Pakistan and West Indies generally don’t do boring World Cup games, so the expectant throng that congregates at Sabina Park early on Tuesday morning is well justified in expecting something special from the tournament opener. The last time the two sides met in this competition was eight years ago. On the surface, it was a prosaic game at the County Ground in Bristol, with Pakistan fairly comfortable winners by 27 runs. No one that watched it would ever call it mundane though.It’s a measure of how much Shoaib Akhtar’s presence will be missed tomorrow that an otherwise unremarkable game is best remembered for his first delivery, a searing bouncer that Sherwin Campbell could only top-edge over third man for six. With no Shoaib, and no Mohammad Asif – the best young bowler in the world by some distance – Pakistan’s attack looks paperweight, but it’s exactly in such situations that teams have come to be wary against them.Rana Naved-ul-Hasan may yet recapture the form that made him such a dangerous one-day performer for a couple of seasons, while both the wretchedly inconsistent Mohammad Sami and the fragile Umar Gul have the pace to hustle the very best. Inconsistency and flattering to deceive have become a motif of this West Indies side as well, so it’ll be especially interesting to see which team blinks first when the pressure starts to build.The pitches have been the subject of much discussion since the teams arrived here, and Andy Roberts for one doesn’t believe that they’ll be anything like as turgid as some expect. The surface at Sabina Park has seldom been that docile anyway, with memories still fresh of the bloodbath in the 1975-76 Test against the Indians, and of a remarkable Test last year when Rahul Dravid’s sterling batting led India home in a three-day Test on a pitch that was jalapeno-spicy.That leaves both sides with a selection headache or two. For West Indies, it will most likely mean choosing between the allrounder, Dwayne Smith, and the fast bowler, Daren Powell, while Pakistan will have to plump for either the burgeoning all-round skills of Yasir Arafat or the unpredictable legspin option that Danish Kaneria offers. With a certain Brian Charles Lara in the opposition, Kaneria’s place may well be on the dressing-room bench.

Both teams rely heavily on the top order. If Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul can provide some sort of platform for Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan, West Indies are eminently capable of toppling anyone. But when Gayle fails, it appears to have a deflating effect on those that follow. Pakistan would have noted his recent travails against Ajit Agarkar, and he should expect an early delivery or two shaping into his pads.Pakistan’s opening woes have been voluminously documented. Shahid Afridi’s two-match ban eliminates one interesting option, and after suggestions that Younis Khan would be asked to shore things up against the new ball, it now appears as though the duo of Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Nazir will be given another opportunity. Younis, Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq form the bulwark, and will need to be careful against the medium pace of Ian Bradshaw and Corey Collymore. Neither comes from the great West Indies tradition of express fast bowlers, but both are canny customers adept at putting the ball on a sixpence and waiting for the mistake.Having played out classics at Edgbaston (1975, when Roberts and Deryck Murray guided West Indies home) and Lahore (1987, when Courtney Walsh famously refused to run out Salim Jaffer), supporters on both sides will only hope that the match isn’t a reprise of that quite bizarre game in 1992, when Rameez Raja stodged his way to a century and then saw Desmond Haynes return the compliment with a painstaking 93 as only two wickets fell in the 50 overs. West Indies, though, won’t mind a repeat of the result, a crushing ten-wicket triumph.West Indies (likely) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 Jerome Taylor, 11 Corey Collymore.Pakistan (likely) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Imran Nazir, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 9 Yasir Arafat, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Umar Gul.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Sri Lanka’s slick professionalism in the field, and Dilhara Fernando’s composure in the final over, earned them a nail biting win over England in Antigua. Though Sri Lanka only compiled a relatively modest 236, England’s middle-order fell away meekly before a thrilling fightback from Paul Nixon and Ravi Bopara dragged down the required total to just 12 from the final over. It was two too many.Fernando was thrown the ball for the final over, but his second ball was paddled – quite brilliantly – over short fine-leg by Bopara for four. Seven needed from four balls, but Bopara’s crunching drive couldn’t pierce the covers, picking up just two – enough, though, to register his first one-day fifty. A single off the fourth ball; another off the fifth but, with three needed from the final ball, Fernando cleaned up Bopara to end a memorable match. That England even got into a winning position owed much to Nixon, whose crafty 42 at a run-a-ball took them out of the woods and into the clearing.Just an hour or so earlier, the match was England’s for the taking, however. Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen were cruising along in their commanding third-wicket stand of 90, regaining the momentum after losing Michael Vaughan and Ed Joyce cheaply. Pietersen, inevitably, took the game by the scruff, asserting his authority on Lasith Malinga with a front-footed pull and a fierce slap through the covers. Once he had lofted Chaminda Vaas for an effortless six, Pietersen was in complete control of proceedings.Bell was less certain – although, next to Pietersen, most batsmen are. But he too found his fluency, clipping two fours off one Vaas over, one behind square and the other threaded through covers, before Sanath Jayasuriya affected a cruel run out. Pietersen pushed it back to the bowler who deflected it via his fingertips onto the non-striker’s stumps. Bell appeared to ground his bat but replays showed it had lifted by a few millimetres. It was a stroke of fortune Sri Lanka needed, and they capitalised brilliantly.Pietersen brought up an uncharacteristically sedate 74-ball 50 – before the magician, Muttiah Muralitharan, was brought on. His spell began quietly before he tossed down a doosra to Pietersen who, trying to work it to leg, got a leading edge ballooning it back to Murali. It was his 28th caught-and-bowled and with Pietersen departing at 126 for 4, England’s hopes sunk. Andrew Flintoff scratched around for a couple of overs, skying Fernando’s slower ball to Malinga at mid-on. And Collingwood ended what little hope of victory England had when he was trapped in front two balls later.Enter Nixon, reverse-sweeping with furious intent, if not great success initially, nurdling singles with relative ease. An old head needed young legs though – and Nixon was joined by Bopara, whose maturity and proficiency has been a distinct, rare highlight for England so far this tournament. 67 balls later, the young-old combination had a 50-run partnership to their name. And without ever attacking the target with real intent, they chipped away to bring the required runs down to 32 from three overs.

Nixon then unfurled the shot of the day, a remarkable reverse-swept six off Muralitharan to raise hopes of unlikely victory. In the end, Sri Lanka’s discipline in the middle overs proved the decisive factor.England were no less impressive in the field earlier in the day, capping a one-day match in which, for once, the bowlers shone. The big fear was whether the nightmares of last summer – when Sri Lanka drubbed them 5-0, saving particular scorn for Sajid Mahmood – would haunt them. It didn’t. James Anderson and Mahmood, the two opening bowlers in an unchanged lineup, were tight, controlled and impressively accurate in their opening spells.With Jayasuriya falling cheaply, Sri Lanka’s middle-order was opened up but Mahela Jayawardene’s solid fifty from 61 balls provided much-needed fluency to an innings lacking momentum. How crucial it was in the end, too. His class with the bat and growing maturity as a leader – not to mention calmness under pressure – is a very reassuring sign for Sri Lanka’s future and particularly for this tournament.Sri Lanka take the two points, and were deserved victors, but England can take pride and encouragement from a far improved performance. They still lost, though, and their next game against Australia now takes on an even greater significance.

Andre Adams, the Auckland allrounder, has had his one-match suspension for assaulting an opposition player upgraded to one month. Auckland’s State Championship season is over but the decision means Adams will miss the chance to play club cricket for the next two weekends.Adams was originally banned for one game after he grabbed the helmet of Bevan Griggs, the Central Districts batsman, and shook the grill, cutting Griggs’ lip. New Zealand Cricket appealed the ban, regarding the penalty as too light for what it considered a very serious breach of the Code of Conduct.Nicholas Davidson, the National Commissioner, upheld the appeal and banned Adams until March 31. However, he said should Adams be called into the New Zealand World Cup squad to play before the end of March, the decision could be reviewed as the punishment might then be considered too harsh.Adams did not deny the assault and conceded his actions deserved a suspension. Griggs said he was prepared to see the matter resolved “by a handshake”.

Russel Arnold, the Sri Lankan middle-order batsman, has announced that he will retire from international cricket after the World Cup. Saturday’s final at Barbados will be Arnold’s last match for Sri Lanka, if selected. He will continue to play domestic cricket for the Colombo-based Nondescripts Cricket Club.”Russel has informed his decision to team manager Michael Tissera in Jamaica and it has now been officially conveyed to the cricket board,” Samantha Algama, a spokesman with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) told AFP.Primarily a one-day player, Arnold has the experience of 179 ODIs, scoring nearly 3500 runs at an average over 35, mostly in the middle order. His ability to graft in the middle overs and accelerate towards the end of an innings and his tidy offspin made him a utility player in Sri Lanka’s one-day squad from the late nineties.However, he was in and out of the squad following the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, with the national selectors looking to blood younger players. He was recalled for the 2007 World Cup, largely for his experience and in ten games, has managed 117 runs at a healthy strike rate of over 82.He began his career as a Test opener back in 1997, later dropping down the order. In 44 Tests he has scored 1821 runs at an average of 28.11. His last appearance in Tests was in the 2004 tour of Australia.Arnold is the latest to join the player exodus after the World Cup, following the high-profile exits of Brian Lara and Glenn McGrath and a host of international coaches.

The Irish Cricket Union has confirmed that the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa, at Stormont, will take place as planned following Nimbus’s move to televise the matches. After a series of meetings they decided the playing opportunities for Ireland – matches against both sides – and exposure for the game made the event worthwhile proceeding with.There had been doubts over the staging of the games following the termination of the contract between the BCCI and Zee TV. However, the ICU has now been formally contacted by the BCCI informing them that Nimbus have stepped in to broadcast the seriesThe ICU met on Friday morning to discuss the events of the past two days, to determine if the event was still commercially viable, given that they were forced to take ticket sales off-line during the period of uncertainty.The fact that crucial deadlines were missed for both weekly and monthly publications was taken into consideration, particularly with the games only three weeks away. A concerted marketing campaign will now be put in place to make up for lost time.”I would ask that the Irish cricket community, both North and South, really support these games, and get behind this initiative,” said Warren Deutrom, the ICU chief executive. “Some of the greatest players in the world will be on show, and it’s a wonderful opportunity for the cricketing public in Ireland, and beyond, to see these stars in action. It is in the interests of all the cricketing family in Ireland that this event is a success.”Ireland’s two matches will take place on June 23 and 24 with the three South Africa-India matches being played on June 26, 29 and July 1.

In four weeks’ time, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) will hold their first women’s tournament in Malaysia. While Malaysia will have both the home advantage and the benefit of fitness – as many of their players are in the Air Force – plans are also taking shape in the UAE.Two former India players are on board to mould the first UAE women’s team. Pramila Bhat Sarangan and Smitha Harikrishna have a hard task – women’s cricket is a new sport to the country – so they are instilling such disciplines as practice at 6am and even just teaching the basics. “A flush of too much technique may be too much for them to handle,” Sarangan told . “We will be working hard on their physical fitness.”Most of the team are from the subcontinent, mainly from South India. Sarangan would like to see more representation from South Africans and English ex-pats.On a developmental level, she says: “If women’s cricket is to become popular in UAE, the game should be promoted at the schools level. Clubs should also be formed and matches should be organised regularly.”In the meantime, the two players to look out for Natasha Michael, a batsman, and the fast bowler Charvi Bhatt. They will be taking part in the week-long ACC tournament, which comprises 25-over matches, starts on July 11.

Scorecard

Nepal put up a strong allround performance to beat Thailand by 55 runs on the second day of the ACC women’s tournament at Johor Bahru, Malaysia. They dismissed Thailand for 40 after scoring 95 for 8 in their stipulated 30 overs.Nepal’s innings was held together by Madhu Thapa (a footballer of some repute in Nepal) who came in at No. 3 and made 36 off 75 deliveries. She was strong on the drive and the pull, and solid in defence.Wanwipa Changsamboo, with her flighted offbreaks, was the pick of the bowlers with 2-18. She found some turn on a sluggish pitch and had the ability to dip the ball down from quite a height, which had many of the Nepali batsmen confused. Sarsati B.K .was the only one who dared venture down the wicket, but she was smartly stumped by Yupa Paoklang at the moment first attempt.Thailand were quite competitive in the field but what did cost them was the number of wides they bowled – 30 in total, and that was with relatively lenient umpiring. Yet they ended by taking four wickets in the last two overs, and went in to lunch having restricted Nepal to 95.Thailand didn’t quite have the rub of the green when they batted but Nepal’s bowling was far better than their batting. Thailand’s batsmen were given no room to swing their arms and the bowlers were backed up by some high-standard fielding.Nary Thapa (an international bronze-medalist in badminton), the captain, led the way with some excellent left-arm seam bowling. Coming on at first change, Thapa took three wickets in the 11th over to reduce Thailand to 20 for 6 and the game was pretty much over. Changsamboo hobbled by cramp, played a gutsy innings to keep her side in the game, but it was never going to be enough.Two wickets by Neera Rajoupadhyan off her first and last deliveries sealed the win for Nepal.Seven of Nepal’s players were from Nepalganj, the district that was awarded the ICC’s Global Development Award for their women’s cricket program last year. Thailand’s cricketers were an athletic group of former softball and basketball players, six of whom were intentionally coached to be left-handed batters (as if they were ‘switch-hitters’ in softball).

Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of the quadrangular series in Ireland with the ankle injury he picked up against England. He was patched up and played a decisive role in West Indies’ 2-1 win, but hasn’t been risked for the matches against Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland in Dublin.Following West Indies’ victory at Trent Bridge to seal the series Bravo stayed behind in London, while his team-mates flew to Ireland, to have the ankle examined and treated then will return to the Caribbean.West Indies have decided not to call up a replacement for the short tour, instead offering chances to the players who didn’t appear against England.”We are going to miss Dwayne but we decided against replacement because it is a short trip with only three games,” said coach David Moore. “We’ve had some good performers in England who did not get a chance in the one-day internationals in England.”Darren Sammy did well but unfortunately missed out in the ODIs and Austin (Richards Jr) and Lendl (Simmons) will also have a chance to stake their claims.”West Indies open their tournament against Netherlands, at Clontarf, on Tuesday.

Steve Harmison has suffered a setback in his race to be fit for Saturday’s Friends Provident Trophy final against Hampshire at Lord’s, after pulling up with a stiff back during Durham’s championship fixture against Surrey at Chester-le-Street.Harmison missed England’s recent Test series against India after undergoing a hernia operation, but he seemed to be coming back to fitness when he had a gentle workout against Sri Lanka A last week, followed by a full part in Durham’s three-wicket Pro40 defeat against Kent at Canterbury on Sunday.However, the after-effects of that match appear to have caught up with him, for the moment at least. The Durham squad returned home from Kent at 2.30am, and then began their Championship match a mere eight-and-a-half hours later. Harmison bowled seven overs on the first evening, taking one wicket, but managed just two more on Tuesday morning.”He has got a bit of a stiff back and we’re having it checked out,” said Durham’s coach Geoff Cook. “He won’t take any part today [Wednesday], but we still hope he can bowl tomorrow.”

In a new twist to the Sachin Tendulkar retirement story it has emerged that he is yet to make an official statement on the issue. A news agency quoted Tendulkar on Thursday as saying he had not thought about retirement but the Indian team’s administrative manager, Rajeev Shukla, confirmed on Friday that the quotes were not from the player.”That was my statement on Tendulkar’s behalf,” Shukla, also a vice-president of the Indian board, said while referring to the denial. “Tendulkar hasn’t spoken officially to anyone. It was wrongly reported as Tendulkar’s quotes.”Tendulkar’s statement sought to end speculation over his retiring from one-day cricket after India’s home engagements against Australia and Pakistan later this season. It followed a story reported by Cricinfo on Wednesday, quoting sources close to Tendulkar, that he was inclined to announce his retirement on this tour of England but had been persuaded by friends to do so at home.The confusion also stemmed from the post-match press conference at The Oval. Rahul Dravid was asked to comment on reports that Tendulkar had planned to retire and had been talked out of it by his team-mates. His answer was brief: “False reports.”