BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) – New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming says his team’s defeat by Sri Lanka might force a change of mind about boycotting their World Cup Group B match in Kenya.
Fleming said the New Zealand players were still confident their cricket board would make the right decision and would not try to influence them either way, even if it cost the team a place in the next stage of the tournament.
“The situation with Kenya is that the process is still underway,” Fleming said after his team’s 47-run loss …

HARARE (Reuters) – Opener Craig Wishart has hit a commanding 172 not out to set up Zimbabwe’s 86-run victory over Namibia in a rain-curtailed World Cup Group A match.
Although the match started on time after months of controversy about the six World Cup games scheduled to take place in strife-torn Zimbabwe, rain halted play for the second time at 2:10 p.m. British time and, with no chance of a resumption, the game was abandoned.
Facing a revised victory target of 325 in 46 overs, Namibia slipped from a flying start to …

New Zealand’s World Cup hopes were left in tatters as they went down by 47 runs in their opening Pool B game against Sri Lanka at Goodyear Park here today.
The Black Caps now face a major uphill battle to qualify for the Super Sixes, especially after refusing to honour their fixture against Kenya in Nairobi and will have to win their next two big games against the West Indies and South Africa respectively to be sure of a place in the next round of the tournament.
In the end the regular …

Sri Lanka crushed international minnows Canada with embarrassing ease at Paarl on Wednesday, completing a nine-wicket win inside two hours without the majority of their players even breaking into a sweat.
Srilanka Celebrate Skipper Sanath Jayasuriya had promised beforehand that his players would retain their focus against the amateurs, who had pulled off a shock victory against Bangladesh, but he could scarcely have expected such a clinical performance.
New-ball bowlers Prabath Nissanka and Chaminda Vaas shared seven wickets as Canada were bowled out for a miserable 36, the lowest-ever score in a …

Scott Styris’ battling 141 failed to prevent New Zealand from being beaten by Sri Lanka in their Pool B World Cup match in Bloemfontein.
The Kiwis were all out for 225 in the 46th over in reply to Sri Lanka’s 50-over total of 272 for seven.
Styris was the last man out when he was caught by Chaminda Vaas off Russel Arnold.
Sri Lanka had struck early to leave New Zealand at a desperate 15 for three after six overs in their reply.
Chris Cairns and Styris steadied the innings for a while but …

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) – Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya has finally achieved one of the few major milestones to have eluded him by scoring his first World Cup century.
The explosive opener rectified this surprise omission with a sparking 120 to lead his side to a comprehensive 47-run win over New Zealand in their opening Group B match.
It was his 16th one-day hundred but his first at a World Cup after making no better than 82 at his three previous appearances in cricket’s biggest event.
“I was very pleased to do …

As a result of Australia beating England in their last Pool A match, the reigning champions will finish first with 24 points and India will qualify for the Super Six in second place with 20 points. The only doubt remaining is whether England, Zimbabwe, or even Pakistan will take the third place from the group.
If Zimbabwe beat Pakistan in Bulawayo, they will take the last spot in the Super Six with 16 points and they will still go through even if they only take two points from the match.
However, should …

Two top Zimbabwe cricketers waded into the row over hosting World Cup matches on Monday with an unprecedented attack on Zimbabwe’s leaders minutes before opening their campaign in Harare.
Leading Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower and black team mate Henry Olonga issued a hard-hitting statement criticising Zimbabwe’s record on human rights and democracy.
Flower, arguably Zimbabwe’s greatest player ever and among the top batsmen in the world, strode on to the field wearing a black arm band and Olonga said he would do the same.
“In doing so we are mourning the death of …

Opening batsman Craig Wishart hit a record 172 not out in his first World Cup match as Zimbabwe beat Namibia on Duckworth/Lewis method.
Zimbabwe totalled 340 for two against the inexperienced Namibian bowlers at Harare Sports Club.
Rain interrupted the Namibian innings at 104 for five after 25.1 overs, just enough for Zimbabwe to be declared winners by 86 runs.
Namibia put Zimbabwe in to bat on winning the toss, and Wishart dominated the Zimbabwe innings from beginning to end.
He announced his intentions by driving Louis Burger three times to the cover boundary …

The Olympic-style ceremony at Cape Town’s Newlands cricket ground was beamed to some 1.4 billion people around the globe , marking the biggest event of its kind ever staged in Africa and a boost to South Africa’s hopes of hosting the much larger soccer World Cup in 2010.
“All Africa thanks you that have thus come to us as friends,” South African President Thabo Mbeki told the 14 teams as he declared the competition open.
“Thus you have given us a gift that is as priceless as life itself.”
Some 22,000 spectators gathered …