No Upsets In First Week

• 2011 ICC World Cup

The first week of the 2011 Cricket World Cup is over and there have been no upsets, as all the major teams have recorded opening wins. However, despite the absence of upsets there have been some notable performances.

Opening their campaign Sri Lanka took on minnows, Canada in Hambantota. Playing the first ever match at this stadium skipper, Kumar Sangakarra elected to bat first. Following a cautious start by the two openers, captain, Kumar Sangakarra and vice-captain, Mahela Jayawardene, combined to put on a 179 run partnership. Sangakarra fell for 92, 8 runs short of his hundred. While Mahela Jayawardena posted 100 runs off 81 deliveries. Faced with a daunting target of 332 runs, Canada never looked in the hunt, folding up for a meek 122 in 33 overs. Rizwan Cheema top scored with an entertaining 37. Kulasekara and Thisara Perera picked up three apiece.
Defending champions Australia took on Zimbabwe the next day in Ahmedabad. Australia, no longer posing the invincibility of previous tournaments, needed to boost their confidence. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Australian openers played an innings that left many baffled. Scoring only 61 runs in 19 overs both openers showed a hangover effect from the losses in the warm-up games. However, aggressive half centuries from Shane Watson and Michael Clarke ensured the champions posted a respectable 262 for 6 in 50 overs. Despite a promising performance by the Zimbabwe bowlers, their batsmen looked stunned against the pace of Lee, Tait and Johnson. The innings came to an end on 171 with Mitchell Johnson finishing with 4 for 19 from 9.2 overs. Graeme Cremer top scored with 37.
England took on the Netherlands in Nagpur on the fourth day, and was looking to avenge their shock loss to the Dutch in the 20/20 World Cup in 2009. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Netherlands put in a solid effort with the bat, seeing all their top order contributing. The stand out performer for the Dutch was middle order batsmen Ryan ten Doeschate. Posting 119 runs off 110 deliveries ten Doeschate carried his teams total to a commanding 292 for 6 in their 50 overs. In reply the English batsmen comfortably chased down the target due to an ineffective bowling line-up. Skipper Andrew Strauss top scored with 88 runs off 83 balls.
Day five saw Pakistan open their tournament against Kenya in Hambantota. Choosing to bat first Pakistan posted 317 in their 50 overs, all four of Pakistan’s middle order players scored 50s with Umar Akmal top scoring with 71. Kenya continued to show little promise as they bowled a record 47 extras including 36 wides. In response they were bundled out for 112 with Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi taking 5 for 16 in his 8 overs.
Day six was the first big game of the tournament as the West Indies took on South Africa in Delhi. Graeme Smith won the toss and chose to insert the West Indies on a lively track. The West Indian batsmen struggled after initially dominating the bowling. They were bowled out for 222 in 47.3 overs, D. Bravo top scored with 73. Debutant Imran Tahir picked up 4 for 41 in his 10 overs. In reply the South Africans had little trouble chasing down this total. AB de Villiers posted an unbeaten hundred as they won by 7 wickets with 7 overs to spare.
Day 7 saw a return to action for the trans-Tasman rivals, Australia and New Zealand in Nagpur. Winning the toss in overcast conditions Ricky Ponting chose to bowl first and his pace attack quickly rewarded him. They reduced New Zealand to 6 for 73 before the last 4 wickets regrouped to post a total of 206 all out. Nathan McCullum top scored for the Kiwis with 52 runs off 76 deliveries. Mitchell Johnson once again picked up 4 wickets for 33. In reply the Australian openers quickly put their team on track to victory, posting a 133 run partnership in 18 overs. Shane Watson once again posted a half-century.
On the same day Bangladesh took on Ireland in Mirpur. Shakib al-Hasan won the toss and this time made the right decision and batted first. Following a rapid start by the openers the Irish bowlers pulled the game finally dismissing them for 205 in the 50th over. Tamim Iqbal top scored with 44 off 43 deliveries, while Andre Botha was the pick of the Irish bowlers with figures of 3 wickets for 32.
In reply the Irish made life difficult for themselves with wickets falling at regular intervals. They finally fell short of their target by 27 runs, being bowled out for 178 in 45 overs. The top scorer for Ireland was Neil O’Brien while Shafiul Islam picked up 4 for 21.