India's Sachin Tendulkar falls shy of 100th ton but racks up 18,000 one-day runs

Sachin Tendulkar, India's in-form batting maestro, missed a chance to score his 100th international hundred when he fell short in the World Cup quarter-final against Australia.

Tendulkar, 37, looked in sublime form during his 68-ball innings, hitting seven fours on his way to 53. It was his 94th one-day half-century for India.

Tendulkar edged paceman Shaun Tait to wicket-keeper Brad Haddin in the 19th over and had started walking when umpire Marais Erasmus called him back while he confirmed the legality of the delivery.

Once the replays showed that the delivery was legal, Tendulkar walked away, much to the disappointment of the frenzied crowd packed in to the Sardar Patel stadium for India's do-or-die encounter.

Nevertheless, the veteran batsman, playing his sixth World Cup and probably his last, completed 18,000 one-day runs in the process, consolidating his position as the most prolific one day batsman of all time.

Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya is second with 13,428 runs, while Australian captain Ricky Ponting is third on 13,288.

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To win the World Cup, you have to beat them all: Yuvraj

Agar harenge to pata hain humein kya hone walah hain!' (If we lose we know what's in store). Yuvraj Singh was laughing when he said that. But he gave the impression along the course of a media conference after the match on Sunday that he was fighting a battle for the team against the Indian media.

"Don't you think you are not practising enough?" somebody asked him the question and that added fuel to the fire. "We know our bodies, we know how to go about it...It's the media that is saying we are not practising. It's your problem, not ours," it seemed that Yuvraj was carrying the mood of his batting to the press conference room.

The left-hander looked relieved that he has delivered the goods just when it mattered. This was his first international century after a gap of two years and he wants to take the good form into the quarterfinal against Australia. "Obviously, I am feeling good about it...Wickets, runs...I think it's all going well," Yuvi's answers were short, crisp and incisive.

Now they are up against Australia and when somebody asked whether they would have preferred some other team in the quarters, Yuvi shot back. "Boss, if we have to win the World Cup, we have to beat every team...It doesn't matter if we are playing Australia or Sri Lanka."

Aussies have three quicks in Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson in the line-up. So, will the short ball be a problem? "We wouldn't have been the No. 1 Test playing nation and No. 2 ODI nation if we struggled against the short ball...Don't say such things to me," Yuvi seemed to pull the query out of the park.

India are going off the boil a number of times and there was a situation on Sunday as well when the bowlers struggled to get that breakthrough. When asked about it, the left-hander said that it's a matter of keeping the faith in the bowlers.

"When things get tough, it's important that we don't lose confidence in the bowlers...We knew somebody or the other will strike when it matters and that's what happened. Zaheer got two, I got a couple, and we finally won the match," Yuvraj said.

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Strauss, Swann suffering from stomach bugs

Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann missed training in Chennai on Tuesday after being laid low by stomach bugs, though both are expected to be fit in time for England's must-win match against West Indies on Thursday.

Strauss is also England's leading run-scorer in this World Cup with 298 at nearly a run-a-ball, while the first-choice spinner Swann is their joint highest wicket-taker with nine.

England batsman Jonathan Trott, however, was keen to emphasise after the practice session that both unwell players would recover in time for the West Indies match, which England must win to have a chance of making the quarter-finals.

"They are two key players in our side, in anybody's side they would be, especially with Andrew being captain, but I'm fully confident they will be alright," Trott said. "These things are usually 24-48 hour things. I'm glad it happened sort of now and not tomorrow. Hopefully they will be alright tomorrow for training"

England have already lost two high-profile players since arriving in the subcontinent, with batsman Kevin Pietersen returning home for hernia surgery and Stuart Broad picking up a side strain. They play their final league match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, where they pulled off a comeback win over South Africa nine days ago. That result has kept them in contention for a quarter-final spot despite shock defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh.

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Who do you think will win the Cricket World Cup?

New Zealand celebrated a Ross Taylor-led 110-run victory over Pakistan but they face the disaster of potentially losing skipper Daniel Vettori to a tournament-ending knee injury.

Vettori fell awkwardly attempting to catch a miscued lofted on-drive from Kamran Akmal off Tim Southee in the sixth over. He hobbled from the field but needed the support of two management staff to get to the pavilion.

The team's next game is against Canada.

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Stuart Broad an injury doubt for England

A side strain picked up by Stuart Broad in England's dramatic win over South Africa could end his involvement in the Cricket World Cup.

The results of a scan are due later this afternoon (March 8th) and are likely to determine whether Broad will become England's second long-term injury casualty in the space of three days, with Kevin Pietersen's trip having already been cut short by a hernia injury.

Broad, who took 4-15 in the match on Sunday, is a major doubt for Friday's match against Bangladesh.

However, he is hopeful that the injury will not end his involvement in the Cricket World Cup, particularly since his Ashes campaign was disrupted by a similar complaint.

"I'm not too down at the minute because I don't know what the injury is. But obviously, I'll be bitterly disappointed if it's the end of my World Cup," Broad commented.

"It's in a different area. I didn't get the short stabbing pain that I did in the Ashes, so that's a good sign this is not as severe as that."

Ajmal Shahzad is a likely replacement for Broad should he fail to recover in time to face Bangladesh.

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Ireland Vs England : Expert Analysis – ICC World Cup 2011

After eliminating Pakistan from the ICC World Cup 2007 in the West Indies and becoming one of the reasons behind Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer's departure from this world, the Irish cricket team rose to the occasion once again and hammered England in a group ‘B’ match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. The English team's wounds might not be able to match those of Pakistan’s but Andrew Strauss and company will be shattered to say the least.

Apart from one of the biggest upsets of the game, the match between England and Ireland will be remembered as one of the best spectacles of One Day International (ODI) cricket. It was a record breaking encounter in more ways than one.

England posted a mammoth total of 327 runs in the first innings and most cricket analysts were predicting that the English team will run away with the match, especially when the Irish lost five of their top batsmen for just 111 runs on the board. A nelson usually works for the bowling team but just like so many extra-ordinary things in today’s match, the nelson changed the fortunes for Ireland batting this time.

Kevin O’Brien and Alex Cusack combined for the sixth wicket partnership and scored 162 runs which laid the foundation for a historic win. The match went down to the last over of the innings but the Irish were in the driving seat in the last 10 overs of the match.

Apart from some cricket fanatics around the world, a majority of cricket lovers may not have heard much about Kevin O’Brien but from now onwards his name will always be remembered in the history books for anchoring one of the most proud triumphs for Ireland. He scored a magical hundred to steer his team towards an unlikely victory and captured a record breaking victory for his country. He also broke the record for scoring the fastest century in the history of world cup cricket.

No team has ever chased down such a total in a world cup match before, even though the English team came very close of doing so against India a couple of days ago. So in many ways, this day was nothing less than a dream for Ireland and will be remembered for many more years to come. No wonder the Irish fans had tears in their eyes after the match.

Even though the English team dropped a couple of sitters, no one can take the credit away from O’Brien, who stunned spectators with some marvelous hitting. Not surprisingly, the centurion was named Man of the Match for his ‘once in a lifetime knock’. O’Brien admitted, during the presentation ceremony, that he himself could not believe all this has happened and said that this is the best innings he has ever played.

"Not able to believe it, I am quite speechless. I got a bit of luck and things went my way. If we would have gotten out soon, it would have been a boring game for the supporters and so I decided to chance my arm, it paid off," the star said while expressing his emotions.

The win once again will highlight the role of minnows in the tournament. The ICC is probably watching with great interest the outcome of this year’s tournament. Time will tell if O'Brien is able to lead his side to another victory on a World Cup stage.

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CRICKET WORLD CUP: Hussey happy with patience

Batsman Mike Hussey says Australia's selectors have made the right move in delaying naming a replacement player for the World Cup squad.

The selectors were able to call up an additional player after fast bowler Doug Bollinger was forced home with injury, and surprised many when they held off on making that decision.

But Hussey, who has been widely tipped to get the call-up, along with bowlers Peter Siddle and Dirk Nannes, said it was correct for them to be cautious.

"The squad looks like it's going really well at the moment, the fast bowlers are fit and the boys have been playing really well," he said.

"It's not a bad idea just to wait and see how we go over the next couple of games and make a decision on a replacement then."

Hussey, who was forced out of the original 15-man squad with a hamstring injury, said the selectors had not told him how likely he was to come into the side.

The 35-year-old left-hander will make his return for WA in their Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland which starts on Thursday, after a successful return to Perth club cricket on Saturday.

"It seems like an age since I've played a game of cricket so I'm really looking forward to getting out there," Hussey said.

"I'm feeling good. My training has been fine for over a week now ... I know I can go as hard as I like."

Hussey's international place has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks, despite starring in the Ashes series, but he said he has not seriously contemplated retiring.

"I love playing for Australia and it took me so long just to get one game, I don't want to stop anytime soon," he said.

"I feel like I'm a better player than I was five years ago ... I've taken a lot of confidence out of this year.

"I also take a lot of confidence out of watching guys like Sachin Tendulkar play so well into their 30s."

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Cricket-Box hit television not my bat, explains Ponting

Ricky Ponting was still amused on Thursday at the furore he caused after his flying groin protector damaged a television in the Australian team's dressing room during a World Cup match.

Ponting was given a dressing down by the sport's governing body (ICC) on Wednesday for damaging the set but insisted it was purely accidental and not malicious.

"The television wasn't hit by me with my bat at all, it was hit by my box that I had thrown down," Ponting told reporters on Thursday, ahead of his team's Group A match against New Zealand.

After being run out for 28 by Zimbabwe on Monday, Ponting was seen angrily talking to himself as he walked back to the pavilion. Once inside, he struggled to put a lid on his emotions.

Conflicting reports suggested the damage had been caused by his groin protector, his glove and even his bat.

"I'm not sure where the lot of those stories have come from," he added with a smile. "But I have accepted what the ICC have come up with as far as a reprimand is concerned from the incident.

"There was some small damage to the TV set and I went and reported it to the team manager straight away. They actually replaced the television set there and then.

"Some of the stories I have been hearing the last couple of days have been a little bit different to what the list of events actually were."

Ponting, 36, accepted that he had crossed the line but wanted an end to the controversy once and for all.

"Hopefully we can put this all behind us and start worrying about a big game of cricket (tomorrow)," he said.

"There's a limit I guess... you can let off steam in a dressing room. It is a pretty sacred sort of place in international cricket.

"But there's a line you can't over-step. I accept responsibility for that happening, albeit by total accident and with no malice involved whatsoever.

"What's happened has happened, I'd like to be able to take it back but I can't."

Ponting, who is chasing his third consecutive World Cup triumph as captain, escaped any further censure even though he could have been fined up to 50 percent of his match fee, the ICC said in a statement on Wednesday.

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