All Time Great World Cup: An ODI Championship

[Wilted]

Round 3 Results

Round 3

RSA defeated NZ

IND defeated ENG

AUS defeated SL

PAK defeated WI

Current Standings

Group A	Played	Wins	N/R	NRR	Total
India	3	2		0.16	4
New Zealand	3	2		-0.07	4
South Africa	3	1		0.38	2
England	3	1		-0.64	2

Group B	Played	Wins	N/R	NRR	Total
Australia	3	3		1.09	6
Pakistan	3	2		0.05	4
West Indies	3	1		0.50	2
Sri Lanka	3	0		-2.04	0

Tournament Stat Leaders

Batsman	Runs	Bowler	Wickets
S Fleming	286	J Srinath	8
J Root	224	B Lee	7
R Ponting	216	R Hadlee	7
V Kohli	214	I Tahir	7
K Pietersen	213	S Warne +2 others	7

That brings things to the halfway point of the group stage.
At the moment, Australia remain the only undefeated team in the comp with three wins and zero losses. A major factor in this the fact they have played all of their games at home but will play their final Group B games without the home ground advantage. On top of Group A, we have India closely followed by New Zealand. New Zealand were one of the weaker teams going into this tournament are eyeing off a spot in the finals already. A bonus for them is they play their next three games at home. All teams still have a chance of making finals and no team is yet guaranteed.

After three games each, the team with the most runs scored in total is England with 881 runs (South Africa have 880) but the English also have more runs score against them than anyone else with 914. The lowest scoring team is Sri Lanka while the most economical team the West Indies.

No batsman has score multiple 100s yet but there are three batsmen who have score 50+ in each innings, Ponting, Kohli and Fleming. Fleming is the only one of those three who has scored a ton. Speaking of Kohli, since he's only been dismissed once so far, he has the highest average: 214 and is scoring at a tick higher than a run a ball. Having scored his 20 runs in nine balls, Ambrose has the highest strike rate at 222.22% (doing Richie proud) but for batsman with >100 runs to their name, Taylor is the fastest scorer with a strike rate of 126.32 for his 114 runs. KP's 178* remains the highest individual score and will take some serious batting to surpass. Fleming also holds the record for most boundaries, 39. That also includes a record nine 6s. For those looking to play along the ground, Root claims the record of most 4s with 35. The last batting stat being kept track of is balls faced, which unsurprisingly goes to the leading run scorer, Fleming, who has faced 336 balls in his three innings. That is more than 100 in front of Ponting who has faced the second most deliveries.

Along with the most wickets, there are a few other bowling stats, though not quite as many as the batsman. 11 Bowlers have bowled their full potential of 30 overs in three matches. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the only teams without a player in that list. Best average goes to Lee with his 7 wickets @12.86, while best strike rate goes to Watson who took a single wicket in nine balls. Boult has the best strike rate with 5+ wicket @16.29. Best bowling figures also goes to Lee for his 5-26, which is also the only 5fa so far. Finally the most economical bowler is Root who only had three runs scored of the only over he bowled. For those who have bowled at least 10 overs.

Round 3 Fixture

Round 4

IND vs RSA

NZ vs ENG

PAK vs AUS

SL vs WI

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Game 13: India vs South Africa
India XI: S Tendulkar, V Sehwag, V Kohli, R Dravid, S Ganguly, M Dhoni (c, wk), R Jadeja, K Dev, A Kumble, J Srinath, J Bumrah
South Africa XI: H Amla, Q de Kock (wk), J Kallis, A de Villiers, J Rhodes, F du Plessis, S Pollock, I Tahir, D Steyn, A Donald, M Ntini
South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first.

No new faces for India but South Africa have dropped the underperforming G Smith and brought back Faf who averaged over 60 in ODI in India.

South Africa
It was a solid start to the South Africans' innings. They made it through to the 10-over mark of the match without loss and despite some streak edges that ran for four, they looked quite comfortable at the crease. Amla's skip down the wicket to drive behind point for 4 was one of the shots of the tournament so far.

Srinath broke the 61-run partnership but the wicket didn't stop de Kock from relishing his new position at the top of the order, racing to his third 50 of the tournament. Kallis made a solid start before Jadeja found his edge and before de Villiers could get settled, Jadeja had his second. De Kock was negating the spinners by sweeping what seemed like every second ball to the boundary, reaching his century in the 36th over. Rhodes didn't have the same success against spin and became Jadeja's third victim. All three of Jadeja's wickets were caught by Dhoni behind the stumps.

The other bowlers weren't able to match Jadeja's intensity and were taken to all corners of the ground. Faf reached his 50 in 32 balls and de Kock made it to 172, including a 25 run over, before falling to Dev. Straight after de Kock was dismissed, Dev removed Pollock and Tahir. That was the third hat trick of the tournament! The late rush of wickets didn't do much to stop Faf from scoring and South Africa finished with a total of 328 runs from their 50 overs.

India
A tight start from the South African bowlers put the pressure on India early. Sehwag and Tendulkar caved to the pressure and by the 10-over mark, India already required seven runs per over. Ntini joined in the wicket-taking, removing both Kohli and Dravid, and Tahir picked up Ganguly. Things were looking grim for India.

The only hope India seemed to have was Dhoni, who had just made a record 28-ball 50 to raise the Indian spirits. Jadeja also added his efforts to the comeback but both he and Dhoni were removed to turn things dire for the Indians. Dev and Kumble were the final resistance, requiring 79 runs in the last 10 overs to turn this match around once more.

Kumble fell without adding many runs but Dev had turned it up a notch, reaching 50 in as many balls despite a slow start. Continuing to punish the flagging South African bowler all over the ground, Dev brought the required runs down to just 32 off the last five overs. A big collar and a bigger mustache are sometimes not enough though, as Ntini and Steyn focussed their efforts on the tailenders. Dev ran out of partners just 16 runs shy of an unlikely victory.

RSA 7-328
Q de Kock 172, F du Plessis 63*
R jadeja 3-59. K Dev 3-61

IND 312
K Dev 90*, M Dhoni 50
M Ntini 3-63, D Steyn 2-49

India lost to South Africa by 16 runs
Q de Kock was awarded Man of the Match.

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Game 14: New Zealand vs England
New Zealand XI: S Fleming, M Guptil, K Williamson (c), R Taylor, M Crowe, B McCullum, R Hadlee, D Vettori, K Mills, S Bond, T Boult
England XI: K Pietersen, G Gooch, J Root, J Trott, J Bairstow, B Stokes, J Buttler (wk), A Flintoff (c), I Botham, G Swann, J Anderson
England won the toss and elected to bat first

No changes to either side aside from Guptil taking over as opener and McCullum dropping to the middle order for the Kiwis.

England
It was a solid start from both teams but the only excitement from the first 10 overs was an unsuccessful LBW due to it being a free hit. It took the English 20 overs to reach 60 runs. The skill and precision shown by the New Zealand quicks were not replicated by Vettori, who Pietersen took 12 runs off his first over.

Pietersen reached his 50 in the 23rd over of the match in stark contrast to his mammoth century just two matches prior. Almost half of his runs had come off the bowling of Vettori but it was the spin bowler who had the last laugh, dismissing Pietersen for 62. Having faced 100 balls but not yet reaching 50, New Zealand were probably disappointed to see the back of Gooch who ran himself out. Trott and Bairstow fell quickly after that and England was left with a fair bit of catching up to do for the last 10 overs.

It took England about half of the match to reach 100 runs, they reached 200 during the 43rd over. Though littered with wickets, Stokes, Buttler, Flintoff and Botham put on some very entertaining cameos and but the end of the innings, England had put on 279 runs. The score was under par for the flat deck but if England could remove Fleming early, they'd have New Zealand under pressure.

New Zealand
Fleming proved to be the bane of the opposition bowling as he has been all tournament, scoring his runs quickly too. Anderson proved too much for Guptill however, bowling him for just six runs. Fleming scored his 50 and brought up New Zealand's 100 runs in the same delivery. Scoring at more than a run a ball, Williamson brought up his own 50 the next over. Having two confident batters at the crease would be giving New Zealand a lot of confidence in achieving their third win of the Group Stage.

The New Zealand pair batted flawlessly, breaking the record for New Zealand's highest first-wicket partnership against the English. Williamson started getting too creative and after a couple of streaky boundaries, he middled one straight to Trott of Botham's bowling for 62 runs off 63 balls. On 98, Fleming edged one through to Buttler behind the stumps but it was called a front foot no-ball. The next delivery went for 4 and Fleming became the first batsman to score two hundred in this tournament.

The rest of the innings went as expected and Fleming and Taylor scored freely and brought the required total down to 34 runs in 10 overs. With one run needed off the last five overs, Fleming blocked out a maiden to ensure that Taylor would bring up a 50 with the winning runs, missing out on getting his own 150 in the process. A cruisy victory in the end for New Zealand

ENG 7-279
K Pietersen 62, G Gooch 47
S Bond 2-58, D Vettori 2-61

New Zealand 2-281
S Fleming 149*, K Williamson 63
J Anderson 1-61, I Botham 1-65

New Zealand defeated England by 8 wickets
S Fleming was awarded Man of the Match.

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Game 15: Pakistan vs Australia
Pakistan XI: S Anwar, S Afridi, Y Khan, Z Abbas, B Azam, I Khan (c), S Malik, M Khan (wk), W Akram, S Mushtaq, W Younis
Australia XI: M Hayden, A Gilchrist (wk), R Ponting (c), D Jones, S Waugh, M Bevan, A Symonds, M Starc, B Lee, S Warne, G McGrath
Australia won the toss and elected to bowl.

No changes from either side.

Pakistan
Facing up against an undefeated Australia, Pakistan's innings could not have gotten off to a worse start when McGrath knocked Anwar's stumps over for a duck. Afridi made a solid start but was caught off guard by the pace of Lee but Khan was able to hit the two opening bowlers to the boundary with ease, making for a balanced start to the match.

Y Khan and Abbas put on more than 50 runs together, at a decent pace too, before Abbas chased and knicked a wider delivery from McGrath, who was into his ninth straight over. Things didn't get any better for Pakistan with Warne bowling at the other end when Khan skied one of Warne's variations to deep mid-off. Imran Khan and Azam put on their own 50 partnership, bringing Pakistan back into the match. Starc was proving to be unplayable so the pair were content just to push him around for singles while they went after Symonds at the other end. With McGrath bowling his 10 overs in a single spell for some reason, Australia was not leaving themselves much room to rotate bowlers at the death.

Azan brought up his first 50 of the tournament with a slog over point for 6 and Pakistan was beginning to look like they were in a commanding position and eyeing off a 300+ score. A miscued hook shot from a Brett Lee bouncer saw the back of Azam for 78 off 72 balls but the 128-run partnership between him and Imran Khan had set this inning up for an exciting end. Symonds removed Malik cheaply and a flipper from Warne bowled Imran Khan. It wasn't the finish Pakistan was hoping for, Warne wrapped up the tailenders but the Pakistani bowlers have got a decent total of 285 to defend.

Australia
Akram knicked Gilchrist off in the first over, setting the tone for the quicks. Ponting and Hayden deftly defended their wickets to avoid collapse but didn't do much to challenge the scoreboard. Pointing soaked up quite a few deliveries before I Khan swung one into his pad, dismissing the Aussie captain just shy of a 50. The defensive bowling by Pakistan meant the required run rate was already above seven runs per over.

Hayden decided it was time to let loose once the spinners came on. Mushtaq was first to cop his strokeplay and then Malik received the full force of his power. Hayden went from ~30 off 50 balls to 108 off 93. None of the bowlers was able to find any chinks in his armour as he put Australia back on course for a victory. Steve Waugh wasn't joining Hayden in his masterclass of boundary-making but played a more supportive role, earning him a 50 as well.

Younis picked up one more wicket but Hayden ensured the result was a foregone conclusion. Australia reached the target with three overs to spare and Pakistan was left ruing missing out on runs in the first innings since a 300+ score would likely have been enough to win in the end.

PAK 285
B Azam 78, I Khan 55
S Warne 4-54, G McGrath 2-42

AUS 4-286
M Hayden 131*, S Waugh 82
S Mushtaq 1-44, I Khan 1-48

Pakistan lost to Australia by 6 wickets
M Hayden was awarded Man of the Match

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Game 16: Sri Lanka vs West Indies
Sri Lanka XI: S Jayasuriya, T Dilshan, K Sangakkara (wk), A de Silva, M Jayawardene (c), U Tharanga, F Mahroof, C Vaas, A Mendis, M Muralitharan, L Malinga
West Indies XI: C Gayle, D Haynes, V Richards, B Lara, C Lloyd (c), D Bravo, D Ramdin (wk), M Marshall, J Garner, M Holding, C Ambrose
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat

No changes to either team

Sri Lanka
11 runs off Garner's first over showed how determined Sri Lanka was at winning their first match of the tournament. Both Jayasuriya and Dilshan were taking it to the West Indian quicks, bringing up a 50 partnership in the first seven overs of the match. Bravo got the first breakthrough in the 10th over when Dilshan got a thick edge to go through to Ramdin. Garner bounced back at the incoming Sangakkara, getting him out for a duck.

Jayasuriya continued his way towards 50 and at the other end, de Silva had made a solid start to his innings. Just like Garner, Marshall was taken for 11 runs off his first over but he managed to draw a miscued pull shot from Jayasuriya in his following over, ending his innings on 65. Marsh bowled de Silva for his second wicket and the run rate slowly reduced to six runs per over. The pressure that the West Indies were now building for Sri Lanka soon got the better of Jayawardene and Tharanga leaving the lower order to finish the innings off.

The lower order didn't last long. Bravo picked up the final four wickets of the match, leaving Sri Lanka with a disappointing total after such a good start. Out of all the bowlers in this West Indian lineup, Bravo is the second person in this tournament to claim a 5fa.

West Indies
Haynes fell early and Richards did not make the most of his start, leaving the West Indians two wickets down early on. Gayle was keeping the innings afloat with a solid knock. Lara and Lloyd fell soon after to Mahroof and Murali respectively, leaving most of the chase to Gayle, Bravo and the long tail.

The wickets kept tumbling, Mahroof and Malinga picking up two apiece. Gayle brought up his century with a slog over midwicket and then the very next ball played the same shot straight down the throat of the deep mid-wicket fielder. The four West Indian quicks were left with 25 runs left in the chase. A string of boundaries from Garner levelled the score with three wickets to spare. Mahroof picked up two of the wickets, including his fifth, leaving the score level, Holding on strike and Vaas to bowl.

Vaas's first ball fizzed passed Holding's bat, missing the off stump by a matter of inches. The second ball was short of a length and outside off stump, which Holding left, not wanting to throw away a win. The third ball was an inswinging yorker that struck Holding on the toe of his boot. Hawkeye showed the ball hitting the toe on the full, hitting in line and crashing into the middle stump, sending the match

Super Over
As far as I can tell, super overs are used in all ties in the group stages of the recent World Cups, not just in finals.
Mahroof was chosen to bowl Sri Lanka's over. Gayle pushed the first ball to an outfielder for a single. Haynes was unable to get a hold of a yorker, dot ball. The third ball was an exact repeat of ball two. Haynes finally found the middle of the bat on ball four, sending it straight back over Mahroof's head for 6! The next ball was wide of off delivery, Haynes stepped back to give himself room and edged straight to the keeper... who fumbled the ball, resulting in a single. Vaas went for the wide yorker for the last ball but didn't execute well at all. It was right in Gayle's zone, allowing him to punish it for 6. The West Indies make 14 from the Super Over.

Jayasuriya and Dilshan walked out to face Garner in the last Super Over. Garner's first ball cannoned into the pads of Jayasuriya. There was half an appeal but clearly, it was not out. The next ball was punched off the back foot for a single. Dilshan slashed at the third ball wildly, connecting only with the top edge. The ball flew over the slips and deep third man for 6! Eight off three balls are required. With an effortless stroke, Dilshan connected with the middle this time, clearing the man at long-off by several meters for another 6. Two off two needed. Dilshan tried to do the same thing but didn't pick the movement off the seam, the ball careened into his leg stump. Sangakkara came out to face the last ball needing two to win. He drove it into the gap but for some reason chose to just run an easy single rather than push for two. The match concluded and since more overs could not be held, the match was declared a tie.

SL 225 & 1-14
S Jayasuriya 65, T Dilshan 35
D Bravo 5-36, M Marshall 3-33

WI 225 & 0-14
C Gayle 101, V Richards 28
F Mahroof 5-45, L Malinga 2-35

Sri Lanka tied with West Indies
D Bravo was awarded Man of the Match

[Wilted]

Round 4 Results

Round 4

IND lost to RSA

NZ defeated ENG

PAK lost to AUS

SL tied with WI

Current Standings

Group A	Played	Wins	N/R	NRR	Total
New Zealand	4	3		0.05	6
South Africa	4	2		0.36	2
India	4	2		0.05	2
England	4	1		-0.58	0

Group B	Played	Wins	N/R	NRR	Total
Australia	4	4		0.90	8
Pakistan	4	2		-0.04	4
West Indies	4	1	1	0.50	3
Sri Lanka	4	0	1	-1.30	1

Tournament Stat Leaders

Batsman	Runs	Bowler	Wickets
S Fleming	435	S Warne	11
Q de Kock	284	K Dev	10
M Hayden	283	D Bravo	10
K Pieterson	275	B Lee	9
R Ponting	274	F Mahroof +2 others	9

Round 5 Fixture

Round 5

ENG vs RSA

NZ vs IND

WI vs AUS

SL vs PAK

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Game 7: England vs South Africa
England XI: K Pietersen, G Gooch, J Root, J Trott, J Bairstow, J Buttler (wk), A Flintoff (c), I Botham, G Swann, D Gough, J Anderson
South Africa XI: H Amla, Q de Kock, A de Villiers (c), F du Plessis, J Rhodes, S Pollock, I Tahir, A Donald, D Steyn, M Ntini
England won the toss and elected to bat first.

Without the bowling depth in their squad, England will need to rely on their out-of-form pace attack to get them into the finals from the bottom of their group. Luckily their bowlers are all home-ground specialists and they play their final two group games at home. South Africa has gone unchanged.

England
South Africa decided to change things by opening the bowling with Tahir, the first instance of a spinner opening this tournament. The surprise change paid dividends when Tahir had Pietersen caught and bowled in the first over. Root played defensively to avoid any further loss of wicket but Gooch was determined to continue his high-scoring form, hitting spin and pace around the ground with ease. He raised his bat for his third 50+ score in as many innings of just 40 balls.

Root's conservative approach had little success in the end when Steyn dismissed him for a lacklustre 25 off 50 and Ntini ended Gooch's innings for 60. Bairstow made a brief appearance but after hitting Ntini for four consecutive boundaries, including a 6, the fifth delivery of the over went straight down the throat of Amla. Trott and Buttler spent some time solidifying their partnership before they turned up the heat for the final 10 overs.

Buttler only made it to 20 before Tahir picked up his second wicket, but this meant Flintoff could come in and he wasted no time before putting balls away to the boundary. A 20-run over helped Trott bring up his 100 off 92 balls. Flintoff finished off the innings with a four bringing England's total to 284 runs, 95 of them coming from the Trott and Flintoff partnership in the final 10 overs.

South Africa
The South African openers started off slow, but as soon as de Kock found some rhythm, Anderson found his middle stump. A Flintoff yorker undid Kallis for just 12 runs and Botham removed de Villiers for 8. With three quick wickets, England held an early advantage. Amla and Faf couldn't score quickly against any of the bowlers and it was Anderson who broke the pressure with the dismissal of Faf and then followed it up with the wicket of Amla for 75.

At the 30-over mark, South Africa was 5 wickets down and needed more than seven runs per over. A quick flurry of runs from Rhodes and Pollock gave England a bit of a scare but Swann put those worries to bed, removing both batsmen and leaving the South African tail to score 89 runs in 15 overs. Flintoff and Swann easily took the remaining three wickets and kept England's final hope alive.

ENG 5-284
J Trott 103*, G Gooch 60
M Ntini 2-64, J Anderson 3-44

RSA 209
H Amla 75, J Rhodes 33
G Swann 4-70, J Anderson 3-44

England defeated South Africa by 75 runs
J Trott was awarded Man of the Match.

[Wilted]

Game 18: New Zealand vs India
New Zealand XI: S Fleming, M Guptil, K Williamson (c), R Taylor, M Crowe, B McCullum (wk), R Hadlee, D Vettori, K Mills, S Bond, T Boult
India XI: S Tendulkar, V Sehwag, V Kohli, R Dravid, Y Singh, M Dhoni (c, wk), R Radeja, K Dev, Z Khan, A Kumble, J Srinath
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first

New Zealand has gone with an unchanged XI, while India brings Zaheer Khan into their XI.

New Zealand
For the first time this tournament, Fleming (the leading run scorer), was not only dismissed for less than 50 runs but a ???? in the first over of the match. Dev and Srinath tested Guptill and Williamson but neither batsman took the bait, seeing the new ball out successfully. After a slow, 50-run partnership, Kumble bowled Guptill around his legs for 29 runs.

Despite the overcast conditions, the was not doing much in favour of the bowlers. Williamson marched past 50 and Taylor was quickly following. The run rate had risen to over five runs per over thanks to some big shots off Taylor's bat. Taylor just missed out on his half-century while trying to chase the worst ball Srinath had ever bowled.

It had been a quiet tournament so far but his wall-like approach this innings allowed him to reach 100 runs in 130 balls. Despite Williamson's success, India still had a chokehold on the run rate. Even in the final 10 overs of the match, they still kept New Zealand to five runs an over even though Williamson and Crowe were trying to belt the leather off the ball. Khan picked up Crowe as his first wicket of the ATG World Cup for 42. From failure as an opener, McCullum found himself playing the finisher role this innings and given he scored 23 off his first 10 balls, I'd say he found his spot in the lineup. Williamson ended up surpassing the highest score a New Zealander has scored against India at home with 134 runs. New Zealand finished strongly with 289 runs set to defend.

India
Tendulkar and Sehwag started positively but the runs soon dried up. In his third over, Bond bowled Sehwag for 12 and Hadlee followed that up, bowling Kohli in the next over. Boult found Tendulkar's edge and with the top three wickets gone in 10 overs, India was in trouble.

Just as Dravid was getting comfortable and looking to restart India's run chase, Boult found his edge too. Dhoni was bowled by Vettori and the required run rate began to creep up as the Indian batsmen started playing for survival. By the time Vettori picked up his second wicket, trapping Yuvraj Singh LBW, India needed to maintain a run rate of 10 runs per over for 15 overs with just their lower-order batsmen and tail-enders left. It was all done and dusted just a few overs later with Hadlee ripping through the tail.

NZ 4-289
K Williamson 134*, R Taylor 46
J Srinath 2-43, Z Khan 1-58

IND 175
Y Singh 38, R Dravid 33
R Hadlee 3-30, T Boult 3-46

New Zealand defeated India by 114 runs
K Williamson was awarded Man of the Match

[Wilted]

Game 19: West Indies vs Australia
West Indies XI: C Gayle, D Haynes, V Richards, B Lara, C Lloyd (c), D Bravo, D Ramdin (wk), M Marshall, J Garner, M Holding, C Walsh
Australia XI: M Hayden, A Gilchrist (wk), R Ponting (c), D Jones, S Waugh, M Bevan, S Watson, M Starc, B Lee, S Warne, G McGrath
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first.

West Indies chose to go with 5 quicks in their lineup whereas Australia have gone with three quicks and a spinner. Watson, Waugh and Bevan will be picking up the ten extra overs as part-timers.

Australia
There would not have been too many partnerships between Hayden and Gilchrist that lasted three over without a boundary but that's what Garner and Holding were able to achieve. The slow start was finally finished off by Garner, bowling Hayden. It was Holding's turn in the next over, finding Gilchrist's edge. Ponting was the only one who could find the middle of the bat, hitting the only two 4s in the first 10 overs.

Jones and Ponting spent the next 10 overs building a solid foundation. Ponting's 50 came quickly after he got his eye in and Jones took a bit more time to reach his. It was Marshall who finally broke the steady 130+ run partnership, striking Jones on the pads. It didn't take Marshall long to strike again, bowling Waugh in the next over. The wickets kept tumbling as Holding dismissed Bevan for just one run. In amongst the chaos of wickets falling around him, Ponting reached his first ton of the tournament off 109 balls.

Watson began his innings with a flurry of strokes to the boundary, hoping to get Australia to a score close to 300. Ponting finally fell to Bravo when he knicked one through to the keeper and Watson was bowled by Walsh after a blistering 50. The Aussie's tail floundered a few extra runs a survived through to the end of the innings. Australia's choice of seven specialist batsmen may have been a mistake after just making 267 runs.

West Indies
Just like the Aussie openers, Gayle and Hayens both fell for very few runs in the opening overs of the innings. Viv Richards responded in the only way he knew how: boundaries, boundaries and more boundaries. Lara at the other end took a more responsible approach since the run rate was still very manageable despite the wickets lost. Despite Richard's much higher scoring rate, Lara reached 50 first off 60 balls. Viv's 50 came soon after off 41 balls.

The West Indian record for the highest 2nd wicket partnership against Australia was broken by the pair when their partnership reached 156. Bevan was the first part-timer to bowl for Australia and almost had Lara out with his first ball but it was just wide of Gilchrist behind the stumps. Lara and Richards both reached their tons in the same over, both with a cover drive off Lee, too. Bevan finally broke the partnership but with 50 runs needed off 10 overs and being only three wickets down, the West Indies were on their way to a victory.

McGrath removed Lara and with a few economical overs from Waugh, Australia was beginning to change the tides of this match. Lloyd made sure that wouldn't happen, even going so far as to survive an easy catch being put down at mid-on. Back-to-back 4s from Bravo finished the match with two overs to spare.

AUS 9-267
R Ponting 117, S Watson 56
M Holding 2-48, M Marshall 2-49

WI 4-268
B Lara 117, V Richards 105
G McGrath 3-43, M Bevan 1-43

West Indies defeated Australia by 6 wickets
V Richards was awarded Man of the Match.

[Wilted]

Game 20: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan
Sri Lanka XI: S Jayasuriya, T Dilshan, K Sangakkara, M Jayawardene, U Tharanga, A Ranatunga, F Mahroof, C Vaas, A Mendis, M Muralitharan, L Malinga
Pakistan XI: S Anwar, S Afridi, Y Khan, Z Abbas, B Azam, I Khan (c), M Khan (wk), W Akram, S Mushtaq, W Younis, S Akhtar
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl


Sri Lanka brings in Ranatunga in hopes to boost their batting lineup for this must-win match. Pakistan has brought back Akhtar and shuffled their lineup.


Pakistan
An errant top edge of an Anwar pull shot gave Malinga the first win of this match. Mendis struck next when Afridi tried one too many slog sweeps. Younis Khan and Abbas were able to build a fine partnership. After a quick start, the pair brought up a 50 partnership at just under a run-a-ball. The partnership continued and by the 20th over, Pakistan reached 100 for the loss of two wickets, including Khan reaching 50.

Murali made the breakthrough, removing Abbas with a catch off of his own bowling. Tight bowling from Murali and Malinga saw the run rate drop below 4.5, putting immense pressure on Pakistan to start scoring a bit more quickly before it is too late. Sri Lanka's plan came to fruition when Azam got caught on the boundary playing a frustrated shot. Younis and Imran Khan had 10 overs to make the most of the Pakistan innings. Younis was nearing 100 and Imran spent very little time before opening his blade to find the boundary.

Mahroof dismissed Younis for 93, agonisingly close to a century and Vaas removed Moin Khan cheaply, exposing the tail end. The final three wickets fell for just 17 runs, only three of them coming off Imran Khan's bat. In the end, Sri Lanka restricted Pakistan to 239 runs.

Sri Lanka
Akram made an electrifying start to Pakistan's defence, taking two wickets in two balls. The runs continued to flow but maybe a bit too quickly as Mushtaq removed Dilshan for 19. Younis didn't want to be left out and picked up the wicket of Tharanga. With their whole tournament on the line, captain Jayawardene was the one who stood up for Sri Lanka scoring a half-century and keeping the required run rate under five. Ranatunga at the other end was content to rotate strike. His 50 came off 76 balls.

The 86-run stand fell prematurely to Afridi and Akhtar made it two wickets in two overs. Leaving Ranatunga to score the bulk of the runs, Pakistan made sure that he had to earn every single run. The pioneer of Sri Lanka cricket made his way into the 80s and needed 12 runs off the final three overs to earn Sri Lanka's first victory of the tournament. A dropped catch at slip, a streaky edge for and it became six runs needed off two overs. Waqar Younis bowled the next over and Ranatunga only managed to score a single. Five off one. The first five balls of the Imran Khan final over were all hit straight to fielders for no run. Ranatunga needed to clear the rope to win the match. He crunched the ball straight over Khan's head... but didn't clear deep mid-on. Only leaking one run off the final two overs bodes well for Pakistan's defensive bowling as they eye a spot in the semi-finals

PAK 239
Y Khan 93, Z Abbas 37
C Vaas 3-48, F Mahroof 3-52

SL 8-235
A Ranatunga 85, M Jayawardene 74
W Akram 2-28, W Younis 2-63

Sri Lanka lost to Pakistan by 4 runs
Y Khan was awarded Man of the Match.

[Wilted]

Round 5 Results

Round 4

ENG defeated RSA

NZ defeated IND

WI defeated AUS

SL lost to PAK

Current Standings

Group A	Played	Wins	N/R	NRR	Total
New Zealand	5	4		0.49	8
South Africa	5	2		-0.01	4
England	5	2		-0.14	4
India	5	2		-0.44	4

Group B	Played	Wins	N/R	NRR	Total
Australia	5	4		0.67	8
Pakistan	5	3		0.00	6
West Indies	5	2	1	0.45	5
Sri Lanka	5	0	1	-1.03	1

Tournament Stat Leaders

Batsman	Runs	Bowler	Wickets
S Fleming	435	F Mahroof	12
R Ponting	391	T Boult	11
Q de Kock	302	D Bravo	11
M Hayden	285	J Srinath	11
K Pietersen	281	S Warne +1 other	11

Round 6 Fixture

Round 6

NZ vs RSA

ENG vs IND

SL vs AUS

WI vs PAK

How can each team can still make it to the finals?

New Zealand
New Zealand has not only made it to finals but has also guaranteed the top spot of Group A with their four wins.

South Africa, England and India
Sitting on two wins and four points each, only NRR is separating these three teams at the moment. That will of course change after the final round has been completed:
- South Africa will need to upset New Zealand in New Zealand to keep their hopes alive. If they do win, they will need to have a higher NRR than the winner of the other match.
- It is do-or-die for both England and India, whoever wins has a chance of getting in. If South Africa defeats New Zealand, the winner of England vs India will need a big win to surpass South Africa's NRR. If South Africa loses, then the winner of this match automatically qualifies for the semis.

Australia
Just like New Zealand, they have qualified for the finals and have all but guaranteed the top spot as well, barring a massive defeat to Sri Lanka and a gigantic win for Pakistan to reverse the NRR.

Pakistan and West Indies
It's as simple as it gets for these two teams: whoever wins the final match of the Group Stage, gets into the semi-final. No mucking around with NRR, winner takes all.

Sri Lanka
A tie and a tragic loss in their last two matches mean Sri Lanka's finals hopes have been dashed. They can still prove a point however by earning a consolation win against the most successful team in their group in the final round.

[Wilted]

Game 21: New Zealand vs South Africa
New Zealand XI: S Fleming, M Guptil, K Williamson (c), R Taylor, M Crowe, B McCullum (wk), R Hadlee, D Vettori, K Mills, S Bond, T Boult
South Africa XI: H Amla, Q de Kock (wk), J Kallis, A de Villiers (c), J Rhodes, F du Plessis, L Klusener, S Pollock, I Tahir, D Steyn, M Ntini
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first.

No changes for the Group A frontrunner, New Zealand, but South Africa has brought in Klusener for the underperforming Donald for their must-win final group match

South Africa
It was a comfortable start for Amla and de Kock. The only chance they gave in the first 50 runs of their partnership was an inside edge that went for 4. De Kock raised his bat for a half-century off 50 balls, including seven boundaries. After being hit around the ground by de Kock, Boult finally broke the partnership, bowling Amla for 37 off 50. Mills had Kallis in the next over but Hadlee put down the catch. Dropped catches have been a feature of this ATG World Cup.

Vettori struck gold in his first over, trapping de Kock for 57. The next 10 or so overs proceeded without excitement, with not many runs and no wickets. The tedium was broken with Vettori's second wicket of de Villiers. Hadlee made up for his dropped catch earlier in the innings with a brilliant direct hit to remove Rhodes, a piece of fielding that even Rhodes himself was impressed by. Vettori's third wicket was du Plessis, caught behind for one and South Africa needed a strong lower-end performance to give themselves a chance of making the semis.

Kallis brought up his 50 in 54 balls but Boult had his man two balls later and Pollock got out to a thick top edge, trying to sweep Vettori. A rearguard push back from Steyn and Klusener game the South Africans something to smile about but a couple of late wickets to Mills kept a lid on things. South Africa was bowled out for 253.

New Zealand
It was clear New Zealand was batting with no pressure, their openers taking time to get their eye in and playing shots freely. South Africa once again opened with Tahir but it didn't lead to the success it did last time. Fleming and Guptil score a 50-run partnership before Tahir broke it, giving the South Africans their first wicket of the match. Pollock had Fleming caught the next over but a replay showed he overstepped, keeping the Kiwi opener's dream run at the tournament alive.

Pollock finally got the wicket he desperately was looking for, finding Williamson's edge for just eight runs. Boundaries kept coming from Fleming as he passed 50 runs as both he and Taylor looked to wrap up the match quickly. In his first match, with his first ball, Klusener removed the tournament's best batsman. Taylor brought up his 50 and with still half the match left, New Zealand needed under 100 runs left to end South Africa's tournament.

Taylor and Crowe didn't slow down their run-making despite the number of overs left. It was almost as if New Zealand wanted to prove a point they deserved to be the favourites going into the finals with a big win. Taylor brought up his first 100 of the tournament and then worked with Crowe to ensure he too reached 50 with the final ball of the chase with nine overs to spare.

South Africa came into the ATG World Cup as the top-seeded team with and highest win rate in ODIs of the top eight international teams. They'd be disappointed they didn't make the finals, especially after being crowned Champions in the ATG Test Championship last year.

RSA 253
Q de Kock 57, J Kallis 56
D Vettori 4-50, K Mills 3-53

NZ 3-256
R Taylor 104*, S Fleming 59
I Tahir 1-27, L Klusener 1-50

New Zealand defeated South Africa by 7 wickets
R Taylor was awarded Man of the Match.

[Wilted]

Game 22: England vs India
England XI: K Pietersen, G Gooch, J Root, J Trott, J Buttler (c), P Collingwood, A Flintoff (c), I Botham, G Swann, D Gough, J Anderson
India XI: S Tendulkar, V Sehwag, V Khli, M Dhoni (c, wk), R Dravid, M Azharuddin, K Dev, R Jadeja, A Kumble, J Srinath, J Bumrah
England won the toss and elected to bat first.

Two old foes facing off for a spot in the finals could not happen anywhere else but at the home of cricket, Lords. England has gone with an XI consisting of five proven batsmen and five proven bowlers. They've also brought in Collingwood for the first time in the tournament who has had success against India throughout his career and can pick up some overs if required. India has gone for a similar strategy in the winner take all match with their most prolific batsmen and bowlers as well as Azharuddin, who averaged 80+ in ODIs in England across his career.

England
In what is essentially a quarter-final, Pietersen crunched the first ball for 4, setting the tone for the match. The openers raced to a 50-run partnership and in the first 10 overs of the match, England had a total of 68 runs without the loss of any wickets. Dev and Kumble stemmed the flow of runs and finally found a breakthrough when Gooch fell to Dev for 48 runs. Pietersen kept the run rate above six an over, bringing up his half-century with a cover drive off Kumble.

Root and Pietersen put on 68 runs together in about eight overs before Jadeja found Root's edge. At the halfway point in the innings, England had amassed 168 runs and had only lost two wickets. Trott and Pietersen continued scoring quickly and soon enough, Pietersen became the fourth batsman to score two centuries in the tournament. Trott brought up his own half-century with a 6 hit straight back over Dev's head.

The onslaught of the Indian bowlers at the hands of Pietersen and Trott finally ended after 112 runs when Trott was unable to clear the rope off Srinath's bowling. In the same over, Srinath dismissed Buttler for a duck. Collingwood didn't make an impact in his first match, making 10 off 16 balls. Srinath had three when Flintoff got caught trying to slog over cover. Pietersen finished off the innings with a cover drive for 4, which broke two ground records in one ball, the highest individual score of 140* and the highest team score of 337.

India
In what turned out to be a batsman's paradise, India would need their best performance out of their impressive batting lineup. Tendulkar and Sehwag went after the bowling of Gough but couldn't get anything away from Anderson. After 10 overs, the required run rate crept up to 7.6 but India still had two powerful openers in the middle.

Sehwag fell to Flintoff and as cloud cover began to build, runs started to become harder to get. Tendulkar made a steady 50 and Kohli was managing to put every loose ball to the boundary but the run rate was getting out of reach. At the halfway point of the chase, India required 219 runs off 25 overs. Tendulkar, under pressure to score much quicker, got himself tangled and found a leading edge to be caught and bowled by Swann. Arguably the greatest finisher to ever play, Dhoni came to the crease to try to salvage the chase. Unfortunately, one of the few batsmen capable of chasing impossible targets fell for just one run. With the wicket of Dravid and Azharuddin, Swann had four in four overs and India's hopes were looking grim.

Kohli's fast start, scoring 30 runs in 20 balls, had done a backflip. He reached his 50 in 60 balls. It wasn't for the lack of trying either as his innings consisted of four plays and misses and six catchable shots. Dev and Jadeja fell to the unplayable Anderson, whose economy rate was under three runs per over. Kohli was soaking up as many balls as he could to protect the tail and score runs at the same time. Swann's final over of his spell had four 6s from Kohli but it wasn't enough. Flintoff finally ousted Kohli who was unable to carry his whole team on his back. England ended up storming into the semis with a massive win to give them confidence.

India started the ATG tournament off well, with two wins from their first three games (including a win over England). Unfortunately, three straight defeats in the second leg of the Group Stage undid their chances of success. India will most likely finish last place with their low NRR, which would be a shock to the team who has played more ODI cricket than any nation in history.

ENG 6-337
K Pietersen 140*, J Trott 66
J Srinath 3-69, K Dev 1-49

IND 233
S Tendulkar 77, V Kohli77
G Swann 4-67, J Anderson 3-28

England defeated India by 114 runs
K Pietersen was awardewd Man of the Match.

[Wilted]

Game 23: Sri Lanka vs Australia
Sri Lanka XI: S Jayasuriya, T Dilshan, K Sangakkara (wk), M Jayawardene (c), A Ranatunga, U Tharanga, F Mahroof, C Vaas, A Mendis, M Muralitharan, L Malinga
Australia XI: M Hayden, A Gilchrist (wk), R Ponting (c), D Jones, S Waugh, S Watson, A Symonds, M Johnson, B Lee, S Warne, G McGrath
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first.

Sri Lanka went with their most successful XI from their last two matches, in which they played their best cricket. After the failed experiment of picking four bowlers and a couple of part-timers, Australia has brought back Symonds in place of Bevan and is giving Johnson a run for Starc.

Sri Lanka
What may have been a promising start was soon upended by Lee. Sri Lanka raced through to 0-21 until Lee found the edge of Jayasuriya for 14. Lee's next over was just as eventful but this time it was Dilshan reaping the rewards. With four boundaries, including a 6, Dilshan scored 19 runs off the Lee over. As with everything that Brett Lee did, this match seemed to have him as the centre of attention, he picked up the wicket of Sangakkara in his next over. At the 10-over mark, Sri Lanka had soared to 78 runs for the loss of two wickets. Both wickets and most runs came off the bowling of Lee.

Dilshan's 50 came off 41 balls and brought up 100 runs for Sri Lanka with the same stroke. If Sri Lanka had played like this in their first five matches, they'd have had a much better tournament. Jayawardene soon had his own 50 and none of the Australian bowlers seemed to find any rhythm. Warne beat Dilshan with a wrong-un for 80 but with 163 runs on the board halfway through the innings, Sri Lanka was poised to make their biggest total of the tournament.

Ranatunga made his second 50 in as many innings before Lee was back in the thick of it, removing Jayawardene for 80. Tharanga scored six 4s in his short knock before being bowled by Warne. Mahroof suffered the same fate in the same over. Johnson picked up the wicket of Vaas, his first of the tournament. Ranatunga continued to make runs, hitting a 4 to bring up Sri Lanka's 300 for the first time in the tournament. Ranatunga made it to 80 before being hit on the pads by a Johnson inswinger. Murali hit a boundary off Symonds to give Sri Lanka a final total of 325.

Australia
Vaas started proceeding with a maiden to Hayden. In his next over, he had Gilchrist LBW, giving Sri Lanka the perfect start to their defence. The pace of Malinga was too much for Ponting and Australia was 2-20 in five overs. One of the most underperforming bowlers of the tournament has been Murali but he immediately found success, dismissing Hayden for the third LBW of the innings. The fourth LBW came in Murali's next over when he got one to spin past Jones' bat, straight into his pads.

Watson and Waugh put on a 50-run partnership before Watson changed things up by knicking one through to Sangakkara instead of being dismissed LBW. Mendis bowled Waugh and Sri Lanka was into the Aussie tail with 200+ runs still left in the chase. Despite Symonds putting on his best batting performance, it was not enough for the Aussies to even get close.

With 10 overs in the match to go, Australia needed 20+ runs per over. Symonds' 50 was the only highlight for Australia as Sri Lanka put on their best bowling performance proceeding with their best batting performance. Malinga knocked McGrath's stumps over and Sri Lanka had their first victory.

This win for Sri Lanka would be bittersweet. It showed they had the potential for so much more success, taking on one of the best-performing team, showing their batsman were capable of putting on high scores and their bowlers being genuine wicket takers and putting pressure on the best batsman, potentially showing they were capable of making the finals after all. Despite all of that, Sri Lanka finishes the tournament with a win in front of their home crowd.

SL 9-325
T Dilshan 85, A Ranatunga 80
M Johnson 3-57, S Warne 3-61

AUS 193
A Symonds 68*, S Watson 27
M Muralitharan 3-28, C Vaas 2-25

Sri Lanka defeated Australia by 132 runs
T Dilshan was awarded Man of the Match.

[Wilted]

Game 24: West Indies vs Pakistan
West Indies XI: C Gayle, D Haynes, V Richards, B Lara, C Lloyd (c), D Bravo, D Ramdin (wk), M Marshall, J Garner, M Holding, C Walsh
Pakistan XI: S Anwar, S Afridi, Y Khan, Z Abbas, B Azam, I Khan (c), M Khan (wk), W Akram, S Mushtaq, W Younis, S Akhtar
West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first.

West Indies have gone with a similar XI to what they've fielded for most of the tournament, same with Pakistan who has opted to pick Skhtar over Malik in the Caribbean conditions. Whoever wins this game will make it through to the semis, while the loser misses out. A West Indies win will see them finish second in their group and a Pakistan victory would likely see them finish in first place unless to margin is less than 10 runs.

West Indies
Gayle got the West Indies off to a fiery start but unfortunately departed early after knicking one through to the keeper off Imran Khan. The Pakistani quicks kept Viv Richards and Haynes grounded mostly, but any delivery short of a length or slightly wide was duly punished.

The partnership slowly grew, mostly from pushing singles and the occasional boundary. Imran Khan came back into the attack to immediate effect, removing Richards LBW for 38. Hayens continued to work away at building a good total, reaching 50 of 70 balls. Upon reaching 50, Haynes began to score at a faster pace. He found the boundary more often but only added 30 runs to his total before being bowled by Mushtaq. With 10 overs to go, Lara had pushed the West Indies' total to 193 and with seven wickets in hand,

Lara brought up his half-century, Lloyd was dismissed and then Lloyd ran Lara out all in the same over. With two fresh batsmen with mixt success this tournament, Pakistan felt like they could contain the West Indies to a very chasable score in the death overs. Ramdin made a quick 20-run cameo before Bravo and Marshall finished the innings with some last-minute hitting. West Indies finished with 263 runs after their 50 overs at the crease.

Pakistan
Garner's first ball thundered into Afridi's pad for an easy LBW decision for the umpire. Two balls later Garner bowled Anwar but was called for a front foot no ball. Holding ensured the no ball didn't cost the West Indies, dismissing Anwar caught behind. The early chaos for the batsmen led them to play conservatively for the next few overs. At the end of the fielding restrictions, the West Indies had restricted Pakistan to 2-35.

Abbas and Y Khan slowly but surely turned the Pakistan chase around and by the time they reached a 50-run partnership, they were cruising and looking to lead Pakistan to victory. Walsh dismissed Khan but that didn't slow Abbas down, who had found his confidence and soon reached his 50 off just over 50 balls despite a slow start. Azam was content to just poke around for singles while his teammate score the bulk of their runs but was ultimately bowled by Bravo for 11 runs off 26 balls. Even though Abbas was doing his bit to chase down the runs needed, the required run rate had bubbled over to 7 runs per over. The pressure to score quickly with a defensive batsman at the other end finally undid Abbas, who has trapped LBW in the 80s off Holding.

The last two recognised batsmen were at the crease and needed to score 115 runs off 15 overs. Both teams were still in the contest and with everything on the line, both teams were desperate for a win. Moin and Imran Khan fell in the next three overs and suddenly the Pakistan tail needed 100 runs off 10 overs. Two wickets completely turned the match around for the West Indies, giving them the feeling they already had one foot in the semi-final. The tail put up a resistance but against the greatest fast bowling attack of all time, they stood no chance. A leading edge to Holding off the bowling of Walsh sealed the win, meaning the West Indies make it to the semi-finals!

In the end, Pakistan may have been hard done by to miss out on finals by just one match where they didn't perform to the best standards. Unfortunately, Pakistan was missing key individual performances throughout the whole tournament. They had no batsmen go on to make game-changing 100s and no tearaway bowling performances that flipped a match on its head. Just solid performance from their players each match. When it comes to being the All Time Greatest, being consistently solid just didn't cut it.

WI 7-263
D Haynes 81, B Lara 54
S Mushtaq 2-40, I Khan 2-41

PAK 173
Z Abbas 82, Y Khan 32
D Bravo 3-24, M Holding 3-46

West Indies defeated Pakistan by 90 runs
D Haynes was awarded Man of the Match.