O'Brien's fastest ton hands Ireland shock win

Bangalore: Kevin O'Brien smashed the fastest ever World Cup century to propel Ireland to a stunning three-wicket win over England in a Group B match on Wednesday.

An astonishing knock by O'Brien, who clobbered 13 fours and 6 sixes to reach three figures in only 50 balls, helped the Irish to live up to their reputation as giant-killers as they overhauled England's total of 327-8 with five balls to spare. It was the highest successful run chase in the history.

Four years after beating Pakistan in the group stage in the Caribbean, the Irish repeated the feat to dent England's hopes of progressing into the knockout stages of the 2011 world cup.

"When you are 111-5 I just said to myself, we could just potter around and get 220 off 50 overs for eight or nine and the game would have been pretty boring to watch and it wouldn't have been anything to watch on TV," a grinning O'Brien said clutching his man of the match trophy.

"I just chanced my arm and said I'm going to be as positive as I can and I got a few away and didn't look back really."

The 26-year-old O'Brien dismantled the English bowling to score 113 runs in 63 balls and his knock helped produce the first upset in this year's showpiece.

He was run-out -- the only way he could fall -- with 11 runs still required off as many balls. However, John Mooney (33 off 30 balls) kept his head and with three required to win off the last over, smashed a boundary to spark off the Irish celebrations.

Ireland's victory also throws Group B, which includes India, West Indies and South Africa, wide open.

O'Brien came to the crease with almost half his side back in the pavilion with Ireland struggling on 106-4 in the 23rd over.

He then turned on a breath-taking show of power hitting while the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium roared him on.

Inspired by O'Brien, Alex Cusak smashed 47 runs as they put on 162 runs for the sixth wicket before he was run out Ireland still requiring 55 runs to win.

However, O'Brien soldiered on and no amount of bowling changes or field placings could stop him and England came loose at the seams with misfields and dropped catches aiding Ireland's chase.

World Cup-2011: India vs England thriller ends in a tie

BANGALORE: This was a game both India and England deserved to lose but in the end it was a tie. If the Indians seemed listless while defending a more than healthy 338, the English after being in a position to spoil the Indian party on a pitch on which the expected demons did not surface, suddenly seemed to have invoked the devil himself. In the end what transpired was the fourth ever tie in the history of the World Cup tournament. 

Master Blaster

The match swayed like a pendulum. The Indian total of 338, runs set up by a record fifth World Cup ton from Sachin Tendulkar, looked excellent enough at the break, more so as the hosts had gone in with two spinners. England captain Andrew Strauss had different ideas as he set about all but obfuscating Tendulkar's knock with his maiden World Cup ton.

  After that came the batting Powerplay. Suddenly from an impregnable 280/2 from 43 overs, when Strauss (158, 145b, 18x4, 1x6) and Bell (69, 71b, 4x4, 1x6) were going strong with a 170-run stand off 156 balls, things turned upside down. Zaheer Khan, hit around in his first two spells and held back by Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the Powerplay, got two in two, sending back Bell and Strauss to open up the game again. 

Suddenly the Indians were pumped up, as the English middle and late order collapsed. But then two sixes, one each by Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan, both off Piyush Chawla's final over, the penultimate one of the innings, again changed the game. Fifteen had come from that over leaving 14 required from the last to be bowled by Munaf Patel. With number 10 Ajmal Shazad on strike, the match looked to be in India's grasp, but the drama wasn't over by any means. A solid six and some hurriedly run singles brought the equation to two runs off the ball. They got one and the Bangalore crowd, some of whom had left early seeing India's chances all but gone, got what they expected atleast. A tie!

Before that, the Indians had got most things right. Having decided to play with two spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Chawla, it was important that Dhoni won the toss and allowed his spinners the second use of the pitch. That part went along the script as did the batting, with the top-order firing for the second match in succession. It was even better that the middle-order too got a chance to show their wares and they didn't do too badly either.

Only Tim Bresnan stood up and got noticed among English bowlers. Having dismissed the fortuitous as well as dangerous-looking Sehwag off his fifth ball, Bresnan came back at the death, to keep the Indians from running away to a total in excess of 350. His final analysis of 10-1-48-5 was true reflection of his showing on the afternoon.

No other English bowler went under five an over, with James Anderson in real danger of going for twice that. Every Indian batsman got stuck into him. Tendulkar and Gambhir used his wayward line and length to full effect. That Tendulkar (120, 115b, 10x4, 5x6) picked boundaries even off his better deliveries, ensured that it was not to be Anderson's day.

Once Sehwag (35, 26b, 6x4) had gone, poking at Bresnan for wicketkeeper Matt Prior to bring off a fine one-handed catch diving to his right, the right-left pair of Tendulkar and Gambhir (51, 61b, 5x4) took charge. Without looking in any sort of hurry, the master-blaster milked the bowlers before assaulting them.

The innings wasn't just about Tendulkar and Gambhir though, even if their 134-run second wicket stand set it up. There was also Yuvraj Singh, rightly promoted ahead of Kohli seeing that it was the 30th over, and Dhoni, whose 25-ball 31 went almost unnoticed. Yuvraj (58, 50b, 9x4) wasn't at his fluent best but who knows this knock could well be the launching pad for more to come.

International Cricket World Cup 2011 Preview - The Outsiders

Let one begin by saying that the tag of minnows doesn’t really begin to do justice to Bangladesh. Forget all their struggles, for what is worth remembering most are their victories over India and South Africa in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

While the men in blue were sent packing, the Proteas were only saved because of the Super Eight format which allowed them to recover from the setback. Nevertheless it was an imposing striving and one which won’t allow any team to rest easy when they face up to the co-hosts in their own backyard this time around.

Of course, they are in the same group as India and South Africa, and those two sides will only be too wary of the risk inherent. And if they need any reminders, cricketers co-operate in this events only need to recall the fate of New Zealand earlier on in the season. The 4-0 scoreline alone didn’t raise eyebrows, for it was almost always thought that somehow the Kiwis will bounce back and take the ODI series. It was the manner in which they capitulated which marked not only the downfall of their cricket but similarly also foretold the rise of the Bangladeshis. In any competition here on, they stand on level pegging with teams that have it in them to pull more than a surprise.

  Yet what separates them still is their inability to challenge for the ultimate prize. They may be considered unlucky in the sense that had they been drawn in Group A, they would have surely seen themselves making it to the knock-outs at the cost of New Zealand again. Because being in the group they are, teams will be extra careful when facing them. India, South Africa and England are rank professional sides, different from when they last played in a World Cup four years ago and any slip ups will be the least considered possibility. West Indies continue to be mercurial but that alone puts them ahead of Bangladesh. It is not to say though that they should already be packing, no. A precise concoction of carefully laid-out pitches and some fine spin bowling can yet unfold into unanticipated games.

It can be said here that Bangladesh are a cut above the rest of the lowly sides and that is not down to their Test status alone. But there is another team that has done enough in the last four years to be given some respect, if not the same amount, and that is Ireland. Upsetting Pakistan in the West Indies, and also beating Bangladesh in the Super Eights, was their ticket to the international stage and they haven’t let any of their fans down, never letting the flexibility in their play fall.

This in turn has seen their ranking maintained in the ICC ODI lists at eleven, though they still had to qualify. They did so without minimum fuss, winning the qualifiers in 2009 and will now be looking forward to playing their first ever ODI under lights.

The warm-up match against New Zealand saw them give hefty chase of a huge target and it is believed by many that they stand capable enough of causing more hiccups than anticipated. Along with Bangladesh, there are now two teams in Group B that can do so, making it the ‘group of death’. That this tag hasn’t gone to Zimbabwe surely must pinch them a bit, for they have been on a path to recovery ever since political infighting took more than a toll on their cricket. It was being said that 2011 will be the year when we would see them back to the Test fold.

A high ranking of nine was testimonial to that progress, if only some, and that Sri Lanka and India were keen on playing ODIs there again was all part of it. Yet when it comes to the star attraction, the World Cup, it really pains to say that Ireland have a better chance of causing an upset than they do. If anything, it only shows that their performances here in the sub-continent will go a long way in concluding whether they do get that Test status back.

Never mind Zimbabwe though, there is still a minnow in Group A very much capable of shaking some boots. Canada retain an great batting line-up, one that grows in confidence in these conditions and the way they ran England close in the warm-up only signifies that. It can also be said that after a long tour down under, Andrew Strauss and his men weren’t really bothered too much about this inconsequential match. But that is not Canada’s problem is it? They were 28 for five at one stage and yet lost only by seventeen runs chasing 244. That tells you more about their spirit than ability.

And talking of spirit, one might as well talk about Kenya. They don’t really play too much international cricket, just some at the associate levels. Yet they have a better success rate than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in ICC tournaments. Most of it is down to their 2003 World Cup performance where they target the semi-finals. But don’t let that make you forget what they did to the West Indies in 1996 here in the sub-continent.

In that sense, there is nothing much to say about Netherlands and they will be rolled over by another batsman like Herschelle Gibbs this time around, looking to hit six sixes in an over. But if cricket – and World Cup – history has taught us anything, it is that anyone can win on their day.

Turning point from the Aus vs Zim in World Cup

The Australia started favourites to win the match and that they did at ease beating the Zimbabweans by 91 runs. Considering that, there was a turning point as such in the game. Though Zimbabwe bowled a good line and restricted the Australians to 262/6 in 50 overs, their batsmen couldn't really get off the mark. Man-of-the-Match  Shane Watson Shane Watson who put on 79 runs as an opener provided a good platform for the Australians. But they could not really bank on it as apart from Michael Clarke, who scored 58 not out, no other batsman really clicked. Clarke won the Man-of-the-Match award for his superlative batting at the top. Mitchell Johnson, who finished with impressive figures of 9.2-2-19-4 too deserves a mention here even though he did not won the man of the match award.

Top sports experts in Doha conference

DOHA: Universal experts on sports libraries and sports information will convene in Doha to participate a public conference organised by Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, Qatar Museums Authority and Qatar University, tomorrow.

International sports museum

The two-day educational seminar at Qatar University is the first of its of its kind that brings in librarians and library scientists from international sport libraries and research centres to provide the experiences of their institutions and to discuss about the development of sport libraries in the Arab world, as well as possible collaboration.

“Sports Libraries in the Arab World — growing, learning, co-operating” will include presentations on the planning of the library at the Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum. It will focus on library work and science in the Arab world. It will also have presentations on the work of many of the most essential sport libraries, research centres and Olympic studies centres in the world.

Some of the key highlight presentations will be the Central Library of Sport Sciences in Cologne, Germany, so far the world-biggest special library in the field of sport; Olympic Studies Centre of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland; Olympic Studies Centre at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain; Sports Library and Archives of Finland; sports research library and the digital archive of the LA84 foundation in Los Angeles, USA; and the research centre of the US Golf Association Museum in Far Hills, New Jersey, USA. Joiners will also learn about Qatar University’s Sport Science Programme, the general status of libraries and library science in Qatar and the Arab world. The Peninsula

Patriot softball wons twice on Sunday

AIKEN, SC -- AIKEN, SC -- Senior left fielder Chelle Phillips prepared a walk-off run-scoring single in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Francis Marion University a 2-1 win over the University of Charleston (W.Va.) and a sweep of the Patriots' two events on Sunday (Feb. 6) at the Early Bird Softball series in Aiken.

Earlier in the day, Destinea Schneider, Sara Broderick, and Megann Sallinger all had two hits in a 7-2 victory over Barton College.

Francis Marion complete its opening weekend 3-0 and will next face Lenoir-Rhyne University on Sunday (Feb. 13) at 1 p.m.

In the one-run win over Charleston, junior right-hander Kayla Ellingsen picked up her second complete-game win in as many days with a seven-hitter.  She struck out six.

Trailing 1-0 in the third, Broderick singled with one out, stole second base, and came around to score the tying run on a single by Schneider. In the seventh, Kayla Bowie led off with a single.  She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and after a fly out, scored on Phillips' two-out hit.

Schneider had a pair of hits in game two as well.

FMU sophomore southpaw Murphy McConnell (1-0) picked up her first collegiate win with four scoreless innings in Sunday's first contest.  Phillips had an RBI double, while second baseman Ashley Jaramillo had a double and later drove in two runs with a infield groundout. 

Proteas seal series against Pakistan

South Africa completed a 2-0 sweep in the T20 internationals against Pakistan, by cruising to a six-wicket victory in the second game.

The hosts, who turned in a poor batting display in the opening game when they set 120, were equally poor on Wednesday in managing to set 121 for victory with Juan Theron grabbing four wickets for 27.

The Proteas cruised for most of the response with Graeme Smith (38) and Colin Ingram (32) helping their side cross the line with 10 balls to spare.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Pakistan's innings bore several similarities from 24 hours earlier.

They lost wickets in clusters, there was poor decision making and they had to again rely on newly appointed Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq (33) to see them to a respectable total.

Shahzaib Hasan (six) was first to go when he mistimed a Lonwabo Tsotsobe delivery straight to Johan Botha, running back from midwicket.

Mohammad Hafeez (14) managed two fours during his brief stay but was then in two minds to Morne Morkel's second delivery and was bowled.

Imran Farhat (nine) suffered the same fate - misjudging a slower Tsotsobe ball with the consequences being a lost leg stump.

A silly run out accounted for Umar Akmal (five), who was looking for a second run but sent back by Misbah, and skipper Shahid Afridi (three) again played an irresponsible shot that flew in the wrong direction with Smith taking a good catch at deep cover.

That left Pakistan at 39 for five and with plenty to do in order to stay in the game.

Misbah and Abdul Razzaq (25) tried their best in a 45-run stand which took the better part of eight overs, but after the latter smashed Albie Morkel for a six, he fell next ball.

His partner tried to fight a lone battle with his side crossing 100 in the 18th over - the longest it has ever taken them in T20 cricket surpassing the mark set on Tuesday.

He was eventually out in the last over when Theron claimed three wickets from the final four balls to leave the hosts at 120 for nine.

Pakistan needed early wickets, but got none as Smith and Loots Bosman (11) put on 38 for the first wicket, before Afridi came in and struck immediately.

The skipper should have then had the wicket of Smith in the ninth over, but Akmal spilt a regulation chance at long-off.

AB de Villiers also fell for 11, before Afridi ended his miserly spell with one for 13.

There was a little more pressure when Smith was stumped with 53 still needed from 40.

But JP Duminy (22 not out) along with rookie Ingram took them to their sixth consecutive T20 win.