The match between two teams already through to the Super Eight stage was reduced to 48 overs-a-side following a stoppage for rain.

After opener William Porterfield was dismissed, caught off Daren Powell without scoring, Bray and Eion Morgan put on a 58-run partnership at a brisk rate — bringing up the 50 off 62 balls — although Bray was lucky to be dropped by Marlon Samuels at cover off a lively Powell delivery.

Powell picked up his second wicket of the day when Morgan skied an attempted hook and West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin sprinted down towards the boundary to take a fine catch. Niall O’Brien was caught behind off Ian Bradshaw — who had been given the nod ahead of Corey Collymore.

Scoreboard

Ireland

Bray c sub b Taylor 41

St Lucia, March 23
Paul Collingwood believes Andrew Flintoff will put his off-field problems behind him when England play Kenya in their winner-takes-all clash here tomorrow.

Flintoff was stripped of the vice-captaincy after being one of six England players and two coaches fined for staying out late drinking after the side’s six-wicket defeat by New Zealand in their opening group match.

The dynamic all-rounder was also dropped for England’s subsequent 51-run win against Canada that got their World Cup campaign back on track.

Now, whoever wins this weekend’s match at the Beausejour Cricket Ground, will join New Zealand as one of the two qualifiers out of Group C for the second phase, Super Eights.

“I think Freddie (Flintoff) will respond well, the whole team will,” said Collingwood.

“I faced him in the nets the other day and it was proper gas. It was up there. The intensity was there.

“I’m sure when he gets on that park he’s going to be desperate to do well on Saturday and that can only be good for the team.” Collingwood, has been tipped as the man in line to captain England should Michael Vaughan, who has suffered with knee and hamstring problems, pull out.

Although Collingwood, who skippered England briefly during some stages of their warm-up fixtures, doesn’t have much captaincy experience, he said he would love to lead the team again.

“During 2005, I captained Durham for about five games. Michael is 100 per cent fit but if the opportunity came up, I’d love to take it. His cricketing brain is usually a bit better than the rest of ours.” However, Collingwood insisted his focus was firmly on the Kenya match. The shock semi-finalists of four years ago, Kenya know about causing World Cup upsets.

In 2003, they defeated 1996 winners Sri Lanka while, at the 1996 tournament, they beat the West Indies and would love nothing more than to add England to their list of scalps after a 148-run thrashing by New Zealand on Tuesday.

“Our chances are good if we do the basic things right,” said Kenya captain Steve Tikolo.

England and Kenya have met just once before, at the 1999 World Cup where England won by nine wickets at Canterbury. Flintoff, the only England survivor from that match, didn’t bat or bowl.

Collingwood added: “We know what the Kenya side is all about. From what I’ve seen, and I’ve spoken to a couple of Kiwi lads, about them, they’ve got a few dibbly-dobblers, not too express.

“They’ve got basic cricketing talent. They’ll put you under pressure, have ring fields against you, and the Kiwi guys said it was very hard to get the pace on the ball.”

“We have to overcome that in some way. They do swing the ball a little bit away from the bat, so there’s plenty to know before you go into the game.” Collingwood was in superb form with the bat towards the end of England’s victorious one-day series in Australia last month, scoring two hundreds and a 70 in three successive matches. — AFP

St Kitts, March 23
Defending champions Australia hope explosive all-rounder Andrew Symonds recovers fully from arm surgery to give them the edge in their World Cup Group A match against South Africa.

Tomorrow’s game is the most-eagerly anticipated clash in the first round pitting the two-time defending champions against the world number one with a crucial extra two points on offer for the winners going into the Super Eights.

Adding spice to the contest is the bitter rivalry between the two.

“We are approaching this as big a game, as a semi-final or a final. Symonds is ultra-important. He wouldn’t be here if we didn’t know how big a player he’s going to be for us through this World Cup,” said Australia skipper Ricky Ponting.

The 31-year-old all-rounder has progressed well after last month’s surgery and Australia were ready to wait for his return until the morning of the crucial match.

“We are hoping we can get him to 100 per cent or near enough to that, and he can get out onto the field and let out all the frustration,” said Ponting.

Symonds’ replacement Brad Hodge has justified his place by hammering a brilliant hundred against the Netherlands as well as bowling his arm over for one wicket against Scotland in Australia’s two wins.

More concerning for Ponting is the form of batsman Michael Hussey who has made two and four so far, a run of form which may force Australia to include Symonds.

“There is a possibility that we might name an unchanged team - for Symonds’ sake he’d probably hope not,” added Ponting.

“It would be nice to welcome him back but we are not going to do that if we don’t think he’s at the appropriate level to play somewhere near his best, especially when other guys in the team are playing at their peak.” Ponting said his team is looking forward to the highly-charged match.

“It’s the number one and number two ranked teams going head to head in the World Cup. It doesn’t get much bigger.

We’ve been speaking about this game and waiting for this game to come around for quite a while.” South Africa took the world number one spot last month after Australia lost five of six matches, including 3-0 to New Zealand when Ponting was resting his injured back.

Ponting says he is not concerned if his team was behind in the rankings.

“Now they’re the number one ranked team, so they’ve obviously done a lot of things right in the last two years as well,” said Ponting.

“Maybe some of the pressure is on them now, maybe we can go in as the underdogs and let them be the favourites that we’ve been.” Both teams have been level-pegging in their last ten one-day matches, winning five each. South Africa won the last match by chasing a world record target of 435 runs at Johannesburg twelve months ago.

Asked if world records are at stake again, Ponting replied: “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen on a pitch like this one. I’ve said that all week, we’re going to have to bat well and make a big score.

“I’m really excited because we’re going to see a great game of one-day cricket. Whether it’s a 200-(run) game or 400, you’re going to see some of the best cricketers in the world.

“I’m very confident that we’re going to go out there and play somewhere near our best, and if we do we’ll be very competitive.” Ponting agreed injured spearhead Brett Lee will be missed against South Africa.

“Lee is a champion fast bowler and one of the best in one-day cricket around the world, so we know we miss him, he’s got a very good record against South Africa, particularly against (South Africa captain) Graeme Smith. But if others bowl well we won’t miss him much.” Smith said his team was preparing for a full-strength Australia.

“We’ve got to plan that he (Symonds) is going to play. It will be interesting to see if they take the gamble on him, that’s going to be a risk for them.

“We’ll plan that he does play and we’ll take it from there,” said Smith, whose team also beat Scotland and the Dutch through big margins so far.

“I think both teams are very close. We’ve come a long way against Australia. I don't think there’s that fear factor any more.

“It’s about going out there and performing well. There’s a lot of respect on both teams. It’s going to be a cracking game and hopefully it lives up to what everybody wants to see.” — AFP

This World Cup has clearly been overshadowed by a regrettable incident off the field. What happened at Jamaica is hard to believe. Cricket is, after all, only a game. How and why did crime, that too one as grave as murder, come into the picture? The very least the teams left in the fray can do in the forthcoming weeks is produce quality cricket. That will be a fitting tribute to Bob Woolmer.

The final Group A encounter can best be described as a ‘mouth-watering’ prospect. Both Australia and South Africa are strong contenders for the title, and they would like to begin the next stage with some points under their belt. The battle has commenced already, with players of both sides jousting in the newspapers. South Africa have taken over the no. 1 ranking recently, and make no mistake, that has hurt the Australians very badly. But it cannot be denied that the South Africans deserve the top spot.

They have improved by leaps and bounds in the last eighteen months, while Australia have displayed signs of vulnerability far too often in the recent past. Ricky Ponting and his side will be keen to dominate the proceedings, but they will not find the going easier against a side that will try to do likewise.

I foresee some engaging duels on the field, which should be a lot more interesting than those in the papers. ‘Graeme Smith v Glenn McGrath’ will be just one of those. The likes of McGrath and Shaun Pollock will be relied upon by their respective sides to seize the initiative. They won’t be deterred by the notoriously short boundaries at the Warner Park Stadium in St Kitts.

The batsmen of both sides have made merry at the ground, and one cannot help but feel that even a target of 325 is gettable. The batters will take on the bowlers without fear. That brings me to the area, wherein I feel the Australians have an advantage. Spinners were always going to play an influential role in this tournament, with the wickets in the Caribbean giving them a fair deal of encouragement. Australia have a specialist spinner in Brad Hogg, who has been bowling well, with opponents finding it difficult to pick his wrong one. Then, there is Michael Clarke, who can chip in with his left-arm spin. The South Africans are not well-equipped in this department.

It may seem incongruous to reckon that spinners can succeed on a small ground, but believe me, they can. The batsmen will want to go for big hits, and a spinner can play spoilsport by throwing the bait and having them caught in the deep. I suppose the Australian think-tank will be happy if Hogg returns figures along the lines of ‘4-55’. It is the ‘wickets’ column that matters the most.

I don’t think either side will choose to ‘experiment’ in the game. But the Australians will be reluctant to play Andrew Symonds. Hence, it can be concluded that while the South Africans will go in with their best XI, the Aussies won’t.

The game will be one of two ‘classic clashes’ being played on consecutive days. The winner of the first encounter between India and Sri Lanka, will be known by the time you read this. I frankly do not quite understand the people who are criticising the format of the tournament. I personally quite like it. The only way the so-called ‘minnows’ can get better is by giving them a taste of cricket on the big stage.

I can understand the reasons that have prompted people, especially those from the sub-continent, to cry foul. But seriously, if so-called frontline sides end up losing to teams like Bangladesh and Ireland, then it does suggest that they were not going to be competitive at the next stage anyway. — PMG

Kingston, March 23
A shocked cricket world was today in turmoil following the revelation that Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer had indeed been murdered by strangulation, prompting widespread speculation that someone involved in betting and match-fixing may be responsible.

Two days after saying that they treated the 58-year-old Englishman’s death in his hotel room here five days ago as “suspicious”, the Jamaican police quoted pathologist’s report to state that the bulky coach had died due to “asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation”.

Marking the most brutal and sensational incident in international cricket’s 132-year old history, the police announced that Woolmer’s death was, therefore, being treated as murder.

After the police announcement reports came in that members of Pakistan’s World Cup squad, who had been “interviewed” and finger printed yesterday, may be asked to stay back and not leave for home immediately. However, the police said tonight that they would be allowed to leave Jamaica.

Although Pakistani TV channels reported that one person had been detained in connection with the murder, Jamaica’s deputy police commissioner Mark Shields said the police had no suspects.

“There are certainly a number of lines of inquiry that we are looking at and we have some theories of what may have happened, but it is too early to go public with them”, he said.

Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room on Sunday hours after Pakistan had suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Ireland, which led to their exit from the World Cup. Pakistani team was staying on the same floor.

Shields said: “Bob was a large man and it would have taken some significant force to subdue him. At this stage, we don’t know how many people were there in the room. It could be one or more people involved in the murder.”

The police said Woolmer probably knew his killer. “It is imperative that we keep an open mind but I have to say at this stage it looks as if it may be somebody somehow linked to him, because clearly he let somebody into his hotel room and it may be that he knew who this person was”, Shields said.

Pakistan decided to send their top Washington-based diplomat to Jamaica to assist the cricket team in the ongoing police investigation. He will be accompanied by legal experts.

The ongoing World Cup has been overshadowed by Woolmer’s murder and swarmed with rumours that he may have been killed to avoid exposure of those involved of betting and match-fixing.

The International Cricket Council said that the ongoing World Cup would go ahead as scheduled, stating that it would not allow “this cowardly and criminal act” affect the mega event.

Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said that ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit would help the Jamaican police in the probe.

Sensing Woolmer’s death may lead to safety concerns, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has written a letter to the Indian squad, assuring them of utmost security for the rest of their stay in the Caribbean during the World Cup. — PTI

Montego Bay, March 23
Pakistan cricket players and team officials will be swabbed for DNA today by police as a routine exercise a day after police announced their coach Bob Woolmer was strangled.

The Pakistan World Cup squad and management were finger-printed yesterday at the Kingston Pegasus hotel, where Woolmer was murdered on Sunday.

They were supposed to undergo DNA tests on the same day but police allowed them to catch a flight to Montego Bay, where they are staying at the behest of the Jamaican Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller.

“It’s one of those routine things they do, at least here in Jamaica as far as I’m informed,” Pakistan media manager Pervez Mir told Reuters.

“It’s some sort of a swab that they put in your mouth and then put it in a plastic container. It takes about 25 seconds.” There has been no indication from police that any of the team are suspects. Police said yesterday it was now a murder case and that there may be more than one assailant, or a very powerful individual.

Kingston, March 23
The work of Indian pathologist, Dr Ere Seshaiah, who conducted the autopsy on Pakistan cricket coach Boob Woolmer’s body following his death Sunday morning, has come under criticism from sections of the Jamaican medical fraternity.

“On Tuesday when they announced ‘inconclusive’, I said ‘this matter is being badly handled’, as there are some things they could say right away,” Dr Jephthah Ford, an autopsy expert with 27 years of experience told the Jamaica Gleaner.

He said after hearing of the discovery of blood, which was reportedly found in Woolmer’s vomit, he was wary of speculation that the death may have been a result of suicide.

Ever since Woolmer’s body was found Sunday morning from his room in the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, speculation has been rife regarding the cause of his death, which came a day after Pakistan lost a cricket World Cup Group D match to minnows Ireland.

The loss sent the sub-continental powerhouse crashing out of the World Cup and Woolmer’s South Africa-based wife was quoted as saying that the coach was depressed with the result.

Amid speculations as to whether the 58-year-old Woolmer was poisoned or whether he committed suicide or whether he died of a heart attack, the much-awaited autopsy report said that the investigations remained inconclusive, adding that the report from the toxicologist was awaited.

Jamaica police had initially labelled the death as ‘suspicious’ but the local media widely reported on Wednesday, quoting unnamed police sources, that it was actually murder.

The official statement that Woolmer died of asphyxia caused by manual strangulation came Thursday.

Talking to the Gleaner, Ford said those conducting the autopsy could have at least announced that the victim’s heart was in good condition and hence, heart attack could be ruled out.

“They may not be able to say what is the cause of death, but you could say what is not the cause of death,” he said.

President of the Jamaican Association of Clinical Pathologists has also said the autopsy was not handled properly.

“The final conclusion of this being a manual strangulation, I would not expect the first word to be inconclusive. Maybe they just didn’t handle the thing properly,” he told the newspaper.

“Something like strangulation is clear-cut. Here is a gentleman of fair complexion. I would expect that great force would be employed to strangle, so there would be bruises, scratches on the neck or on the skin. That should be pretty clear cut,” he added.

He, however, cautioned people from criticising Seshaiah for producing an inconclusive report in the first instance.

“Probably he has a way of how he operates. Probably he wanted everything, including the toxicology tests results, before he revealed anything.” Seshaiah, 65, from Andhra Pradesh state in India, had moved here 12 years back and is now working as a government pathologist. — IANS

Port of Spain, March 23
Sensing Bob Woolmer’s mysterious death may lead to safety concerns, the International Cricket Council has written a letter to the Indian squad, assuring them of utmost security for the rest of their stay in the Caribbean during the World Cup.

The Indian squad received a letter from the ICC on Wednesday evening, assuring them of maximum security, and urging them not to panic following curious circumstances surrounding Woolmer’s death.

Indian government has announced that it is sparing Rs 2 crore-odd for the safety of Indian team in the Caribbean.

A deputy commissioner, security, Madhup Kumar Tewari is travelling with the team and has already held a meeting with the Indian squad, advising them to be careful about their movements.

Players have been advised not to go unescorted or without taking the security network in confidence. They have also been asked to be careful in dealing with strangers. Security has also been enhanced in the Indian restaurant where cricketers prefer to have their lunch and dinner.

Tewari has also urged the hotel authorities to clear the lobby of unwanted guests or fans hanging out in anticipation of catching up with Indian cricketers.

However, the internal curfew, which the team usually exercises on international tours, has not been enforced in the present World Cup.

The team was given a list of Do’s and Don’ts by Board officials before departure for Caribbean last month, which also included the cut-off time, or curfew, they must adhere to in terms of their evenings out.

However, it is learnt that the team management has decided it would not be prudent to impose a curfew on cricketers in the present tour.

Bridgetown, March 23
A police revelation that one of the most famous figures in cricket was murdered has knocked the wind out of the World Cup ahead of its 11th day of competition.

The news sent shock waves through cricket, a sport still concentrated in former British colonies, and completely overshadowed the action in the 32-year-old tournament.

Cricket has long since cast aside its reputation as a “gentlemen’s pursuit”; for decades countries such as India and Pakistan have followed the game with a fanaticism which rivals anything witnessed in soccer stadiums.

In 1996, a World Cup semifinal was abandoned because of a riot by Indian fans in Kolkata who saw their team were losing to eventual winners Sri Lanka. The Pakistan government ordered an inquiry into the team’s World Cup failure the same year.

Nevertheless, the ‘murder’ of such a high-profile figure is unprecedented and has very few parallels in any sport. The sport’s governing body, the International Cricket Board (ICC), said the World Cup, which ends on April 28, would go on.

The immediate suspicion was that a “betting mafia” had been responsible for Woolmer’s murder. Shields said every avenue would be explored.

Match-fixing in cricket has been a blight over the last 15 years and in the late 1990s the South African captain Hansie Cronje was banned for life for the offence.

Woolmer was the South African coach during this period but he was regarded in cricket circles as being untainted by the Cronje scandal.

The Pakistan team, numbed by Woolmer’s death, woke in their hotel in Montego Bay on Friday after being flown there from Kingston at the behest of the Jamaican prime minister.

It followed a day of police interviews of players and other hotel guests. — Reuters

New Delhi, March 23
The Indian Hockey Federation today annouced a list of 31 probables to undergo a coaching camp to select the final squad for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held at Ipoh in Malaysia from May 5 to 13. The camp will be held at the SAI Centre, Bangalore from April 2-30.

The probables: Goalkeepers: Adrian D’Souza, Sreeejesh, Bharat Chetri, Baljit Singh, Dinesh Ekka.

Full-backs: Dilip Tirkey, William Xalxo, Raghunath, Harpal Singh, Namdhari, Sandeep Singh.

Midfielders: Pawal Lakra, Gurbaj Singh, Dhananjay Mahadik, Prabodh Tirkey, Sardara Singh, Senthil Kumar, Bimal Lakra, Sunil Yadav, Vickram Kanth.

Forwards: Shivendra Singh, Tushar Khandker, Damandeep Singh, Bruno, Sunil Ekka, Roshan Minz, Jarnail Singh, V Raja, Gagan Ajit Singh, Ravi Pal, Bharat Chikara, Sarwan Singh.

Officials: Joaquim Carvalho (chief coach), MP Singh (coach), Ramesh Paemeswaran (asstt coach), Srikanth (physio). — UNI 

Monaco, March 23
Viswanathan bounced back in the Amber Blindfold and Rapid chess tournament to share lead after two smashing victories over Grandmaster Loek Van Wely of Holland in the fifth round here.

It turned out to be an excellent turnaround for Anand not exactly in the standings but in terms of points. The Indian ace was two and half points behind overnight leader Vladimir Kramnik of Russia before the start of the 5th round but now is just a point away from the leaders’ pack.

Vladimir Kramnik’s juggernaut was effectively halted by Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine who celebrated his selection as the Ukraine player of the year in style drawing the blindfold and winning the rapid game against the tournament leader.

As things stand, Kramnik, Ivanchuk and Levon Aronian of Armenia, who played out two draws with Russian Peter Svidler, share the lead on seven points while Svidler and Anand were in joint fourth spot on 6 points in the combined standings.

In the remaining rounds, the battle for supremacy should be between these five players unless Alexander Morozevich currently tottering on 8th position with just 4.5 points gets back to his winning ways.

The victory in the rapid also helped Anand to jump into share lead in this section along side Aronian on 4 points out of a possible five. In the blindfold Kramnik is still the leader on 4.5 points while Anand shares the second spot on just 2 points.

Anand was a class act in the blindfold game. Playing the white side of an English attack, Anand humbled Van Wely with a series of attack manoeuvres on the kingside spelling doom for the Dutchman.

The middle game was a treat for the spectators as Anand uncorked a rook sacrifice and queen sacrifice to force matters in just 25 moves.

Van Wely had a reasonable position to boast of in the return rapid game from a Queen’s Indian defense but he overestimated his chances in the middle game and went haywire while trying to find a weakness in Anand’s camp.

Anand won a piece and then knocked down all pawns compensating Van Wely who threw in the towel after 53 moves. — PTI

Miami, March 23
Jeev Milkha Singh ran into trouble on the last hole of the day as he double bogeyed to card two-over 74 and be tied 38th place in the WGC-CA golf tournament on a rather windy day.

Jeev was at par before he dropped two shots on the ninth hole, where he went into the greenside bunker from the tee. He left himself short as he went into the left rough and then reached the green in three. His bogey putt from nine feet stopped two inches short and he took a five.

Jeev, who lost in the first round at World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, started with a birdie on tenth. But he gave that good start with back to back bogeys on 12th and 13th. A birdie on 16th brought him to level par.

On the second stretch, the front half of the course, Jeev birdied first and second. But then immediately the tough course extracted its pound of flesh for missed chances and he bogeyed three in a row. A birdie on sixth once again brought him to par.

Then came the double bogey at par-3 169-yard ninth and he slipped to 38th instead of a chance of being in top-20 after first day. There is no cut in the tournament, where the field is 73 players.

He is currently 46th in the world, after being 37th at the end of 2006. — PTI

Mehar club win
Tribune News Service

Ambala, March 23
On the third day of the Shaheed Bhagat Singh football tournament today, a keenly contested match took place between Mehar Singh Club, Kurali, and Union Club, Ambala.

The Kurali team won the match in the penalty shoot-out. Both teams played well but not a single goal was scored till the final whistle. In the penalty shoot-out, the Kurali team scored five goals against four goals scored by Union Club, Ambala.