New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 10 wickets

The New Zealand team trounced Zimbabwe by 10 wickets to register an impressive win against the minnows.
Openers, Martin Guptill, and, Brendon McCullum, did not put a foot wrong as the Kiwis chased down a target of 162 in just 33.3 overs.
Earlier in the day, Zimbabwe had won the toss and elected to bat on a bright sunny morning in Ahmedabad but they failed to make use of good batting conditions and got bundled out without playing their full quota of overs.
The New Zealand team did more than a commendable job of chasing a below par total posted by the Zimbabwe team. Guptill and McCullum started the innings very confidently and ended the match on a high, with both of them scoring half centuries.
The opening stand was the highest for the Black Caps in World Cups and also for any team in this tournament so far.
Guptill helped himself to 86 not out with seven fours and 2 sixes. His innings was an excellent mix of aggression and caution. McCullum too played a remarkable knock of 76 runs. He also played with controlled aggression, as he helped himself to six fours and two sixes.
The bowling by the Zimbabweans was not good enough to trouble the Kiwi batsmen. The bowlers toiled hard but without any success as all of them remained wicket-less by the innings end. Tinashe Panyangara was the most expensive of the lot as he gave 42 runs from 5.3 overs.
The New Zealand opener, Guptill, won the man of the match of the award for his match winning knock.
The Black Caps and Zimbabwe went into this Group A match with two points each and New Zealand placed one spot higher because of a superior run rate.
Zimbabwe have now lost two of their three matches and the chances of making the second round have diminished quite significantly. They take on Sri Lanka in their fourth match next week.
New Zealand will take a lot of confidence from this comprehensive win and go into their next match against group leaders Pakistan with high hopes of securing another victory. 

Pakistan beat Canada by 46 runs - Afridi on fire

COLOMBO: Skipper Shahid Afridi led from the front with a scintillating five-wicket haul to help Pakistan notch up a 46-run victory over Canada in a Group A World Cup match on Thursday.

Inspired by Afridi's exploits, Pakistan shot out Canada for 138 in 42.5 overs after folding for a modest 184 batting first at the R Premadasa stadium.

Afridi, who grabbed 5/16 and 4/34 against Kenya and Sri Lanka respectively in their last two matches, became the first bowler to take three consecutive four-wicket hauls in World Cup history.

South Africa beat Netherland by 231 runs

South Africa thrashed Netherlands by 231 runs in a Group B match to record their second successive victory in the World Cup on Thursday.
Put into bat, Hashim Amla (113) and AB de Villiers (134) added a record 221-run third wicket stand while Jean Paul Duminy (40) chipped in with a 15-ball cameo to propel South Africa to a commanding 351 for five at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
South African bowlers removed the Dutch top half as they reached 100 and bowled them out for 120 in 34.5 overs. Barring Wesley Barresi (44) none of them could show some resistance with the bat.
South Africa made a slow start after they had slumped to 58-2 in the 16th over. But De Villiers hit his second successive century in the tournament and Amla his eighth overall in the 50-overs format to bail them out.
Amla hit eight fours in his 130-ball knock. De Villiers was more fluent in his brisk 98-ball innings that included 13 fours and four sixes.

Ireland beat England by 3 wickets - K o'brien Rocks

Kevin O'Brien hit a sensational 113 off 63 balls as Ireland pulled off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history with a three-wicket win over England.
Looking down and out at 5-111 in reply to England's 8-327, O'Brien clubbed six sixes and 13 fours to power his side to victory, the winning runs coming off the first ball of the final over.
O'Brien's knock smashed Australian Matthew Hayden's record for the quickest World Cup century, the Irishman run out in the penultimate over.
His sixth-wicket stand of 162 with Alex Cusack effectively clinched the Group B match in a win even more memorable than Ireland's victory against Pakistan at the last World Cup.
England had a woeful night in the field with four dropped catches and must now regroup for Sunday's match with in-form South Africa.
Scores: England 8-327 (J Trott 92, I Bell 81; J Mooney 4-63); Ireland 7-329 (K O'Brien 113, A Cusack 47; G Swann 3-47).

Malika Rocks - Srilanka easily beat Kenya

SL vs Ken live cricket score, Can Sri Lanka beat Kenya easily as Pakistan and New Zealand did. Kenya have scored 128 runs for the loss of five wickets after 41 overs

 Kenya has been able to come up with one of the best shows at the world cup so far here in Colombo, during its 2011 edition. Playing against the co-hosts Sri lanka, the Kenyan cricket team has managed to score 128 runs for the loss of five wickets at the end of 4 overs.

Two Kenyan batsmen Co Obuya and Do Obuya have been able to score half centuries against the Lankans shattering Lankan hope of wrapping up the match as early as possible.

The two batted very well despite one of the best bowling attack against them trying their best to send them back to the pavilion. After two early success in the form of two openers’ wickets, Lankans were hoping that they can do better than New Zealand bowlers who had wrapped up the inning for just 69 runs.

Malinga who returned to his squad today has been impressive taking two wickets. One wicket each has been scalped by KKulasekra, Mendis and Muralithanr.

After 41 overs they Kenyan score is 128 runs for the loss of five wickets.

Kenya in 2003 had pulled off one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history when they beat 1996 champions Sri Lanka by 53 runs.

Off-spinner Collins Obuya had taken five wickets as they fought back to end Sri Lanka's unbeaten streak in that World Cup Cricket. The dramatic triumph at the Nairobi Gymkhana was set up by Obuya who ripped the heart out of the Sri Lankan batting line-up, finishing with figures of 5-24 off 10 overs.