Cricket | South Africa opens with World Cup win over Zimbabwe

South Africa’s Morne van Wyk

Another match, another easy win for one opponent over another at the Cricket World Cup.
A record-breaking partnership of 256 between David Miller and J.P. Duminy led South Africa to a 62-run win over Zimbabwe yesterday. The Proteas scored 339-4, led by Miller’s fast-paced innings of 138 off 92 balls, which included 30 runs off one over and a World Cup record nine sixes.
Duminy added an unbeaten 115.
On the opening day Saturday, four-time champion Australia beat England by 111 runs and co-host New Zealand defeated 1996 champion Sri Lanka by 98 runs.
Zimbabwe began its chase well in Hamilton but was all out for 277. Hamilton Masakadza scored 80 and combined with Chamu Chibhabha (64) in a 105-run stand to give Zimbabwe a chance, before South Africa spinner Imran Tahir (3-36) stifled the run chase.
In the most anticipated match yesterday, India was playing rival Pakistan at the sold-out Adelaide Oval. India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss with some positive history in his corner — defending champion India has won all five times the two teams have met in the World Cup back to 1992, and won the toss on four of those previous occasions.
Virat Kohli helped move India on its way toward a sixth, producing a big innings when it really counted to score 107 and guide India to 300-7 ahead of Pakistan’s reply later yesterday.
In the only match today, the West Indies will play Ireland at Nelson, New Zealand.
Captain William Porterfield has played in all three of Ireland’s World Cup campaigns and says that no one is likely to underestimate its ability to beat top eight teams.
The left-handed batsman was a member of Ireland teams that beat fourth-ranked Pakistan at the 2007 World Cup and England at the 2011 tournament and he says if Ireland was to beat the West Indies “I don’t think it will be a surprise. We’ve played enough cricket. There are not many teams that won’t know much about the 15 lads who are in our squad.”
Ireland beat Bangladesh in its final warmup match in Sydney while the West Indies lineup was fully stretched to beat Scotland by three runs.
The six-week tournament features 42 pool matches which will reduce the event from 14 teams to eight, then just seven more games which will whittle those eight teams to two for the March 29 final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Dennis Passa, AP Sports Writer, AP

Illegal betting | New Zealand police pounce on gamblers at World Cup opener

New Zealand police ejected several men from the opening match of the Cricket World Cup between New Zealand and Sri Lanka for what they suspect were prohibited betting activities.
At least one man was evicted from Hagley Oval on Saturday for “using his communication devices to provide match information to people outside this country,” an International Cricket Council spokesman confirmed to Fairfax Media.
Police said plainclothes officers mingled in the crowd of 17,000, on the lookout for “betting cheats” who were making excessive use of laptops or mobile phones. The operation was part of a crackdown on “courtsiding” or “pitchsiding,” in which gamblers take advantage of broadcasting delays to gain an advantage over sports bookmakers.
Fairfax Media said police observed a group for about 10 minutes, near the end of New Zealand’s innings, before detectives led the men away for questioning. They were taken to a police tent at the ground where they were interviewed before being ejected.
The ICC spokesman was quoted as saying, “We’ve got systems in place, and these systems are working. We’re dealing with the problem the best we can.”
Courtsiding is not illegal in New Zealand, but does breach terms under which spectators are permitted to attend games.
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said yesterday he was aware of the police operation, and was confident officials could control improper betting.