New Zealand, West Indies Stunner win against Zim & Bangla....

New Zealand 166 for 0 (Guptill 86*, B McCullum 76*) beat Zimbabwe 162 (Taylor 44, Southee 3-29, Vettori 2-25) by 10 wickets

New Zealand wrapped up a thumping 10-wicket win over Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad, surpassing the Zimbabweans in every department to set up a victory that will reinvigorate their World Cup campaign. They started by making light work of a timid batting line-up, Tim Southee picking up 3 for 29 as four of the top seven failed to reach double figures and Zimbabwe limped to 162. Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum then sealed the result with the highest opening stand of this tournament and New Zealand's best in World Cups, as the target was overhauled with more than 16 overs to spare.

New Zealand went into this game level on points with Zimbabwe, the teams ranked fourth and fifth in Group A with one victory and one defeat each and separated only by net run-rate. Beating Zimbabwe, especially considering the sheer scale of their win, means that, in all probability they will need only one more victory to book a place in the quarterfinals, with a game against Canada in hand.

West Indies 59 for 1 (Gayle 37*) beat Bangladesh 58 (Benn 4-18) by nine wickets

Bangladesh's batsmen froze catastrophically in a performance that was a throwback to their years of ineptitude in the early 2000s, as West Indies sauntered to a nine-wicket victory in a contest that spanned just 31.1 overs. As the mood within a packed and expectant Mirpur stadium turned from excitement to fury, with subsequent reports of an attack on the Windies' team bus, Bangladesh shipped all ten wickets in 18.5 overs to be routed for 58 - the lowest total ever made by a Full Member nation in World Cup history.

It was a craven performance in a critical contest. With the permutations in Group B blown wide open by England's loss to the Irish, both teams knew that the winner of this match would have one foot firmly planted in the quarter-finals. However, the cool efforts of Sulieman Benn, Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy - the only three West Indian bowlers called upon - proved too much for a feckless batting line-up that never tried to recover from the third-ball dismissal of its linchpin, Tamim Iqbal

Shahid Afridi helps Pakistan one hand victory over Canada by 46 runs

Pakistan 184 (Umar 48, Misbah 37, Baidwan 3-35) beat Canada 138 (Hansra 43, Afridi 5-23) by 46 runs

Where Ireland went, Canada could not follow as their dreams of a World Cup fairytale were blown away by Shahid Afridi. For three-quarters of the game Canada had hustled Pakistan into a corner, only for Afridi to lash out with five wickets to seal Pakistan's qualification to the quarter finals.

While Afridi's speculative batting may long since have gone bust, his bowling has grown into a model of menacing consistency which has placed him well in front as the tournament's leading wicket-taker with 14 scalps from three games.

Chasing a modest 184 after a lethargic Pakistan batting effort, Canada had scrapped hard to reach 104 for 3 with 17 overs remaining. Even in conditions that had been refreshingly inviting for bowlers, it was an equation within Canada's reach, but Pakistan's jack-in-the-box captain sprung to life to wipe out the lower and middle order.

It was Saeed Ajmal, back in the side in place of Abdur Rehman, who started the collapse when he dismissed the obdurate Zubin Surkari lbw. The appeal was initially denied by umpire Daryl Harper, but the much-maligned DRS proved the bowler right. It was one of a number of decisions that Harper had to reverse as, in a single innings, the merits of umpire technology were given a perfect advertisement.

Surkari's dismissal brought the destructive Rizwan Cheema to the crease and with the target still in sight it seemed scripted that Cheema would bash his adopted country to glory against the land of his birth, but after starting with a bang over midwicket he ended with a whimper - missing an Afridi googly to lose his off bail.

Afridi's next over all but sealed the match with a slider rushing through Jimmy Hansra's defences. Hansra had played with the sort of calculated daring that underpinned Ireland's success in Bangalore but could not last long enough. Afridi was aloft in celebration a ball later when he bowled Harvir Baidwan to set up a hat-trick delivery. Though he didn't get it, he sealed his five-wicket haul when Wahab Riaz held a Tyson Gordon skier.

As if to emphasise his hold on the occasion Afridi even managed to conjure another scalp after finishing his bowling stint, hitting direct from mid-on to catch the wheezing Balaji Rao short. It meant Pakistan finished a game with all the zest that was missing from a forgettable batting display.

Were it not for a stodgy 73-run stand between Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal, Pakistan may well have joined England on the receiving end of a World Cup shock. Before they came together Pakistan were rocking at 67 for 4 and lost five wickets for 44 after their stand was broken. Misbah was as calm as ever and nursed his more volatile partner through an organised, pragmatic and thoroughly un-Pakistani partnership.

Either side of that pair it was a overconfident display as the batsmen lacked the intensity to buckle down and keep the scoreboard moving in the face of an energetic Canada effort. Using the heavy atmosphere and sporting pitch, all the Canadian bowlers caused trouble but it was the contrasting aggression of seamer Baidwan and rotund legspinner Rao who starred, constantly prodding and probing the Pakistan batsmen who were unable to raise their games.

It left Canada dreaming at the half-way stage, but Afridi intervened when his team needed him most.

South Africa easy win over Netherland

South Africa 351 for 5 (de Villiers 134, Amla 113) beat Netherlands 120 (Tahir 3-19, Kallis 2-19) by 231 runs 

Two brilliant centurions H Amla & Devilliars

A day after Ireland's heroics in Bangalore gave the Associates a major fillip, normal service resumed in Mohali where AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla reeled off contrasting hundreds to set up a hammering of Netherlands. Peter Borren elected to field under overcast skies, but things unraveled at an alarming rate after a disciplined show in the first quarter of the match. Amla overcame a sluggish start and focused on accumulation, while de Villiers shredded the attack in a blaze of big hits that was reminiscent of Herschelle Gibbs' assault in the last World Cup encounter between these two teams. South Africa's bowlers then backed up the batting with a near-perfect display to set up the fourth-biggest win in World Cup history.

Chasing 352, Netherlands' best chance of getting anywhere depended on the top order's ability to see off Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. The openers played out six overs from South Africa's fastest bowlers, but Jacques Kallis ruined their efforts by snaring two quick wickets after coming in first-change. With the run-rate under control, Graeme Smith deployed his spinners on the lower order, and Netherlands sank without a trace, losing their last seven wickets for 39 runs against Imran Tahir and Robin Peterson.

The margin of victory completely eclipsed Netherlands' spirited efforts with the new ball. Their steady army of seamers stuck to tight lengths, and their accuracy left Smith prodding uncertainly from the outset, unsure of his footwork and indecisive in his outlook. After 31 balls of struggle, Smith had seen enough, and lost his leg stump while trying to shovel Bernard Loots across the line. Ryan ten Doeschate then won the first round in the battle of the prolific allrounders, strangling Kallis into glancing one down the leg side through to the wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi. At 58 for 2 in the 16th over, South Africa were in some strife. Thankfully for them, their two best batsmen in recent times were on hand to revive the innings. Even their most optimistic fans, though, would not have envisaged the emphatic manner in which the tide was turned.

Restless to put the failure against West Indies behind him, Amla tried to kick off his World Cup career by disregarding the lengths, and punching on the up. He nearly paid the price in Berend Westdijk's third over, when his drive fell just short of the man at short cover. In Mudassar Bukhari's next, he mishit another forcing shot through the off side, getting an inside edge that was pouched by Barresi on the bounce. Amla tightened his approach following the two reprieves, resorting to deflections behind square, and compact drives down the ground. His first eight balls yielded three fours, but he got only one more - a fortuitous inside edge to fine leg off ten Doeschate - on his way to a vital half-century.

As he had done against West Indies, de Villiers checked in with a surge of immaculate boundaries, flicking and cutting ten Doeschate for fours in the 18th over. They were shots of intent that changed the complexion of the game, ending a period of nearly ten overs in which South Africa's only boundary was Amla's edge to fine leg. de Villiers then went on to expose Netherlands' limitations, leaving the accumulation to Amla and throwing punches in all directions. He looted boundaries in all but two of the overs between 27 and 35, pinging boundaries in a comprehensive arc from third man to midwicket, with shots ranging from the revers- sweep to the slapped flick. While his improvisation was top class, the hallmark of his innings remained the trademark crunched cover-drives whenever the bowlers over-pitched.

Netherlands enjoyed a boundary-drought between overs 36 and 41, but it was clearly a case of the batsmen calibrating their guns for a final assault. Amla strolled to one of his quieter hundreds in the 40th over, and South Africa took the batting Powerplay soon after. de Villiers began the carnage by lapping Pieter Seelar for the first six of the innings, before reaching his century off 88 balls. His next ten deliveries brought him 34 runs, as he smashed Loots for three successive sixes and then ten Doeschate for a hat-trick of fours. Netherlands managed to dismiss both batsmen in quick succession, but it was scarce solace as the Powerplay went for 69. The fields fell back for the last four overs, but that did not seem to affect Duminy, who kept getting under length deliveries to swing four gleeful sixes. Netherlands must have known they were out of the game once South Africa finished with 351. Unfortunately, they did not have Kevin O'Brien in their ranks

Ireland's Kevin O'Brien blazes brilliant hundred to glory

Ireland 329 for 7 (K O'Brien 113, Cusack 47, Swann 3-47) beat 
England 327 for 8 (Trott 92, Bell 81, Pietersen 59, Mooney 4-63) by three wickets

What a stunner from this Irish player made fastest hundred ever in WC

There are game changers up the order - Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum and Shane Watson, and there are some who come down the order to completely turn the fortunes of a team - Yusuf Pathan, Kieron Pollard and Abdul Razzaq. A fourth name can now be added to the current list of game changers down the order: 

Name: Kevin O'Brien 

What he did: Score 113 off just 63 balls 

Outcome: England humiliated by Ireland 

If milestones are spoken of and if you think the record for the fastest hundred in a World Cup game belongs to Matthew Hayden, you would be right only till yesterday. A certain Kevin O'Brien targeted the English bowlers in a late order blitz to register a hundred off just 50 balls, the fastest in World Cup history and also the 6th fastest in ODIs, and more importantly help Ireland pull off an upset over England. Just for your reference, below is a list of the fastest centuries in World Cup: 

113 (50) Kevin O'Brien, Ireland v England, Bangalore, 2nd March 2011 

101 (66) Matthew Hayden, Australia v South Africa, St Kitts 24th March 2007 

111 (67) John Davison, Canada v West Indies, Centurion 23rd February 2003 

175* (72) Kapil Dev, India v Zimbabwe, Tunbridge Wells 18th June 1983 

149 (72) Adam Gilchrist, Australia v Sri Lanka, Barbados 28th March 2007 

England, having posted a good total of 327/8 on board, were banked upon by experts as well as cricket followers to get over Ireland with ease. The experts predicted that it would be a good work-out for the English bowlers after the batsmen did their job and it seemed what they said was right as half the Irish side were back in the pavilion by the 25th over. This was the time when Kevin O'Brien took matters into his own hands. 

O'Brien could have well chosen to while away his time at the middle and crawl to a fifty plus score with the match ending as a lopsided affair. None would have blamed the fiery right-hander even if he had done that. But he chose to do the opposite. He blew the English attach into smithereens and was supported well by Alex Cusack with whom he put on a crucial 162-run stand as well as an important 33 by Mooney to power Ireland to an improbable win. 

Kevin O'Brien also mentioned the same during the post-match presentation. "It's probably the best innings I've ever played. I just hit the ball pretty well and got a bit of luck and things went my way. I just kept going and kept attacking. When we were 111/5 I said to myself we could have just pottered around and got 220 off 50 overs for eight or nine and the game would have been pretty boring to watch. But I just chanced my arm and said I was going to be as positive as I can and got a few away and didn't look back." 

With their next match against India, and in the same stadium, Ireland would be hoping for another upset, and considering the batting friendly Bangalore track and the lack of sting in India's bowling attack, another upset is well on the cards. India definitely need to be wary and would certainly be mulling on plans for the 'Just released, Box office favourite, Irish sensation' - Kevin O'Brien. 

India England encounter ends in thrilling tie

India and England tied a thrilling World Cup clash in a match which yielded 676 runs and was adorned by blistering centuries from Sachin Tendulkar and Andrew Strauss. 

England, chasing a World Cup record 339 to win, finished on 338 for eight having scored 13 off the last over when 14 were needed for victory.Zaheer Khan's dramatic three-wicket burst turned the match back in India's favour after England captain Strauss's man-of-the-match winning innings of 158.

Earlier, India great Tendulkar's record-breaking 120 saw him become the first man to score five World Cup hundreds. 

Khan took three wickets for one run in six balls, including two in two, as England slumped from 281 for two to 285 for five.

Tim Bresnan (14) revived England's innings before he was bowled by leg-spinner Piyush Chawla to leave his side 325 for eight and needing 14 off the last over from Munaf Patel.

But Ajmal Shahzad launched Patel for six to leave England needing five from three balls in front of a frenzied crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Shahzad and Graeme Swann ran a single to make the target four from two. They ran two more to leave England requiring two for victory off the last ball.

But they managed just a single to produce only the fourth tie in World Cup history.

Strauss and Ian Bell (69) put on 170 for the third wicket before Khan had Bell holing out.

Next ball he had Strauss lbw with a brilliant yorker to end the left-handed opener's 145-ball innings featuring a six and 18 fours that beat his previous one-day best of 154 against Bangladesh last year.

Strauss's was the first hundred by an England captain at the World Cup and the highest score by an England batsman, beating the 137 made by Dennis Amiss against India in the competition's inaugural match at Lord's in 1975.

England then needed 58 off 43 balls with two fresh batsmen at the crease but they were in the first over of the batting powerplay.Khan then bowled Paul Collingwood and finished with three for 64.There had been controversy when Strauss and Bell's partnership was worth just 52. 

Left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh thought he had Bell lbw on review for 17, with replays showing the ball would have hit the stumps.

Bell had started to walk off but because New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden's verdict was not out, the decision was returned to him by Australian replay official Rod Tucker and the Kiwi deemed Bell to be too far down the pitch.

But he enraged India fans who had seen Bell 'dismissed' on the giant replay screens.

An unruffled Strauss advanced to drive Yuvraj for a superb six before Bell completed a 45-ball fifty with a six when he swept leg-spinner Piyush Chawla.

Bell was reprieved again on 68, with England 278 for two in the 42nd over, when he was dropped by slip Virat Kohli off Chawla.

Earlier, Tendulkar had faced 115 balls with 10 fours and five sixes. Yuvraj ensured there was no respite for England with a quickfire 58.

James Anderson conceded 91 runs in 9.5 overs to give the paceman the most expensive analysis by an England bowler at the World Cup, beating Derek Pringle's none for 83 against the West Indies at Gujranwala in 1987.

Today India play England

As Bangalore gets ready for Sunday's India-England match, there are doubts if the rain clouds will stay away. Saturday remained overcast for the best part; several parts of the city saw drizzles and there's a thunderstorm forecast for tonight. Friday had seen heavy rains but the playing area at the Chinnaswamy Stadium had recovered sufficiently from it today.

A sunny Sunday has been forecast, but there's only one thing to be said about Bangalore's weather with certainty: it is fickle. After the transfer of this game from Kolkata and the uproar over availability of tickets, a weather disruption would upset the fans severely. From a cricket point of view, India captain MS Dhoni said it's not a situation he can prepare for.

"There were times (during the recent tour) in South Africa where there was an 80 percent chance of rain, and it didn't rain at all," Dhoni said today. "But it did on days when there was a 20 percent chance predicted."

"We will see the forecast for tomorrow and make up our mind about the team composition," he said referring to the scenario where India may need quick runs if Duckworth-Lewis equations come into play.

Nehra may sit out

Virender Sehwag had suffered to a blow to his ribs, but Dhoni said there were no fitness concerns barring Ashish Nehra, who had operated at "80 percent intensity" at the nets today. It means the off-colour pacer may have to sit out given that his fitness issues have dented his form in a big way.

In his last 10 ODIs, Nehra's economy rate is 6.07, and he averages 46.2 for his 10 wickets. Worse, he rarely tends to recover from a poor start. The problem for India now is that S Sreesanth too was in poor form against Bangladesh, where India played three seamers.

It is unlikely India will retain those three, but this would only be finalised after a look at the pitch which had turned square in the warm-up game between India and Australia. It's also interesting to note that teams like West Indies, Zimbabwe, South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh have opened the bowling with spin in the tournament. But the two teams with the strongest spin attack --- India and Sri Lanka --- are yet to resort to this tactic.

'Not a turning wicket'

Curator Narayan Raju said today the pitch would be different. "We have been working on the pitch and it will not spin as much as it during the warm-up game," he said. The wicket had patches of green on Saturday.

Dhoni said it was damp and being rolled regularly. It is expected to play true, this being an important game. "We will take a call on the team composition after seeing the pitch in the morning," when asked if he will play a spin-heavy attack.

England captain Andrew Strauss says he wouldn't mind a turner. "If it's going to turn like it did in that Australia warm-up game two spinners are going to be a very strong option for us," he said.

Pressure and expectations

Having made a strong start in the Bangladesh opener, Dhoni said playing at home against a top side like England like have its usual pressures. "We did a good job in Mirpur," he said. "But we are not celebrating yet. There's always pressure when we play in India and the England game would not be different."

Strauss explained what a win would mean to him. "Winning here would be a huge lift for us and would send out a pretty strong marker to other sides," he said. "We'd love to spoil an India party here in Bangalore."

The bigger picture? India will become a certainty for the quarterfinals with a win here. But let's hope the rain clouds stay away.

Pakistan thrilling win over Sri Lanka

Pakistan 277 for 7 (Misbah 83*, Younis 72) beat Sri Lanka 266 for 9 (Silva 57, Afridi 4-34) by 11 runs 

Misbah batted fine inning of 83*

Anyone out there who still thinks Pakistan are not dangerous contenders for the World Cup? With tremendous poise and skill in the middle overs, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan propelled Pakistan, who were on a tricky 105 for 2 in the 21st over, to a strong 277, before Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akthar produced bits of magic to derail the chase. Chamara Silva threatened to pull off a thrilling heist with a flurry of boundaries, and Nuwan Kulasekara made one heroic last-ditch effort to reduce the equation to 18 runs from the final over. Umar Gul, however, held his nerve to steer Pakistan home and end a mesmeric exhibition of high-quality cricket in Colombo

Pakistan's innings had everything: rapid start, brain fade, tranquil middle overs, fabulous end-over bowling from Muttiah Muralitharan, who gave only five runs from two batting Powerplay overs, and finally a Misbah blitz, with 32 runs flowing from the final three overs, which eventually made the difference.

The chase too nearly had it all: two inspired moments bursting with imagination and skill from Shoaib and Afridi, two failed stumpings, a dropped catch and a late surge from Silva, who woke up too late after a painstaking start.