Canada First win over on Kenya by 5 wickets

Canada 199 for 5 (Hansra 70, Bagai 64*) beat Kenya 198 (Mishra 51, Odoyo 51, Osinde 4-26) by five wickets

Canada won only their second World Cup match in four tournaments, beating Kenya in a low-profile, low-scoring scrap, and walked away from the Feroz Shah Kotlawith with bragging rights. Jimmy Hansra and Ashish Bagai put on 132 - Canada's fifth highest one-day partnership - to steer the chase on a slow subcontinent surface, in the fourth successive match in which a tough track was served up in a World Cup widely expected to be a runfest.

Quick bowler Henry Osinde was Canada's hero in the afternoon, as he ripped through the top order to leave Kenya gasping at 57 for 5 after 15 overs. Kenya, though, just about achieved their captain Jimmy Kamande's goal of playing out 50 overs; gutsy half-centuries from Tanmay Mishra and Thomas Odoyo acting as the bedrock of what was their best batting performance of the tournament.

Osinde was getting the ball to swerve a touch at the start, and that provided him with a wicket off the second delivery of the match, when Maurice Ouma was drawn towards the ball and edged it to slip as he belatedly tried to leave. Seren Waters, the promising opener, was next to go, playing down the wrong line to be bowled for 2. David Obuya became Osinde's third victim, nicking to the keeper as Kenya slid to 21 for 3.

There was more trouble for Kenya when a horrible swipe ended Collins Obuya's promising innings, and their most experienced player Steve Tikolo was adjudged lbw though replays suggested there was an inside-edge. Mishra and Kamande then put on the first of two reviving half-century stands. Just as the partnership started to gather momentum, legspinner Balaji Rao struck, getting Kamande caught behind for 22.

Mishra continued to grind it out, holding the innings together with a carefully constructed knock - 33 of his 51 runs were singles. His second significant stand was with Thomas Odoyo, who was far more aggressive, launching the ball through the off side or down the ground when it was pitched up.

The pair added 57 before Mishra perished in the 43rd over; Kenya missing a trick by not choosing the batting Powerplay when the two were together. That meant there was no big flourish at the death, and Kenya were bowled out on the final delivery by an inch-perfect yorker from Harvir Baidwan.

The chase began with the promoted Rizwan Cheema giving another short exhibition of his everything-must-go batting philosophy. He survived a first-ball lbw decision, and then whacked two fours and a six before he was bowled attempting yet another agricultural swipe. Kenya kept it tight after that on a pitch where the ball was keeping low, before the game sparked to life.

First, Zubin Surkari was run out by a direct hit from Kamande in the 10th over, then Ruvindu Gunasekara crunched a couple of driven boundaries, before he was reprieved by Nehemiah Odhiambo, who shelled a hard caught-and-bowled chance. Gunasekara didn't build on that, though, as two balls later he was bizarrely stumped, after beginning to take a run when the ball was in the keeper's gloves. The new batsman Hansra popped a dolly to mid-on off the second ball he faced, but that too was dropped, by Waters. In a match that was littered with poor fielding, this was the poorest miss, and it proved to be a pivotal one. Hansra celebrated the let-off with two boundaries in the over.

Things became sedate again after that phase, with Hansra and Bagai mainly taking the singles on a surface which was helping the spinners. Hansra brought out the big hit occasionally but Bagai was very subdued, striking only one boundary in his first 64 deliveries. Kenya started to flag as the partnership blossomed, and though there were some half-chances, Canada picked off the many freebies offered to stay firmly on course for victory.

Bagai started to open up as the target neared and though Hansra was dismissed with the win 19 away, Canada got their with plenty to spare to maintain their recent dominance of Kenya

All round yuvraj seals Victory over Ireland

India 210 for 5 (Yuvraj 50*) beat Ireland 207 (Porterfield 75, Yuvraj 5-31) by five wickets

Yuvraj Singh saved the blushes for India, allowing them to hide the ordinary effort from other spinners, by picking his maiden five-for to restrict Ireland to 207 before he hit an unbeaten fifty to settle India's nerves in a hard-fought win in Bangalore. Ireland enhanced their reputation by defending the target with disciplined bowling and excellent fielding and made India huff and puff to the victory line.

On a dry pitch, where the ball came on slowly, the Indian batsmen preferred to play within themselves and tried to play risk-free cricket but kept losing wickets at regular intervals to keep Ireland interested in the chase. India were 24 for 2 in the sixth over, reached 100 for four at the fall of Virat Kohli in the 24th over, and recovered to 167 for 5 when MS Dhoni exited in the 41st over before Yusuf Pathan flexed his muscles to hasten the end.

Ireland could have done far better had they not stumbled against Yuvraj's bowling. They were eyeing a 250-plus target after a 113-run third-wicket stand between William Porterfield and Niall O'Brien but a run-out opened a window for Yuvraj to trigger a collapse. The most significant moment of the innings came in the 27th over, with Ireland sitting pretty on 122 for 2, when a set Niall O'Brien couldn't make it in time to beat the throw from Virat Kohli in the covers. Dhoni did well to collect the slightly wayward throw and flick it onto the stumps. It was the beginning of the end.

As ever, Yuvraj ambled in like a Sunday-park bowler and as always proved to be street-smart. His art is very simple: he turns the ball slightly but his USP is the variation in pace, using a scrambled seam. He is usually slow and slower but surprises the batsmen with a quicker one. Today, too, he struck to his regular staple diet of slower ones; some were delivered with a round arm, some from higher straighter arm, and some with a crouched bent-knee release to get the ball to skid on.

If you just catch the highlights of his wickets, most would seem like soft dismissals. To an extent they were, but that's the illusion of nothingness he provides the batsmen, who then make seemingly silly mistakes. Andrew White was sucked into edging a flighted delivery to Dhoni, Kevin O'Brien tapped one softly back, Porterfield swatted a short ball straight to cover and John Mooney and Alex Cusack were trapped by skidders that came in with the arm. When White fell in the 30th over, Ireland were 129 for 4 and by the time Yuvraj got Cusack, Ireland had slid to 184 for 8 in the 44th over.

Until then, India were looking really ragged in the field. Only Zaheer Khan bowled well to take two early wickets and Porterfield and Niall O'Brien played risk-free cricket to lay a good platform. Their case was helped by some ordinary bowling from the spinners. Harbhajan Singh looked off-key, straying on to the pads once too often, Yusuf Pathan erred on length, often dragging them short, and Piyush Chawla hit the wrong lines.

None of that profligacy was seen in Ireland's bowling effort. Trent Johnston, who is the top wicket taker for Ireland, struck two vital blows early, getting Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to ensure India wouldn't waltz to an easy win. Almost immediately, Porterfield brought in the teenaged left-arm spinner George Dockrell, who turned in a pleasing opening spell that read 4-0-14-0. He rarely gave anything to cut, always bowled slow through the air and was never afraid to flight. He had Kohli mistiming a few shots and made Tendulkar bat cautiously. Success came in his second spell, when he struck in his first delivery of the 21st over, trapping Tendulkar with a delivery that went past the attempted sweep. He could have got the wicket of Kohli, too, in his next over but Niall O'Brien, the keeper, couldn't hold on to an edge. Later, he trapped Dhoni lbw with a delivery that straightened on middle and leg to give a window of hope for Ireland but Yusuf Pathan shut it very quickly with two monstrous sixes in the same over.

Broad & Bopara seals England's six-run thriller

England staged a remarkable comeback to defeat South Africa in the Group B match at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, winning by just 6 runs. It was a low scoring game, but it was anything but dull, keeping the fans on the edge of their seats as it twisted and turned towards the final conclusion. South Africa had been on top all day, but Jimmy Anderson, for whom many pundits had called to be axed before the game, took the wickets of AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, with the run out of Francois du Plessis sandwiched in the middle to give England every chance of victory. The result continued to look like it could go either way, but with just 7 runs needed and just 2 wickets in hand Strauss recalled Stuart Broad to the attack. He proceeded to remove Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel to give England the victory in a thriller. 

There was a lot riding on this match, particularly for the English, who needed a win to boost their chances of progressing to the Quarter Finals after their shock loss to Ireland left them vulnerable. The South Africans were just as keen to continue their World Cup form, whilst there is always a little added incentive when they play England due to the bad blood with South African born Kevin Pietersen. 

England skipper Andrew Strauss won the toss and decided that his England side would bat first on a flat, grassless pitch, but a brave decision from South African captain Graeme Smith to open with the left arm orthodox spin of Robin Peterson proved to be a shrewd move. Peterson bowled beautifully for his captain, picking up both England openers with his very first over. He then removed Ian Bell, and England were reeling at 15 for 3. A good partnership of 99 gave England a chance of posting a decent score, but after both fell, Bopara making 60 and Trott continuing his good form with 52, England collapsed to be all out for 171. Peterson finished with 3 for 22 off 8 overs, Imran Tahir cleaned up the tail impressively to finish with 4 for 38 and Morne Morkel bowled tight in his seven overs to finish with 2 for 16. 

England's score didn't look like it was going to be enough as Smith and Hashim Amla added 63 for the first wicket for the South Africans, before Graeme Swann struck and had Smith caught behind for 22. Amla followed soon after for 42, Kallis was dismissed for 15, but de Villiers and du Plessis steadied the ship and South Africa were seemingly cruising at 124 for 3. 

That's when Strauss took a gamble of his own, and turned to Anderson. Anderson bowled the in-form de Villiers with a ball that only just grazed the top of off stump, and only Matt Prior realised that the ball had indeed hit the stumps. It took an umpires review to confirm that de Villiers was out, and in the next over some sharp fielding by Bell at short leg had du Plessis on his way back to the pavilion run out. Anderson appeared to have Duminy caught down the leg side in the next over, but despite replays appearing to back up the on-field decision, it was overturned and Duminy had a reprieve. Two balls later there was no doubt, as a beauty from Anderson shaped back into Duminy, sliding between bat and pad to bowl him. Three wickets in 11 balls without adding to the score had South Africa reeling. 

Strauss continued to pull the changes, and Michael Yardy struck again for England, having Robin Peterson caught by Prior, and the South Africa were now in big trouble at 127 for 6. Morne van Wyk and Steyn put on 33 and South Africa looked like they were going to win, but Bresnan came into the attack and van Wyk chopped a short ball from him onto the stumps with 12 runs left to get. 

Steyn assumed the senior role when Morne Morkel came to the crease, and they moved the score to 164. Again it looked like South Africa would get the runs, but Stuart Broad was brought back into the attack by Strauss and he trapped Steyn lbw with his first ball. Three balls later Morne Morkel played at a wide delivery and it found the edge, Prior took the catch and the English players were overjoyed. It was England's fourth close result from four matches this series, but after feeling they should have won their last two - the tie against India and the loss to Ireland - they will be glad to have finished on the right side of the ledger. 

One of the key messages out of the South African camp during this World Cup is that they aimed to remove the 'chokers' tag that they are often labelled with. A loss like this will only increase the scrutiny, and Smith will have to work hard to make sure that this result doesn't damage his players' confidence. 

England on the other hand will take a lot of confidence out of this game, and the two points for the victory make their passage through to the Quarter Finals a lot easier than it would have been had they lost this match. 

Strauss spoke of his relief after the match, saying "we (England) were down when we lost the Ireland game, but the guys stood up admirably. We were a lot more disciplined and we are delighted by the victory". Strauss also said that there were many things England needed to work on before their match against Bangladesh on Friday. 

Smith didn't look like a happy man after the game, but did say that that it "was a great game, but it is sad we wound up on the wrong side". He said South Africa would now turn their attention to their game against India next Saturday. 

Ravi Bopara, recalled to the England side for this match in place of Paul Collingwood, was given the Man of the Match award for his polished 62 after coming to the crease with the score at 15 for 3. His inclusion was crucial for England, and his innings under pressure proves that he is someone who can perform in the big games. 

Anyone who thinks One Day cricket is dead only needs to watch a match like this to see just how exciting it still can be. It was yet another thrilling match in a World Cup that has been full of quality cricket.