New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said he is ‘surprised’ that their World Cup semifinal against Sri Lanka will be played on a ‘used’ wicket and not on a fresh one.

The surface on which Sri Lanka bea

England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in the fourth quarterfinal of the 2011 cricket World Cup at R. Premadasa stadium here on Saturday. England have named an unchanged team while Sri Lanka replaced pacer Nuwan Kulsekera with left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.

England all-rounder Michael Yardy has quit the World Cup suffering from depression just days before the quarterfinal against co-hosts Sri Lanka.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Friday said that an unpredictable Pakistan could give his side the first real test in the World Cup and asked his bowlers to prepare for a tough outing in their Group B encounter on Saturday.

Pakistan's maverick paceman Shoaib Akhtar, whose colourful career has been a heady mix of on-field brilliance and off-field controversy, will quit international cricket after the World Cup.

Pakistan's maverick paceman Shoaib Akhtar, whose colourful career has been a heady mix of on-field brilliance and off-field controversy, will quit international cricket after the World Cup.

Remnants of Sri Lanka's defeated Tamil rebels are undergoing military training in India in a bid to revive their separatist campaign at home, the island's Prime Minister said on Thursday.

Pakistan held their nerves to pull off a stunning 11-run victory over title aspirants Sri Lanka in a nail-biting group A World Cup league match here on Saturday.
The Pakistani first posted a competitive 277 for seven, relying on half centuries by Misbah-ul-Haq (unbeaten 83) and Younis Khan (72) and then restricted Sri Lanka to

World Cup’s mix-up melodrama continues. Began at the India-Bangla opener, the latest episode took place here at Premadasa Stadium on Saturday and the stars were Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez, with the later going under the axe.

Sri Lanka batsman Chamara Silva has opted out of the co-host's World Cup opener against Canada on Sunday after the death of his sister, a team official said on Friday.