Tag: England

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss believes spin king Muttiah Muralitharan will be fit to face England in Saturday's World Cup quarter-finals. The 38-year- old off-spinner -- who has a world record 530 one-day wickets -- pulled his hamstring in the Group A match against New Zealand and had shortened nets on Wednesday. But Bayliss said Muralitharan will play on Saturday. "Murali did bowl for some 20 minutes today.
We are very confident that he will play and I think he's

COLOMBO - Matt Prior admitted England have not played their best cricket in the World Cup and will be underdogs in their quarter-final against Sri Lanka on Saturday. England, who have never won the tournament, endured a rocky ride in the first round, losing to Ireland and Bangladesh but beating South Africa and battling to a tie against India. They now face the 1996 champions Sri Lanka, and Prior admitted England have yet to hit top gear. "We haven't played our best cricket by a long

NEW DELHI - England batting coach Graham Gooch believes Andrew Strauss's men can succeed where he failed as a player and win the World Cup. The former England captain enjoyed a distinguished and lengthy career as an opening batsman, helping win a couple of Ashes series and posting the Test record score at Lord's of 333 against India in 1990.
But he also became the answer to a somewhat unkind quiz question: name the one England player who appeared in all three of their losing

NEW DELHI - England's Paul Collingwood has revealed his daughters wanted the side to lose their must-win World Cup match against the West Indies because they were missing their father so much. "We hope you lose tomorrow, daddy," Collingwood's girls told the all-rounder via Skype on the eve of England's final group match against the West Indies. "Then you can come home."
Collingwood told the Daily Mail website: "That was quite tough and I had to think quickly. "I told them, 'Yes,

CHENNAI - England pipped West Indies by 18 runs in a thrilling Group B match on Thursday to stay in the hunt for a place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. Defending a 243-run total, James Tredwell (4-48), Ravi Bopara (2-22) and Graeme Swann (3-36) came out with a lion-hearted effort to bowl out West Indies for 225 in 44.4 overs.
For the Caribbean team, Chris Gayle (43), Darren Sammy (41) and Andre Russell (49) shone with the bat but it was not enough in the end. Earlier,

DHAKA - Darren Sammy's West Indies will be cheered by millions of Bangladeshi fans when they take on England in the World Cup in Chennai on Thursday. The support does not emanate from any sense of remorse for the unruly scenes in Dhaka on March 4 when the West Indies team bus was stoned after Sammy's men demolished the hosts by nine wickets.
The reason is simple enough: if the West Indies defeat England, Bangladesh will make the quarter-finals of the showpiece event they are

CHITTAGONG - England captain Andrew Strauss insists his team can still win the World Cup despite a roller-coaster ride that has left them facing elimination. England's loss to Bangladesh on Friday, when the ninth-wicket pair of Mohammad Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam put on 58 runs to snatch an improbable win, was symbolic of their tournament so far.
The inconsistent England have lost to non-Test nation Ireland and now Bangladesh, secured a thrilling tie against India and won

CHITTAGONG - Bangladesh's ninth-wicket pair of Mohammad Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam hammered 58 runs to send England crashing to a two-wicket defeat in the World Cup on Friday. The Tigers appeared down for the count when they plunged to 169-8 in the 40th over chasing a modest target of 226 in the day-night game at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chittagong. But Mahmuddullah (21 not out) and Shafiul (24 not out) conjured an unlikely victory in front of 18,000 screaming home fans

CHITTAGONG - England captain Andrew Strauss is staying tight-lipped over his new opening partner for the World Cup clash against Bangladesh amid growing speculation over who it will be.
Strauss needs a new partner for the rest of the tournament after Kevin Pietersen, who had opened in the first four matches, returned home to undergo hernia surgery. "I am very clear in my mind who will open, but will not say before the game has started," Strauss said ahead of Friday's day-night

CHITTAGONG - England's World Cup showdown with Bangladesh on Friday could be disrupted by a huge tropical rain storm, forecasters say. "Storms accompanied by hail and rain could well hit any part of the country in the next 24 hours," a weather bulletin issued by the Chittagong office of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said on Thursday.
Both teams need victory to boost their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.
The tropical storms of Bangladesh can be violent with

DHAKA - England drafted Chris Tremlett into their World Cup squad on Wednesday and were given a boost by an upbeat Eoin Morgan after their preparations had been thrown into disarray by injuries to two key players this week. Tremlett, replacing Stuart Broad who pulled out on Tuesday with a side strain, will be in line to play in Friday's Group B clash with Bangladesh providing his inclusion is approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC). He was widely expected to step into the

CHENNAI - Whatever pretensions South Africa had of having overcome their tendency to crack under pressure in big tournaments lay shattered after their demoralising six-run defeat by England in Sunday's thriller. The team did not put a foot wrong against West Indies and the Netherlands but suddenly came unstuck chasing a modest 172-run target. Their brittle middle and lower order batting was exposed in the process and the result threw open Group B. In the post-match press conference,

CHENNAI - A resilient England produced an amazing comeback to pip a shell-shocked South Africa by six runs in a low-scoring World Cup thriller on Sunday. Defending a meagre 171-run total, England came up with a spirited bowling display to skittle out their opponents for 165 runs in 47.4 overs to snatch an unlikely win in Group B. Stuart Broad (4-15) took the last two wickets and barring Hashim Amla (42), none of the South African batsmen could make an impact against the English

CHENNAI South African captain Graeme Smith said he expected to face a fired-up England following their humiliation by Ireland, when the Test rivals met in a World Cup match on Sunday. Andrew Strauss's team were victims of one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history when Ireland, inspired by Kevin O'Brien's record-breaking 50-ball century, chased down a 328-run winning target in Bangalore on Wednesday. It was a victory that threw the race for quarter-final places from Group B wide

THE REALITY CHECK - The Broader Perspective After their stunning loss to Ireland, shell-shocked England will look for a comeback win against South Africa. England must now win two of their final three group fixtures to reach the quarter-final stage, with the tough South Africa game up first today. England were brilliant in their run chase against India almost chasing down 339 but they lost it entirely against Ireland, their shock loss making life difficult for them tournament now.