SA vs Ire: South Africa wary of fighting Irish

KOLKATA: South Africa will be wary of Ireland's fighting spirit when they seek to nail down a World Cup quarterfinal place on Tuesday.

Ireland have been the most impressive of the non-Test nations, pulling off a shock win over England and testing favourites India and the West Indies before losing.

South Africa, with six points from four games, will be assured of a place in the last eight with a victory while Ireland, with two points from four matches, only have a slim chance of qualifying.

The momentum is currently with South Africa who bounced back strongly to defeat India by three wickets in a tense finish in Nagpur on Saturday after losing a close match to England.

"Saturday's win is a massive step forward in the self-belief department for us and we can play with a bit more freedom," South Africa captain Graeme Smith wrote in his column in an Indian newspaper on Monday.

"That doesn't mean we think we can just walk in and knock Ireland over on Tuesday. Many of the guys in Ireland have played county cricket. As a team they have got good cricket sense, can be dangerous and have to be taken seriously."

South Africa have shown they have depth in both bowling and batting. Their spinners, Imran Tahir, Robin Peterson and Johan Botha, were superbly backed by pacemen Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel in previous games.

The Pakistan-born leg-spinner Tahir, with 11 wickets in three matches, missed the last game due to a fractured left thumb and South Africa have to decide whether to play him against Ireland.

South Africa's batting looked solid against India, especially after Jacques Kallis's return to form with a 69 in Nagpur after contributing just 21 in the first three matches.

"We know South Africa are one of the favourites to win this World Cup. Hopefully, they will relax a bit (after India's match) and give us a chance," said Ireland all-rounder Andre Botha.

"Maybe they will have a couple of hangovers. We know we have to win the last two games and we are not going to back out. Everyone's up for the challenge."

Ireland not only made India battle for victory with their gritty display, but also gave a scare or two to the West Indies before losing by 44 runs inn Mohali.

"It's not just the West Indies game, we were in with a chance even against Bangladesh and India, but failed to get over the line," said Botha.

Ireland are sweating over the fitness of in-form paceman Trent Johnston who suffered a knee injury against India.

Johnston, who missed the last match, is his team's second-highest wicket-taker with six in three games.

Teams (from):

South Africa: Graeme Smith (Capt.), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk.

Ireland: William Porterfield (Capt.), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Niall O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, John Mooney, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson, Andrew White, Ed Joyce.

Pitch conditions: Batsmen are likely to dominate the proceedings at the Eden Gardens as the pitch offers even bounce. There will be something in it for the bowlers as the match progresses but they need to keep a tidy line and length.

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Pak vs Zim: Rain plays spoilsport again in Pallekele

NEW DELHI: Rain stopped play again as there was another frustrating delay in the match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe in their World Cup Group A clash in Pallekele on Monday.

Zimbabwe's batting Powerplay is reduced to two overs. When Pakistan bat, their mandatory Powerplay is for the first nine overs, and four overs each for the batting and bowling Powerplays.

Pakistan's target will be adjusted as per the Duckworth Lewis method.

Earlier, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi dismissed Greg Lamb as Zimbabwe lost their fifth wicket.

Afridi took a simple return catch to take his first wicket off a googly to reduce Zimbabwe to 84/5 in 23.5 overs.

Taking full advantage of overcast conditions, Abdul Razzaq and Umar Gul struck early as Zimbabwe got off to a poor start.

Razzaq struck on the fifth ball of the match when he had Brendan Taylor caught behind by Kamran Akmal and in the next over Gul trapped Regis Chakabva plumb in front of the wicket to reduce Zimbabwe to 5/2 in 2 overs.

Gul struck again in the sixth over when he had Vusimuzi Sibanda caught by Misbah-ul-Haq at first slip to reduce Zimbabwe to 13/3.

Wahab Riaz gave Pakistan the fourth breakthrough when he had Tatenda Taibu caught by captain Shahid Afridi at mid-off to reduce Zimbabwe to 43/4 in 12.4 overs.

This was after Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura won the toss and chose to bat in overcast conditions.

The start of the match was slightly delayed due to wet outfield.

Pakistan have brought in Wahab Riaz and Asad Shafiq and rested Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Akmal.

Zimbabwe have replaced Chris Mpofu and Sean Williams with Shingirai Masakadza and Vusimuzi Sibanda.

Teams:

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (Capt.), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shahzad, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Abdur Rehman, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz.

Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura (Capt.), Brendan Taylor, Regis Chakabva, Tatenda Taibu, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Craig Ervine, Greg Lamb, Prosper Utseya, Graeme Cremer, Shingirai Masakadza, Raymond Price.

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Ganguly to play for MCC in Dubai Twenty20

MUMBAI: After being ignored by all ten IPL franchises at the players' auction a few months ago, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly will be playing in the Emirates Airline Twenty20 tournament in Dubai, next month.

Ganguly has been included in a star-studded MCC ( Marylebone Cricket Club) side that will take part in the event starting on April 1, a release said.

"It is an honour and a pleasure to represent MCC. I am absolutely delighted to have been invited to play for the club in the Emirates Airline Twenty20 competition," Ganguly was quoted as saying.

"I thoroughly enjoyed captaining the MCC side that took on the Pakistanis at Lord's last summer, and I am thrilled to get another opportunity to play for MCC."

"I am looking forward to continuing my relationship with MCC, and participating in this exciting new venture for the club," added the Bengal stalwart, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the first three IPL seasons but will not be seen in action in IPL-IV commencing next month.

MCC would be taking on English county champions Nottinghamshire, Durham, Sussex and defending champions Fly Emirates XI in the T20 tournament which would also feature current and former players like Monty Panesar, Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Chris Read.

"It is a great honour to have Sourav Ganguly competing at the Emirates Airline Twenty20 and we are looking forward to welcoming this legend of the game to Dubai," said Tournament Director, Matthew Jackson.

"The Dubai crowd are certainly in for a treat with this kind of talent on display at Sevens cricket ground. With the likes of Sourav in their line-up, the MCC side look to be strong contenders for the title.

"They certainly won't have it all their way, however, with some top-class players and former internationals in the other teams as well," he added.

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Ban vs Ned: Bangladesh beat Netherlands by 6 wickets

CHITTAGONG: Bangladesh cruised closer to World Cup quarterfinal qualification on Monday with a six-wicket victory over the Netherlands.

Slow left armer Abdur Razzak took three wickets and opener Imrul Kayes stroked 73 not out to give Bangladesh its second victory in Chittagong in four days, keeping alive its chances of reaching the last eight.

Bangladesh will qualify if West Indies beat England on Thursday in Chennai. Otherwise, the entire population of 150 million will be cheering the team on when it plays South Africa in Dhaka on Saturday.

The Bangladesh team opened the World Cup with a loss to co-host India in Dhaka, then beat Ireland by 27 runs. Any encouragement gained from that was lost in a nine-wicket defeat to the West Indies, when Bangladesh was bowled out for just 58 runs.

On Monday, the innocuous Dutch bowling attack presented few challenges on a flat Chittagong wicket and Bangladesh passed the total in the 42nd over.

Imrul shared a 92-run second wicket partnership with Zunaed Siddique. His unbeaten 73 came off 113 balls that included six boundaries, and he was declared man-of-the-match.

Tamim Iqbal was bowled for a duck in the fourth ball of the innings as Mudassar Bukhari struck.

Zunaed scored 35 off 52 balls before he was caught by Pieter Seelaar off Peter Borren in the 21st over.

Coming in at four, Shahriar Nafees added 37 runs from 60 balls before he was bowled by Tom Cooper.

For Netherlands, only Ryan ten Doeschate, with 53 not out, managed a decent innings as the Dutch fell victim to four runouts, a stumping and slow spin.

Bangladesh made the first breakthrough in the 10th over after captain Shakib al-Hasan trapped Wesley Barresi lbw for 10.

No. 3 batsman Mudassar Bukhari (6) was the second man to go, caught by Mushfiqur Rahim off Abdur Razzak. He also trapped Tom de Grooth lbw for 4 and took Atse Buurman for a duck, caught by Imrul Kayes.

But ten Doeschate, the best Dutch batsman, came in at number five and was left stranded when Bangladesh tore through the tail. His 50 took 65 balls and included two fours and a six.

Abdur Razzak took 3-29 but Shafiul Islam was the pick of Bangladesh's bowlers even though he didn't take a wicket. He finished with figures of 0-15 from 9.2 overs, starving the Dutch of run-making chances.

Bangladesh made two changes from the team that had a two-wicket win over England, bringing in Sohrawardy Shuvo and Shahriar Nafees in place of Naeem Islam and Raqibul Hassan.

Netherlands also made two changes, bringing in Atse Burrman and Adeel Raja.

Beckham launches last quest for MLS title

LOS ANGELES: David Beckham launches his last bid to add a Major League Soccer championship to titles won in England and Spain when the Los Angeles Galaxy kick off the 2011 season on Tuesday at Seattle.

Beckham, who won six English Premier League titles with Manchester United and a Spanish championship with Real Madrid, insists he is more interested in helping the club than seeking private glory.

"It's not about validating my time here with the Galaxy. It's not all about myself being a success," Beckham said. "Of course I want to win trophies and championships, but the most important thing is the club."

The Galaxy's hopes last season ended with a Western Conference finals loss to Dallas, who went on to fall to Colorado in the title match.

But once again Los Angeles appear to have the pieces they need to let Beckham leave America a winner.

The Galaxy have arguably the league's best player in Landon Donovan and one of its top coaches in Bruce Arena.

The departure of Edson Buddle to Europe has been offset with the acquisition of Juan Pablo Angel from the New York Red Bulls, and while the aging Angel is no doubt slowing down, he remains a lethal finisher.

As Beckham enters his final season with the Galaxy, former French international Thierry Henry begins his first full campaign with a Red Bulls team that are title contenders in the East.

The Red Bulls made one of the most dramatic turnarounds in MLS history last season, going from last in the league in 2009 to first in the Eastern Conference in 2010.

Manager Hans Backe, going into his second season with the club, said he and the players are now a comfortable unit.

"I think overall with the team, everyone is more aware of the foundation," he said, adding that it will be up to Henry and Rafael Marquez to lead the way now that they have had a full pre-season to tune their partnership.

"They have been a different class in the pre-season compared to when they arrived last year," Backe said.

"Those guys have tons of experience and they have to make a difference every game."

MLS commissioner Don Garber said signing Beckham has been a great success for the league and he wants to see more marquee names head Stateside to boost the league's profile.

But Garber said there are plenty of other players to be excited about, including US World Cup defender Jay DeMerit (Vancouver), US forward Charlie Davies (DC United), Mexican national team regular Omar Bravo ( Kansas City) and 18-year-old Colombian Fabian Castillo (FC Dallas).

But the biggest buzz as the season approaches was not about a player but a place: the Pacific Northwest where the addition of two new teams promises a three-way regional rivalry with the hugely successful Seattle Sounders.

The Sounders averaged more than 30,000 fans per match last season, and the expansion Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps are hoping to emulate that success.

Both of the new teams have sold out their season-ticket allotments.

The Whitecaps, with NBA star Steve Nash as one of their owners, have sold 16,500 season tickets, and before playing their first game are the league's leader in sponsorships.

The Timbers have sold all of their 12,500 season tickets with fans anticipating a rivalry with Seattle.

"Rivalries are a big part of the sport overseas," Garber said. "We hope we can learn some lessons from what is driving the interest of fans these three clubs have. We should be able to replicate some of that."

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