Recreation & Sports

World Cup 2003
The hosts of the eighth World Cup wanted it to be the greatest yet. Indeed, this traditional organizers" boast rather came back to haunt the South Africans.

The nearest Ricky Ponting"s side came to losing was in their final group match, at Port Elizabeth, when England had them 135 for eight needing 205.

Australia was unstoppable, runs poured from their bats while disciplined bowling drew opposing batsmen to their ruin; out of a possible 110 wickets. With the two strongest batting sides on show, including Sachin Tendulkar, there were high hopes of a taut, run-filled finale. But Australia, surprisingly put in by Sourav Ganguly in a move that betrayed Indian nerves, ran up too many runs. Ponting himself led the way with an unbeaten 140 from 121 balls that was a masterpiece in measured ferocity: off his last 47 balls he hit eight sixes and 90 runs in all.

The Ottawa Citizen proclaimed "Canada"s Miracle on Grass" to countrymen more familiar with sport played on ice. It added: "Spunky Canadians Beat Top-Ranking Bangladesh.

According to the Former captain and coach Mushtaq Muhammad he sure hopes that Pakistan can win the World Cup in the West Indies but he says that he is worried about a few selections.

He feels that selecting Imran Nazir as one of the openers is wrong, and how the selectors can include three seamers who are all injured at the moment is a massive risk. There is no doubt that he is a talented stroke player but batting him at the top of the order is a gamble because he lacks discipline and his shot selection is poor.

"Kamran Akmal has been riding his luck for the last two or three tours. If Wasim Bari would have kept for me like Kamran Akmal has for Inzamam, I would have dropped him a long time ago".

Regarding the fast bowlers, Mushtaq Muhammad understands the selectors taking a chance because Mohammad Asif has been their best bowler, while Umar Gul is much improved and Shoaib Akhtar can be a match winner so taking a calculated risk on him for his match-winning potential.

Danish Kaneria was a positive choice and even though Hes a poor fielder and a non-batsman but he is also a wicket-taking bowler, hes fully committed to Pakistan cricket, gives the captain all he has and you cant ask any more. The lack of a good one-day spinner gives him a chance to establish himself in one-day cricket.

Ibrahim Machiwala (Lodhi)
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The first ever world championship was in 1912, when a three-way series was arranged between the then current Test playing nations, Australia, England and South Africa. Because of poor weather, the experiment was dropped and not repeated until 1975, when, following the success of domestic one-day competitions, the six Test-playing nations (England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, India and Pakistan) were joined by Sri Lanka and East Africa in the first World Cup in England.

In 1999?s ICC World Cup held in England Terry Blake, the ECB marketing director, introduced a new method of qualifying in the super six.
The 12 entrants were split into two groups, and the top three in each group went into the Super Six, carrying with them the points they had earned against the two teams who had also qualified from their group. They then played the qualifying teams from the other group, creating a final all-played-all league table, with the top four going into the semi-finals.

Sanath Jayasuriya, the dependent lion of Sri Lanka, scored 82 in five matches.
South African quicks blew SriLankan batsmen away making a strong statement in the final six.

Bangladesh beat Scotland, making a very respectable fifth in the Group B table.

Pakistan had lost three successive matches, but still managed to qualify at the top of the Super Six. Pakistan showed a remarkable performance in the first semi-final. It turned a traditional one-day theory on its head: it was decided by the unbridled pace of Shoaib Akhtar and Saeed Anwar sent the . Although he opposing dressing-room into turmoil.

South Africa"s most feared batsmen No. 8 or 9 Klusener, one of the most successful bowlers in the Cup, had turned tail-end hitting into something close to an exact science.

Still Australia adjusted and the match was tied. But Australia went into the final with momentum and. On the final Judgment day, Pakistan team that did not appear to be at the best and resulted in a great loss for a Pakistan and a memorable victory to Australia.

World Cup 2003:
The hosts of the eighth World Cup wanted it to be the greatest yet. Indeed, this traditional organizers" boast rather came back to haunt the South Africans.

The nearest Ricky Ponting"s side came to losing was in their final group match, at Port Elizabeth, when England had them 135 for eight needing 205.

Australia was unstoppable, runs poured from their bats while disciplined bowling drew opposing batsmen to their ruin; out of a possible 110 wickets. With the two strongest batting sides on show, including Sachin Tendulkar, there were high hopes of a taut, run-filled finale. But Australia, surprisingly put in by Sourav Ganguly in a move that betrayed Indian nerves, ran up too many runs. Ponting himself led the way with an unbeaten 140 from 121 balls that was a masterpiece in measured ferocity: off his last 47 balls he hit eight sixes and 90 runs in all.

The Ottawa Citizen proclaimed "Canada"s Miracle on Grass" to countrymen more familiar with sport played on ice. It added: "Spunky Canadians Beat Top-Ranking Bangladesh.?

Ibrahim Machiwala (Lodhi)
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Cricket Update : Cricket Blog

The cricket lovers are not only passionate about cricket but they are obsessed about the game. Fans have started attaching their emotions with the game. If their favorite team looses the match, then they feel sad and if the team wins, they celebrate. Magic of cricket has engulfed the entire world with only 4 months to go for the World Cup. At the time of match, Scenario becomes so serious that people either stick themselves to television sets or glue themselves to cricket sites. Whatever the method is, the main aim is to catch-up with the live action of a tournament. If you happen to miss the live action, then cricket podcast is meant especially for you.

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Ella Wilson is a cricket fanatic. She simply loves the game and tries to catch live action no matter where she is.At Stickiewicket she works on Online cricket score, cricket podcasts and Cricket News among other things. You can see her works at http://www.stickiewicket.com