Lasith Malinga — first man to two World Cup hat-tricks
Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga became the first man to pick up two hat-tricks in World Cups when he skittled out three Kenyan tail-enders in their Group A match on Tuesday. Malinga, who missed his side’s opening two matches with a sore back, fired back with the wickets of Tanmay Mishra (0), Peter Ongondo (0) and Shem Ngoche (0) with successive, full deliveries, the latter two clean bowled. He finished with a career best six for 38 as the Africans were dismissed for 142. In 2007, Malinga grabbed four in a row against South Africa.Afridi eyes faster starts for Pakistan
Victorious Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi said he took positives from his team’s crushing win over Kenya on Wednesday but urged his batsmen to be more adventurous early in the innings. Pakistan scored an imposing 317 for 7 in their 50 overs with half centuries for Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal and were helped by an astonishing 46 extras from the hapless Kenyan bowlers.Read more...
Afridi eleven departs for World Cup show
National cricket team, led by Shahid Khan Afridi, has flown for Bangladesh to partake in cricket World Cup. The mega event is scheduled to kick off on February 19, Geo News reported.Earlier, Afridi eleven arrived Lahore airport from National Cricket Academy where the boys flew for Bangladesh.A large number of cricket fans thronged Allama Iqbal airport to see team off in shadow of prays but players did not talk to media on the occasion.Earlier, skipper Pakistan team Afridi told a press conference that players had developed good winning-combination, which, according to his experience, would help Pakistan in mega event.Emulating Ponting not on Khawaja's mind
He starts 12,363 runs behind Ricky Ponting, but Usman Khawaja - the man earmarked as Ponting's successor as the Test number three - allowed himself a rare grin when asked if he saw himself as a long-term replacement for Australia's master batsman. Uncapped Khawaja was on Thursday chosen in the Australian squad for the final Test at the SCG starting next Monday, after Ponting was ruled out with a fractured finger. The left-handed New South Wales batsman, who turned 24 two weeks ago, has compiled an impressive first class average of 51.70 over 27 matches. He was placed on standby for two Tests this summer and made the Australian squad for the two-Test series against Pakistan in England earlier this year, but didn't get a gameUK to announce decision on Pakistan trio today
British prosecutors will announce on Friday whether three Pakistan cricketers accused of taking bribes to fix incidents in an international match in England last year will be charged with criminal offences.Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were questioned by London police over claims they fixed certain incidents, such as the bowling of no-balls at pre-agreed times, during the fourth test at Lord’s last August.