Sehwag hits first century of World Cup

India's Virender Sehwag hit the first century of the 2011 World Cup on Saturday in the opening match against Bangladesh.

Sehwag, 32, reached his 14th one-day international century off 94 balls to set the platform for a big total after the Indians were put in to bat in the day-night game at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka.
The dashing opener played a typically attacking innings, racing to his half-century with a six that sailed over the long-on boundary into the packed stands.
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He reached the three-figure mark with a single to the mid-wicket against off spinner Mohammad Mahmudullah. It was his first century against Bangladesh and second in World Cups.
Sehwag's attacking knock made light of the dismissal of his more accomplished opening partner Sachin Tendulkar, who was run-out after a crazy mix-up in the middle, for 28.
Sehwag is one of the most devastating openers in the world with more than 7,000 runs in one-day internationals scored at a strike rate of over 100.
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His record in Tests is no less impressive, having aggregated 7,694 runs from 87 matches at an average of 53.43.
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Before the start of the World Cup, Sehwag had revealed his secret desire to bat out the entire 50 overs.
"I think I have never played 50 overs in one-day cricket. The maximum I have played is 43 or 44 overs."
"But this time, I will try to bat 50 overs and give a good start to the team. I have been unsuccessfully trying this for the past 10 years, but the effort is still on.

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ICC Cricket World Cup 2011★Opening Ceremony in Dhaka★

Tendulkar returns as World Cup looms

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Superstar batsman Sachin Tendulkar returns to bolster India's batting line-up on Wednesday as the World Cup favourites play their last warm-up game ahead of the much-anticipated tournament opener.
India take on New Zealand in their second and final practice match in Chennai ahead of the first World Cup clash against co-hosts Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday.
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The other top team in action on Wednesday is England, playing minnows Canada as the three-time finalists look for a confidence boost after a 6-1 mauling at the hands of Australia, the top-ranked ODI side.
As teams finalise their preparations, on Tuesday strongly fancied Sri Lanka comfortably beat the West Indies, South Africa thumped three-times defending champions Australia and Pakistan crushed Bangladesh.
Tendulkar, who has a record 17,629 runs in a stellar ODI career, missed Sunday's win over Australia, a legacy of the hamstring injury that forced him to cut short his participation in the recent ODI series in South Africa.
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But he came through a long net session on Tuesday and is poised to open the batting against the Black Caps in what will be only his third one-dayer since his historic double-century against South Africa in Gwalior a year ago.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, disappointed with the batting against Australia, issued a rallying call on Tuesday, saying India "need to pick up intensity as we progress into the World Cup."
"We have a very good side," said Dhoni. "That is what I have said always. I don't believe in comparisons. We have a mix of players who are very good. But obviously what we have on paper is not important, it is what we do on the field which matters. We need to see what the conditions are and pick our best 11 accordingly."
Dhoni said bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan would be rested for Wednesday's warm-up to allow him to be fresh for the tournament opener.
Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke dismissed his team's disappointing form in the warm-ups after defeats to South Africa and India and vowed to shape up in time for the main event.
"A practice game is a practice game. So it's important to maximise the chance to give everybody the opportunity to bat and bowl, and more importantly, to get used to the conditions," he said.
The World Cup is being hosted jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
India, winners in 1983, are placed in Group B with England, South Africa, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, the West Indies and Ireland.
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Group A features Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya.
Teams will face sudden-death after the preliminary league. The second round format was revived to ensure a team plays a minimum of six matches even if they do not make the next round.
Meanwhile, England off-spinner Graeme Swann has urged officials not to make the World Cup a closed shop for cricket's elite nations.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is trying to slim down the existing 14-team tournament which will stretch to a stamina-sapping six weeks, to a 10-team contest in 2015.
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But as there are 10 Test playing countries, the second-tier sides believe they will be frozen out as none of the major teams will accept a change to a system where they all now qualify as of right.
"Why would you want to take the world out of the World Cup? Shocks can happen," the England off-spinner said in an interview with the March edition of the Wisden Cricketer magazine.
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Ton-up Dhoni fires India to victory

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed a blazing century to set up India's crushing 117-run victory over New Zealand in a World Cup warm-up match on Wednesday.
The Indian skipper cracked three sixes and 11 fours in a 64-ball 108 not out to help his team post an imposing 360-5 and virtually bat New Zealand out of the day-night match in Chennai.
New Zealand were bowled out for 243 after a brisk 94-run stand for the opening wicket between Brendon McCullum (58) and Martin Guptill (38) to suffer their first defeat in two practice matches.
Jesse Ryder (32), Nathan McCullum (29 not out) and Scott Styris (20) were the other main contributors.
Indian spinners, who played a big role in their team's win over defending champions Australia in a warm-up match on Sunday, again struck it rich as they shared seven wickets.
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Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh each took two wickets, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bagged one.
"It's a difficult task for any side when they have to chase six or seven runs an over. This is the way we should play all the time," said Harbhajan Singh, who took 2-17.
"When you set that total, teams have to chase and it gives you the chance to get wickets as their batsmen look to do something."
"We have won our two warm-up games, but we are not taking anything for granted. It's up to us now to keep it simple and stick to the basics."
Dhoni and Suresh Raina (50) earlier gave a superb display of power-hitting to help their side set a stiff target, plundering 124 runs for the fifth wicket off just 56 balls. Raina hit three sixes and four boundaries in a 26-ball knock.
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Dhoni's best came when he smashed paceman Jacob Oram for five successive fours, while Raina also punished the same bowler as he hit three sixes in an over. Oram conceded 70 runs in his nine overs.
Dhoni said India were able to achieve "a total that was above par".
Speaking about his own game, he said: "In the past few games I have been in a hurry, but my game is different. I take my time and then like to stay until the end for the slog overs. You have got to remind yourself of your strengths."
New Zealand stand-in skipper Ross Taylor said Dhoni had taken the game away from his side, adding: "Spinners are going to be a big part of the World Cup, and we have got to improve against them."
The stage for the closing-overs onslaught was set by Gautam Gambhir (89) and Virat Kohli (59), who put on 106 for the third wicket after India lost openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar for 42 runs.
Record-breaking batsman Tendulkar, who recently missed the last three one-day internationals in South Africa due to a hamstring injury and was rested against Australia, contributed just 17.
His eagerly awaited return lasted 23 balls before he was deceived by a slower one from paceman Tim Southee and bowled.
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India suffered another blow when hard-hitting Sehwag (23) was bowled by an Oram delivery that kept low, but Gambhir and Kohli steadied the innings with their sensible knocks.
Gambhir hit 11 fours in his 85-ball stay while Kohli hit seven boundaries in a 68-ball innings.
India open their World Cup campaign against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday, while New Zealand take on Kenya in their first match the following day in Chennai.
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Windies depend on seasoned trio at World Cup

Dogged by poor form and repeated squabbles with their cricket board over the last few years, West Indies are striving to rediscover the magic that won the Calypso charmers back-to-back World Cup titles in the 1970s.

Pooled in Group B, along with tournament co-hosts India and Bangladesh, England, South Africa, besides minnows Ireland and Netherlands, the Darren Sammy-led West Indies are a far cry from the all-conquering team of "Super Cat" Clive Lloyd.

Still a passage into the last eight, at the very least, remains within their grasp. However, for this to happen their top three batsmen - former skipper Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan - need to fire consistently.

The left-handed Gayle is capable of giving the Caribbeans the flying start. Sarwan and Chanderpaul - with their vast experience and ability to play spin well - should provide the solidity in the middle overs for players such as Dwayne Bravo and the hard-hitting Kieron Pollard to take advantage of.

Gayle, who a few years ago, waded into controversy by showing his disinterest in playing Test cricket, is cherishing the dream of taking the Cup back to where it belonged in the infancy of the championship.

"I'm looking forward to the tournament and the dream is to see the West Indies come out on top," he said during the team's open media session after arriving in Colombo.

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Afridi banking on Akhtar to lead bowling attack

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is banking on ageing fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar to come up trumps for his side in their bid to lift the World Cup trophy for the first time in nearly two decades.

Afridi said Akhtar is working hard on his fitness and hoping to give his best in what could be his last World Cup.

"Let me tell you that Shoaib Akhtar is working really, really hard because he wants to be at his best in the World Cup. In terms of fitness, Shoaib may be a bit down but he is totally committed and is improving day by day," Afridi said.

"I won't be surprised if he is back at his brilliant best at the World Cup," he said ahead of Pakistan's first warm-up game against Bangladesh at Mirpur tomorrow.

The sub-continental tracks are known to assist slow bowlers and Afridi said his side could go with an extra spinner in the World Cup, starting here on February 19.

"The playing conditions would be quite different to what we encountered during our tour of New Zealand. Here we can explore the idea of playing an extra specialist spinner," Afridi said.

Along with two specialist spinners in Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman in the 15-member squad, Pakistan can also rely on Afridi and all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez to add variety to their spin attack.

Afridi, however, rubbished the notion that Pakistan are going to the World Cup with a weakened pace attack and said his fast bowlers are capable of coming out with flying colours.

Pakistan's pace-attack, to be spearheaded by Akhtar, includes Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq and rookie pacer Junaid Khan, who replaced an unfit left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir in the 15-member squad.

"Besides Akhtar, we have Umar Gul who is a valuable player and match winner. I don't think that there is any cause for concern. Our team is shaping up well and the boys are all highly motivated to give their best in the World Cup," he said.

Although Pakistan are going into the World Cup with a morale-boosting ODI series victory over New Zealand but the spot-fixing scandal has left them shaken.

However, a confident Afridi said that he had full faith on his teammates and the side would just need to click together.

"I have complete confidence in my boys because each and everyone of them is a match-winner. They need to click and I'm sure they will do that in the World Cup," he said.

Pakistan play England at Fatullah on Friday in their second warm-up game before starting their World Cup campaign against Kenya in Hambantota, Sri Lanka on February 23.

Strauss backs England to win World Cup

England captain Andrew Strauss has said his side has an excellent chance of winning the World Cup in the Indian sub-continent despite a 6-1 defeat to Australia in the recent One-day series.

Strauss said England were not tired despite playing for over three months at a stretch and his boys were now "motivated and excited" to play the International Cricket Council's showpiece event starting on Saturday.

"We have had a lot of very good one day cricket for the last 18 months or so. We did not play so well in Australia, which is disappointing to us. But we've got a solid squad, a settled side," Strauss said in the Bangladeshi capital.

"We really feel we can do very well in the tournament. We are excited about it," he said, adding: "We here to win it, obviously - no doubt about that. I think we feel like we have got excellent chance."

The English captain said triumph in last year's World Twenty-20 cricket has boosted the team's confidence even though the side has not won a World Cup despite appearing in three finals since the event begun in 1975.

"I think that the guys took a lot of confidence from the fact that we won the World Twenty-20. And so the guys know that they can do it on the big stage under pressure, which is an important hurdle to overcome as a side," he said.

"I think we got some pretty firm ideas on the type of cricket we want to play. But the batsmen need to get themselves in form."

Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad and Ajmal Shahzad, all members of the World Cup squad, plus Chris Tremlett, who is a reserve, missed all or part of the One-day series in Australia.

But Strauss said he'll have a fully-fit side ahead of their first World Cup fixture against the Netherlands in Nagpur on February 22. "Our injury situation is getting better every day. We don't have got any real long term concern for the players we have here," he said.

He said Eoin Morgan, ruled out with a broken finger would be missed as he was a "standout performer" for the side in recent series but his replacement Ravi Bopara can fill up the gap as he played in the Indian Premier League and knows the conditions in Sri Lanka.

England's collapse in the One-dayers took the shine off their Ashes triumph but Strauss said instead of being "tired" due to the gruelling schedule, the series had given some players to get fit.

"The conditions here are very different. I think we got a lot of in-built confidence from the cricket we played for the last 18 months, not just One-day cricket, but Test cricket as well," he added.

The 33-year-old batsman, who started his international career in Bangladesh, said any team which qualifies for the knock-out stage has the chance of winning the World Cup.

"So the first step along the route is to get through the group stages. Play some good consistent cricket during that group phase and then it's about handling the pressure," he said.

He said India and Sri Lanka - co-hosts along with Bangladesh - are the favourites. "I don't think there is a huge amount of expectation on our shoulders. I think most of the expectation falls on the shoulders of the Indian team, maybe Sri Lanka," he said.