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Watson a winner at six - Warne

 Shane Warne believes Australia "stumbled on" their best batting order for the World Cup in their victory over Sri Lanka, and also thinks Shane Watson's move to the middle order will allow the allrounder to let go of his earlier apprehension and simply hit the ball.

Watson was dropped from the Australia XI to face Afghanistan in Perth and took his omission with good grace. But a dry SCG pitch compelled the selectors to recall him in a different role, and Warne reckoned the new balance of the team, with Steven Smith at No. 3, the captain Michael Clarke at No. 4 followed by Watson and Glenn Maxwell, would go a long way to helping Australia lift the trophy.

"I think the way it's panned out Australia have stumbled on their best side," Warne told SEN Radio. "Shane Watson wasn't making any runs at three, Mitchell Marsh was doing ok but he's still young and inexperienced but a wonderful talent. He got hit a bit against Afghanistan in Perth and looking at that wicket in Sydney they wanted a bit more experience and I could see that selection.

"If Watson comes in at six, with Warner and Finch at the top they go off and hopefully get quick runs, and then you've got Smith and Clarke for that control and to lay a foundation or platform for Watson, Maxwell, Faulkner and Haddin to come. If the guys play well we're going to be posting such big scores and then we've got so many matchwinners with the ball too."

Warne has been close to Watson since they played together for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, where as captain Warne oversaw Watson's emergence as a dominant force in the competition. A highly self-critical character, Watson played with a weight lifted off his shoulders at the SCG, and Warne said it appeared the allrounder had gone through a phase of introspection and simply concluded he had to attack the bowlers.

"Of late he's frustrated us a little bit and by his own admission he's been disappointed with his own form too, and it's not as though he's not putting in the work," Warne said. "Sometimes in cricket or sport in general when you go through a little form slump ... sometimes we complicate it in this modern era because there are too many coaches around.

"Don't get me wrong, I think coaches have a role to play in juniors and first-class ranks, but when you get to the top of your sport, you haven't got there because you've been coached well, you get there because of your ability and the way you think.

"So when you're out of form it's all about the way you think. You're looking for this secret thing to get back in form and everyone looks at technique. You start trying all these different things, no success comes and then you think 'you know what, stuff this, I'm just going to go out there and hit the ball'. That takes time.

"Take a step back, take a deep breath and think what is my role and what do I have to do. Work it out for yourself rather than everyone telling you. It just comes down to the way you think about it and being aggressive. Once you become aggressive in your mind about it, that's when you can achieve good things. It's amazing you have a bit more luck too when you're aggressive."

At his best, Watson was feared by bowlers for his destructive capability, and Warne's words echoed the sort of mindset evident at the SCG.

Cricket: David Warner's Six Hurts Child Outside Boundary

New Zealand edge Australia in low-scoring thriller

Sat, Feb 28 2015 by Vishaal Loganathan 

Last updated on Saturday, 28 February, 2015, 07:24 AM

Pat Cummins and Kane Williamson - Contrasting emotions © Getty

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has been screaming hoarse for a thriller involving two of the top teams, and co-hosts New Zealand and Australia served up a game for the ages at Eden Park in Auckland. Everything one needed to know about why the Trans-Tasman rivalry is such a huge encounter was on view today. If Trent Boult's (5/27) spell to wipe out Australia's middle order was the stuff of dreams, you would run out of adjectives to describe Mitchell Starc's (6/28) display to get his side ever so close. Eventually, it turned out to be Kane Williamson's calmness and sense of occasion that helped New Zealand clinch their fourth win of the World Cup. They ended up sneaking through by one wicket.

Australia's and New Zealand's innings were eerily similar. Australia had made a solid start, getting to 80/1 before a Trent Boult-inspired New Zealand ran amok and bowled them out for 151. In reply, New Zealand found themselves comfortably placed at 78/1, riding on Brendon McCullum's quickfire fifty, before Mitchell Starc came to the party with a stunning spell and almost helped Australia snatch victory.

Any indications that today's game, played in front of 42,000 noisy fans mostly cheering for home team New Zealand, would only feature a total of 55.3 overs and 303 runs were non-evident at the start. Australia made a fine start after opting to bat first. The Black Caps' hero from the game against England, Tim Southee came for some special treatment from the Aussies early in the game. However, he pulled things back with the wicket of Aaron Finch, bowled by a brilliant inswinger. Warner and Shane Watson then got together and put on 50 runs for the 2nd wicket.

Vettori struck next to end the 50-run association between Warner and Watson, with the latter's attempted slog ending up in Southee's hands at deep mid-wicket. That turned out to be the button Australia desperately wouldn't have wanted pushed. It was all New Zealand from there on, and in some style.
Southee struck off the very next delivery, getting Warner out LBW for 34, while Vettori added another wicket to his name by getting Steven Smith out caught behind for four. In a masterstroke, Brendon

McCullum brought on Trent Boult for his second spell, and the left-hander left Australia bedazzled with a stunning display. Four deliveries later, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh were back in the pavilion and in similar fashion - inside edging a cut onto the stumps. As the crowd got more boisterous with each wicket, so did New Zealand's vice-like grip on Australia's scoring.

Michael Clarke, whose return to the side could not have gotten off to a rougher start, became Boult's third victim after adding just seven runs for the seventh wicket. Boult completed his five-wicket haul in his next over, getting Mitchell Johnson out caught for one before sending Mitchell Starc's middle-stump cartwheeling with a corker. From a promising 80/1, Australia had slumped to 106/9, losing their last 8 wickets for a mere 26 runs.

Brad Haddin and Pat Cummins combined to stitch the second highest partnership of the innings, scoring 45 off 61 balls, to help their side eke past the 150-run mark. The wicket-keeper added 43 off 41 deliveries towards the fag end of the innings, slamming four fours and two sixes, before being out caught off Corey Anderson in the 33rd over. Australia had folded for 151.

The 10th-wicket stand almost turned out to a match-winning one for Australia as Mitchell Starc bowled a hostile spell to leave NZ in serious danger. The Black Caps looked comfortable favourites when Brendon McCullum continued from where he left off against England and slammed a 21-ball fifty. From 78/1 in the eighth over, New Zealand suffered a collapse almost as calamitous as Australia's.

McCullum, Ross Taylor and Grant Elliot departed within the space of five deliveries, with Starc accounting for the latter two off consecutive balls. Corey Anderson and Kane Williamson stemmed the rot with a patient stand that saw New Zealand get to within 20 runs of Australia's total. However, Australia found an unlikely breakthrough thanks to Glenn Maxwell and before his rivals knew it, Starc was all over New Zealand.
Luke Ronchi was stunned with a vicious bouncer, while Adam Milne and Tim Southee found no answer to full length deliveries that shattered the stumps. From 131/4, New Zealand had limped to 146/9 and with Starc in the middle of the spell of his life, Australia had the chance wrap up a famous win. Trent Boult somehow saw off the two remaining Starc deliveries, giving Williamson an over from Pat Cummins to try and finish the game off.

All Williamson needed was the one delivery, as he stylishly lifted Cummins for a six over long-on to seal New Zealand's first win over Australia in World Cups in 16 years. The contest was a rivetting one, and fittingly both teams walked off the field to a rousing ovation from the packed house.

War is on: Green shirts to target senior Indian batsmen

At the 4th match of the world cup schedule, the most expecting match will be held. In this match India will played against Pakistan from Pool B in Group stage. This is the first match for both teams in 2015 world cup.The matches will shown on TV at 9:00 AM IST and 9:30 BST and start at 3:00 GMT.

Cricket World Cup 2015: Steven Finn Takes Hat-Trick Against Australia

Steven Finn became the first England bowler to take a World Cup hat-trick with wickets off the final three balls of Australia's 342-9 in Mebourne. 

Finn removed Brad Haddin, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson to deny Australia an MCG record total of 344. He finished with figures of 5-71, the second most expensive five-wicket haul in one-day history. "A fortuitous and unheralded hat-trick," said ex-England spinner Graeme Swann. "He seemed embarrassed by it." Finn's hat-trick in England's tournament opener against co-hosts Australia was the eighth in World Cup .

World Cup hat-tricks

Player	Match	Year

Chetan Sharma	India v New Zealand	1987
Saqlain Mushtaq	Pakistan v Zimbabwe	1999
Chaminder Vaas	Sri Lanka v Bangladesh	2003
Brett Lee	Australia v Kenya	2003
Lasith Malinga	Sri Lanka v South Africa	2007
Kemar Roach	West Indies v Netherlands	2011
Lasith Malinga	Sri Lanka v Kenya	2011
Steven Finn	England v Australia	2015

کرکٹ ورلڈ کپ2015کا پہلا دن۔۔۔۔پہلے سنچری، پھر ہیٹ ٹرک

میلبورن: ورلڈ کپ 2015 کا آغاز ہی سنسنی خیز انداز میں ہوا ہے اور دوسرے ہی میچ میں سنچری اسکور ہونے کے ساتھ ساتھ ہیٹ ٹرک بھی ہو گئی۔

میلبورن میں کھیلے جا رہے میچ میں آسٹریلیا نے انگلینڈ کی دعوت پر بیٹنگ کی تو ایرون فنچ نے شاندار بلے بازی کا مظاہرہ کرتے ہوئے ایونٹ میں اپنی ٹیم کے افتتاحی میچ میں ہی سنچری اسکور کر دی۔

فنچ نے 12 چوکوں اور تین چھکوں کی مدد سے 135 رنز کی خوبصورت اننگز تراشی، یہ ورلڈ کپ میں کسی بھی اسٹریلین بلے باز کی انگلینڈ کےخلاف پہلی سنچری ہے۔

آسٹریلیا نے ان کی سنچری کی بدولت 342 رنز بنائے لیکن اس اننگ کی خوبی صرف فنچ کی سنچری نہیں بلکہ انگلش باؤلر اسٹیون فن نے وہ کارنامہ دکھا دیا جو کسی بھی باؤلر کا خواب ہوتا ہے۔

فن نے ورلڈ کپ کے دوسرے ہی میچ میں آسٹریلیا جیسی مضبوط ٹیم کے خلاف ہیٹ اسکور کی۔

انہوں نے اننگ کے 50ویں اور آخری اوور کی آخری تین گیندوں پر بریڈ ہیڈن، گلین میکس ویل اور پھر مچل جانسن کی وکٹیں حاصل کر کے ورلڈ کپ میں ہیٹ ٹرک کرنے کا اعزاز حاصل کیا۔

فن نے ہیٹ ٹرک سمیت میچ میں پانچ وکٹیں حاصل کیں لیکن ساتھ ساتھ دس اوورز کے کوٹے میں 71 رنز کی پٹائی بھی برداشت کی۔