------------------------

Cricket-World-Pakistan v England scoreboard

CAPE TOWN, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Scoreboard in the World Cup

Group A match between Pakistan and England on Saturday:

England

M.Trescothick c Rashid Latif b Wasim Akram 1

N.Knight c Abdur Razzaq b Waqar Younis 15

M.Vaughan c Younis Khan b Shoaib Akhtar 52

N.Hussain c Rashid Latif b Waqar Younis 8

A.Stewart b Shahid Afridi 30

P.Collingwood not out 66

A.Flintoff st Rashid Latif b Saqlain Mushtaq 26

C.White c Younis Khan b Shahid Afridi 15

A.Giles c Shahid Afridi b Saqlain Mushtaq 17

A.Caddick not out 3

Extras (lb-1 nb-5 w-7) 13

Total (for eight wickets, 50 overs) 246

Fall of wickets: 1-7 2-45 3-59 4-110 5-118 6-160 7-194 8-223

Did not bat: J.Anderson

Bowling: Wasim Akram 10-1-37-1 (nb-3 w-3), Shoaib Akhtar

9-1-63-1 (nb-1 w-3), Waqar Younis 7-0-37-2, Saqlain Mushtaq

10-0-44-2, Shahid Afridi 8-0-36-2, Abdur Razzaq 6-0-28-0 (nb-1

w-1)

Pakistan: Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf

Youhana, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Rashid Latif, Wasim Akram,

Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar.

[Junaid]

Assalaam Alaikum,

Just as I finished posting, Inzi was out for a duck. Pakistan are in a little trouble (what's new) at 17/2 in 3.5 overs.

[Junaid]

Assalaam Alaikum,

What's going on? Youhana is gone too for a duck. Pakistan getting in deep now at 20/3 in 5 overs.

[Junaid]

CAPE TOWN, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Shoaib Akhtar bowled the fastest ball recorded in cricket history on Saturday, but it did not do him much good.

The 'Rawalpindi Express' sent down an exocet at England opener Nick Knight with the final delivery of his fourth over in the World Cup Group A day-nighter.

Knight blocked, the scoreboard showed 161.3kmh (100.23mph), the crowd cheered and Shoaib granted them a little wave of the hand.

Nine overs later, however, Shoaib had conceded 63 runs for Michael Vaughan's wicket. His figures were the most expensive of the innings.

"I'm pleased with that delivery -- I bowl it with a different action, taking the arm right back to get more power -- but I'm not that happy overall," he said. "I bowled really badly."

Speed guns are not officially recognised by the International Cricket Council, although they appreciate that they help popularise the game.

Shoaib has the same effect.

He first broke the 100mph barrier in April last year in a one-dayer against New Zealand in Lahore, when he was timed -- again unofficially -- at 161kph (100.04mph).

The 27-year-old, however, appears to have one big advantage over his speed rivals, an abnormally flexible elbow which has led to him being called for throwing on three occasions.

Many people believe Australia's Jeff Thomson was the fastest bowler of all time.

Using different, less reliable technology, he was timed at 99.8mph (160.5kph) in a specially arranged net session in the mid-1970s.

Australia Brett Lee, Shoaib's nearest current rival and regarded as more consistently quick than the Pakistani, was clocked at 99.4mph (159.93) against South Africa in Cape Town last year.

Both Shoaib and Lee, however, have recently stressed they are more interested in taking wickets than speed limits.

"I'm also thinking about line and length and sticking to a more consistent line. You can't be a quality bowler without that," Shoaib had said just before his first 100mph ball.

He and Lee have fearsome weapons of pace, but both also know that the faster they bowl, the faster the ball leaves the bat.