Play inGroup A of the2011 Cricket World Cup took place from 20 February to 20 March 2011.[1] The group consisted of hostsSri Lanka, and along with them,Pakistan,Canada,Kenya,New Zealand,Australia andZimbabwe. This phase of the tournament was played as a fullround-robin amongst all seven teams, with the top four teams advancing to thequarter-finals.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pakistan | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.758 |
| 2 |  Sri Lanka | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2.582 |
| 3 |  Australia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1.123 |
| 4 |  New Zealand | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1.135 |
| 5 |  Zimbabwe | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.030 |
| 6 |  Canada | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −1.987 |
| 7 |  Kenya | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3.042 |
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New Zealand won by 10 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium,Chennai Umpires:Marais Erasmus (SA) andRod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match:Hamish Bennett (NZ) |
The first match of Group A sawKenya taking on theNew Zealanders. Kenya won the toss and elected to bat first on a pitch which seemed to have a lot of runs. However, the New Zealanders started very well, restricting the Kenyans for runs throughout the first 6 overs. The pressure paid off asTim Southee trappedAlex Obanda in front with the score at 16 after 7 overs. Fellow openerSeren Waters andCollins Obuya tried to rebuild butHamish Bennett came into the attack and got Waters lbw to make the score 40/2. Bennett then ripped through the Kenyan batting and got 3 more wickets in double-quick time to reduce the Kenyans to 49/5. The shattered Kenyans then folded, with onlyRakep Patel offering resistance with 16 not out as Southee andJacob Oram finished off the tail to get Kenya all out for 69 in 23.5 overs.
The New Zealand openers started off quickly in their small chase, withMartin Guptill doing most of the early scoring.Brendon McCullum was bowled off a free hit but got into his stride and finished off the game with two successive boundaries, as New Zealand reached their target in just eight overs without losing any wicket, to complete a ten-wicket win.
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Sri Lanka won by 210 runs Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium,Sooriyawewa Umpires:Ian Gould (Eng) andShavir Tarapore (Ind) Player of the match:Mahela Jayawardene (SL) |
Sri Lanka, one of the co-hosts started off their tournament against minnowsCanada. The Sri Lankans won the toss and elected to bat first. Canada bowled well in the early overs, but did not get a wicket, as openersUpul Tharanga andTillakaratne Dilshan reached 50 runs. When the first wicket did fall, it was a run-out when the batsmen had a mix-up with the score at 63, and Tharanga was dismissed. Dilshan got to his half-century, but fell trying to go for a big hit. The Canadians restricted Sri Lanka to 88/2 with over 19 overs bowled; but the two experienced Sri Lankan batsmen, captainKumar Sangakkara andMahela Jayawardene came together and got a partnership of 50. Both batsmen got the run rate to over 6 and both seemed to be coasting to their centuries, until Sangakkara on 92 gave a simple return catch toJohn Davison with the score at 267/2. Jayawardene reached his century but fell immediately afterwards. More wickets fell and the game got hot-tempered, with a confrontation betweenAngelo Mathews andHarvir Baidwan and Sri Lanka finished with 332/7.
The Canadian chase went nowhere, withThisara Perera andNuwan Kulasekara getting three wickets quickly. CaptainAshish Bagai tried to lead a recovery, but once Perera took his wicket to reduce Canada to 53/5, all doubts about the result finished. Big-hitterRizwan Cheema took 37, including two huge sixes off spinnerMuttiah Muralitharan, but the latter ultimately got his wicket as Canada fell to 122 all out.
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Australia won by 91 runs Sardar Patel Stadium,Ahmedabad Umpires:Asoka de Silva (SL) andRichard Kettleborough (Eng) Player of the match:Shane Watson (Aus) |
Three-time defending championsAustralia opened their tournament againstZimbabwe. Australia won the toss and elected to bat; but it was the Zimbabwean spinners who dominated the early stages despite not getting a wicket; as Australia struggled to 32/0 after 13 overs. The 14th over was hit for 17 runs as the score quickly reached 50, but soon after,Prosper Utseya gotBrad Haddin lbw, which was given out of referral.Shane Watson then attacked aggressively as he added 79 with captainRicky Ponting until Watson was out lbw offGraeme Cremer in similar fashion to Haddin's. Ponting was soon run out, butMichael Clarke andCameron White took the score past 200 until White was bowled. Clarke reached a half-century, and quick cameos byDavid Hussey andSteve Smith took Australia to 262/6.
The Zimbabwean reply was disappointing, as the Australian pace trio ofBrett Lee,Shaun Tait andMitchell Johnson reduced Zimbabwe to 44/4. The Zimabweans had some small partnerships going; but that was little resistance as they were all out of 171, with Johnson getting 4 wickets.
Australian captainRicky Ponting was handed down a Level 1 charge by the ICC, after he damaged a television set in the dressing room following his run-out.[2][3]
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Pakistan won by 205 runs Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium,Sooriyawewa Umpires:Tony Hill (NZ) andNigel Llong (Eng) Player of the match:Umar Akmal (Pak) |
Pakistan, who were on a poor run of form before this World Cup faced off against Kenya. Pakistan captainShahid Afridi won the toss and elected to bat first but it was the Kenyan bowlers who struck early, getting opensMohammad Hafeez andAhmed Shehzad out early on, leaving Pakistan at 12/2 at the end of 7 overs.Kamran Akmal andYounis Khan then began a rebuilding partnership of 98, until Kamran fell shortly after reaching his half-century. Younis also reached a half-century and fell immediately, beforeMisbah-ul-Haq andUmar Akmal hit a rapid 118-run partnership, with the latter especially being severe on the bowlers in his 71 off 52 balls. Both men fell towards the end of the innings as Pakistan reached 317/7, helped quite substantially by the Kenyan bowling which conceded 46 extras.
Kenya started off solidly in their big chase, with openersMorris Ouma andSeren Waters adding 37 for the first wicket until a direct hit from Umar Akmal had the latter run out. The Kenyans fought during the first half of their innings, getting to 73/2 before Shahid Afridi bowledSteve Tikolo. He then ran through the lower middle order and the tail with ease, and ended up with figures of 5/16 from 8 overs as Kenya collapsed to 112 all out, with the only resistance offered byCollins Obuya's 47.
Afridi took the best figures for a Pakistan bowler in the World Cup, with 5/16.[4] Kenya bowled 37 wides, equaling the record set by the West Indies, also against Pakistan, in 1989.[4]
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Australia won by 7 wickets Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium,Nagpur Umpires:Kumar Dharmasena (SL) andBilly Doctrove (WI) Player of the match:Mitchell Johnson (Aus) |
New Zealand and Australia and both won their first games easily, and now the Tasman neighbours faced off against each other where the winner would get two wins out of two. Australian captainRicky Ponting won the toss and asked New Zealand to bat. OpenerBrendon McCullum blazed away at the start of the innings untilShaun Tait had him caught at third man. New Zealand progressed at a steady run rate after that, reaching 66/2 for after 13 overs until Tait andMitchell Johnson unleashed a good spell of bowling which resulted in a collapse of 4 wickets for 7 runs. New Zealand showed resistance after that asNathan McCullum scored a half-century, andDaniel Vettori a quick 44, which allowed them to get 206.
Australia started rapidly in their chase thanks toBrad Haddin, who went a well over a run a ball right from the start and quickly reached his half-century.Shane Watson was quiet in the opening phase but soon got into the stride, and Australia reached 100 in just 14 overs. Watson didn't take too much longer to reach his half-century either, and althoughHamish Bennett offered New Zealand a ray of hope by getting Watson and Haddin out in the same over,Michael Clarke andCameron White guided Australia hope with ease within 34 overs, with 7 wickets to spare.
Australian batsmanMichael Clarke reached 6,000 One Day International runs in his 174 innings during this match.[5] This match was used to decide the annualChappell–Hadlee Trophy for the 2010–11 season, as Australia and New Zealand did not play any other ODIs against each other during the season.
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Pakistan won by 11 runs R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo Umpires:Ian Gould (Eng) andDaryl Harper (Aus) Player of the match:Shahid Afridi (Pak) |
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and decided to bat first against Sri Lanka, one of the pre-tournament favorites. Sri Lanka got the wicket ofAhmed Shehzad in the sixth over, but Pakistan still managed to proceed along at a rapid run rate in the first ten overs.Mohammed Hafeez, Pakistan's other opener proceeded along at over a run a ball until a mix up withKamran Akmal had him run out, and Kamran himself was stumped a few overs later to leave the match evenly poised at 105/3 in the 21st over.Younis Khan andMisbah-ul-Haq then built a 104 run partnership in 20 overs without taking too many risks, until Younis fell toRangana Herath for 72 while trying to accelerate. Misbah stayed not out till the end for a well made 83, but Sri Lanka got the wickets ofUmar Akmal andAbdul Razzaq cheaply, andShahid Afridi before he did too much damage to the score to keep Pakistan to 277/7.
Sri Lanka started off with a very good reply, with their openersUpul Tharanga andTillakaratne Dilshan accelerating steadily after a slow start to add 76 in just over 14 overs until Hafeez had Tharanga caught at point. This was the turning point of the match, as three more wickets, including that of Dilshan fell soon after to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 96/4.Kumar Sangakkara rode his luck with Kamran missing two stumpings off him, and staged a recovery withChamara Silva, but his luck eventually ran out as the required run rate went up, with Afridi having him caught at long on one short of his fifty. Silva struggled to time the ball early in his innings, being 16 off 49 balls at one point, but he then accelerated rapidly to reach his half-century, but Afridi returned to remove dangerous lookingAngelo Mathews. Silva eventually fell for 57 when Kamran did get a stumping right, and despiteNuwan Kulasekara's cameo, Sri Lanka ended up 11 short.
Pakistani all-rounderShahid Afridi took his 300thODI wicket during this match.[6] The defeat was the first home loss for Sri Lanka in World Cup matches.[7]
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Zimbabwe won by 175 runs Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium,Nagpur Umpires:Asad Rauf (Pak) andBruce Oxenford (Aus) Player of the match:Tatenda Taibu (Zim) |
Zimbabwe's victory was their fourth biggest by runs margin inODI cricket, and their biggest in World Cups.[8] Canadian opening batsman,Nitish Kumar, became the youngest ever player in World Cup cricket, aged 16 years and 283 days.[8]
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Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo Umpires:Tony Hill (NZ) andShavir Tarapore (Ind) Player of the match:Lasith Malinga (SL) |
Sri Lankan fast bowlerLasith Malinga took ahat-trick, the second in his career. He became the first bowler to take two World Cup hat-tricks, and the fourth bowler to take two career ODI hat-tricks.[9][10]
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Pakistan won by 46 runs R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo Umpires:Daryl Harper (Aus) andNigel Llong (Eng) Player of the match:Shahid Afridi (Pak) |
Shahid Afridi, who was named man of the match, set a new record of becoming the first player in World Cup matches to take four or more wickets in three consecutive games.[11]
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Martin Guptill 86* (108) |
New Zealand won by 10 wickets Sardar Patel Stadium,Ahmedabad Umpires:Aleem Dar (Pak) andMarais Erasmus (SA) Player of the match:Martin Guptill (NZ) |
Martin Guptill andBrendon McCullum set a new record of the highest opening partnership for New Zealand in World Cup matches.[12]
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The no-result ended Australia's World Cup winning streak at 25; Australia had won every World Cup game it had played since the tied semi-final against South Africa in the1999 Cricket World Cup. Australia's unbeaten run in World Cup matches was not broken, and was extended to 32.[13]
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Canada won by 5 wickets Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium,Delhi Umpires:Asad Rauf (Pak) andBilly Doctrove (WI) Player of the match:Henry Osinde (Can) |
Canada's win was their third-successive victory against Kenya and their second win in World Cup matches.[14] They had previously beaten Bangladesh in the2003 Cricket World Cup.[14]
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New Zealand won by 110 runs. Pallekele International Cricket Stadium,Kandy Umpires:Daryl Harper (Aus) andNigel Llong (Eng) Player of the match:Ross Taylor (NZ) |
New Zealand batted first, making a slow start. At the half-way point, they were 99/2, 163/4 at the 40 over mark and 210/6 by the 46th over.[15]Ross Taylor andJacob Oram then added 85 more runs from 22 balls.[15] Taylor, playing on his birthday, finished unbeaten on 131 from 124 balls.[16] He survived two early chances, edging a ball fromShoaib Akhtar before scoring. In the same over, he edged another one toKamran Akmal which wasn't taken.[17] New Zealand added 139 runs in the final ten overs, with 100 of them coming from the final five.[16] Taylor scored 62 runs off the last 16 deliveries he faced, including seven sixes. In reply, Pakistan were bowled out for 192 from 41.1 overs.[18] The match was the firstODI game to be played at thePallekele International Cricket Stadium,Kandy.[15] After the match, Taylor admitted that he'd played with a broken bat. "I cracked it in the nets a couple of days ago", he said. "It seemed to go OK today but hopefully the new one can be just as good."[19]
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Sri Lanka won by 139 runs Pallekele International Cricket Stadium,Kandy Umpires:Marais Erasmus (SA) andNigel Llong (Eng) Player of the match:Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) |
Upul Tharanga andTillakaratne Dilshan set a new World Cup record for the opening partnership, scoring 282 runs, beating the previous record of 194.[20] It was also the first occasion in a World Cup that both openers made a century.[20] With their victory over Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka became the first team to qualify for the Quarter Finals of the tournament.[21] In reply, Zimbabwe made a good start, but were dismissed for 188 runs with 11 overs spare.[22]
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New Zealand won by 97 runs Wankhede Stadium,Mumbai Umpires:Bruce Oxenford (Aus) andShavir Tarapore (Ind) Player of the match:Brendon McCullum (NZ) |
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Australia won by 60 runs M. Chinnaswamy Stadium,Bangalore Umpires:Asad Rauf (Pak) andRichard Kettleborough (Eng) Player of the match:Collins Obuya (Ken) |
Kenya's total of 264 is their highest score in World Cup matches, beating their previous best of 254 against Sri Lanka in the1996 Cricket World Cup.[23]
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Pakistan won by 7 wickets Pallekele International Cricket Stadium,Kandy Umpires:Tony Hill (NZ) andNigel Llong (Eng) Player of the match:Umar Gul (Pak) |
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Australia won by 7 wickets M. Chinnaswamy Stadium,Bangalore Umpires:Billy Bowden (NZ) andAmiesh Saheba (Ind) Player of the match:Shane Watson (Aus) |
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Sri Lanka won by 112 runs Wankhede Stadium,Mumbai Umpires:Asad Rauf (Pak) andRichard Kettleborough (Eng) Player of the match:Kumar Sangakkara (SL) |
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Pakistan won by 4 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo Umpires:Marais Erasmus (SA) andTony Hill (NZ) Player of the match:Umar Akmal (Pak) |
The loss was Australia's first loss in a World Cup match since 23 May 1999, when Pakistan defeated Australia atHeadingley in the group stage of the1999 World Cup. This ended a 34-match unbeaten streak (including 32 wins, a tie and a no-result).
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Zimbabwe won by 161 runs Eden Gardens,Kolkata Umpires:Asoka de Silva (SL) andKumar Dharmasena (SL) Player of the match:Craig Ervine (Zim) |