Australia and NZ battle for points, Pakistan and SA for survival

The last round of matches in Group B of the Women's World Cup may not contain the intrigue of those in Group A, but there's plenty at stake in Cuttack. Australia and New Zealand have already qualified for the Super Six, having won two games each, but the winner of their contest will carry forward more points to the next stage of the competition. The match between Pakistan and South Africa, however, is a knockout. The winner goes through, the loser plays for seventh place.

As a result, Australia and New Zealand had an intense training session at the DRIEMS Ground, as did Pakistan and South Africa at the Barabati Stadium, despite all four teams playing two games in the last three days. The Pakistan batsmen put their heads down and tried to block as many balls as they could, while the South African camp focused on catching drills. With good reason.

Pakistan scored only 188 runs for the loss of 20 wickets in their first two games against Australia and New Zealand, getting dismissed in 33.2 and 41.2 overs. South Africa dropped far too many catches, especially against New Zealand in their tournament opener, which ended in a 151-run defeat.

Though the South Africans put on a much better display against Australia, their death-over batting prevented them from achieving the second upset of the World Cup, after Sri Lanka shocked England in Group A. The improvement, however, left South Africa upbeat ahead of their contest against Pakistan.

"There are a lot of positive from those [two] games," former India captain Anjum Chopra, who is South Africa batting consultant, said. "We made a few silly errors against New Zealand and that cost us dearly. We came back and rectified those errors in the game against Australia. We would have liked to have the result going in our favour, which could well have been on the cards had we gotten about 30 to 40 runs more. We were about 144 at the end of 36 overs and we finished at 189, which is not very satisfying.

"If we start getting tighter and tighter and taking our chances, we can go through. Every game we have had to go out there and take more than 10 wickets [due to dropped catches], and in international cricket you can't be doing that every day."

The contest at the DRIEMS ground will be intense too. Rivals Australia and New Zealand have faced each other frequently in the past - six times since the beginning of 2012. Australia have the edge in terms of head-to-head contests, but New Zealand are tough opponents on current form.

"We have had two challenging matches against Pakistan and South Africa. It's good preparation," Alex Blackwell, Australia's vice-captain, said. "We've got to do few things better, particularly with our batting. Against New Zealand, we have got to get it all together.

"I am really impressed with what the New Zealanders are putting out, both with the bat and ball. They look like a very good all-round side. Players in form, Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine coming back into form and adding some guts to their batting, and Nicola Browne as well, so we've got to work out ways to get them out. We normally play on fast and bouncy wickets either back home or in New Zealand. But coming up against a very familiar opposition but in some challenging conditions [will be testing for both teams]."

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India not taking SL lightly in wide open group

Sri Lanka have never beaten India in women's cricket. They hadn't beaten defending champions England either, until three days ago. No wonder India captain Mithali Raj was wary of Sri Lanka going into their final group game of the tournament, especially given the flat pitch at Brabourne Stadium, which has produced big totals in all but one of six innings so far.

"Next game is a do-or-die game for us and we are not going to take Sri Lanka lightly," Raj said. "On such a wicket, especially, it could be anybody's game and they have done well against England."

Raj said India's unbeaten record against Sri Lanka wouldn't make any difference to their approach. "This is a World Cup. We definitely don't look down upon any team as such. So we are going to take them as another opponent that we need to win against to qualify for the Super Six. That's our aim now."

All four teams in Group A have a victory each. While the two sides that win on Tuesday - England play West Indies in Mumbai as well - will proceed to the Super Six, the final spot will go to the losing team with the better net run-rate. Sri Lanka's NRR nose-dived after their heavy defeat to West Indies, but their captain Shashikala Siriwardene was hoping to beat India so that her side wouldn't have to depend on the other game's result. Siriwardene also felt India's batsmen wouldn't be as big a headache as Stefanie Taylor and Co proved to be, given they don't have the powerful hitters West Indies did.

In all four games played so far in Mumbai, teams have bowled after winning the toss but of those sides, only Sri Lanka ended up victorious, that too, off the last ball against England. India lost to England after asking them to bat, but Raj said she would still choose to field, if given a fresh pitch.

Tuesday's game between India and Sri Lanka will be played under lights, just like the tournament opener between India and West Indies. The India bowlers got consistent movement, in the air and off the pitch, and the West Indians found batting difficult in the evening.

England captain Charlotte Edwards pointed out that difference between morning and afternoon starts, but Raj was clear what she would do.

"I will [have to] see if we are getting a fresh wicket. If it is the same condition I will still opt to field because the way Jhulan [Goswami] bowled in the first spell [against England], she was brilliant. So I wouldn't want any other pacer to get that kind of an edge so I will still go for fielding if we win the toss."

India had stuck early against England, but following a steady century partnership between Edwards and Sarah Taylor, they conceded too many runs in the latter half of the innings. Raj was hopeful of avoiding a repeat of that against Sri Lanka. "The kind of start the bowlers have given us, getting us the first breakthrough, I only hope that we don't give away too many runs in the Powerplay or in the last session.

"That's where I guess we were a little lost [against England] so probably that wouldn't be happening in the next game. In the last session we seemed a little lost in terms of bowling and [giving away] few boundaries. I guess we will try and minimise the boundaries."

To achieve that, India could take a look at the way England have tackled the benign conditions. "I think we have adapted well," Edwards said. "It is important that we bowl wicket-to-wicket stuff. That is something we have tried to talk about. Any width on these wickets is just a free hit."

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Mahmood, Hodge power Barisal to victory

Barisal Burners 148 for 3 (Hodge 63, Mahmood 52*) beat Khulna Royal Bengals 145 for 7 (Nafees 66, Mahmood 3-23) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Barisal Burners came out on top in the battle to avoid the bottom spot in the league, thanks to Azhar Mahmood's all-round performance. They crushed Khulna Royal Bengals by seven wickets to remain in contention for a top-four finish, while the Royal Bengals are more or less out of the race.

The Burners captain Brad Hodge made it an easy passage for his team. His 63 off 47 balls led the chase of 145. Hodge hit six fours and two sixes over long-on, using the pace of the bowlers whenever it was offered on a slow wicket, but mostly worked the angles to collect singles.

He added 93 for the third wicket with Azhar Mahmood, who was unbeaten on a 33-ball 52 with seven boundaries and a six. The experienced pair sensibly played out the dangerous Shapoor Zadran before attacking the rest of the bowlers, who looked insipid at most times. Hodge and Mahmood batted at more than 10 an over, making sure the target was reached in 17.5 overs.

Mahmood had success with the ball too, taking 3 for 23 to keep the Royal Bengals to a sub-150 score. After bowling tightly with the new ball, he picked up three wickets in his last two overs, including the top-scorer Shahriar Nafees. The three-wicket burst stifled the Royal Bengals in the final few overs.

Nafees had made 66 off 50 balls with nine boundaries, but never got support after Nazimuddin fell in the ninth over. Before his dismissal, Nazimuddin had blasted two boundaries and two sixes in his 30-ball 33, but after the opening partnership was broken, their foreign batsmen in the middle-order failed. Once Travis Birt, Daniel Harris and Riki Wessels were removed, the lower order hardly made an impression.

Apart from Mahmood, Alok Kapali and newcomer Farveez Maharoof took two wickets each.

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Watson's Test recall not guaranteed

Michael Clarke has warned his vice-captain Shane Watson that he faces much stiffer competition for a place in Australia's Test team by choosing to play as a batsman rather than an allrounder.

Watson will return to international cricket in Wednesday's ODI against West Indies in Canberra, ahead of the four-Test tour of India, having spent a month out of the game due to a calf injury that he aggravated during the Boxing Day Test.

For the time being Watson has decided not to bowl, as it has typically been bowling that has caused his many injury problems over the years. He is desperate to enjoy a sustained run in the national team instead of constantly battling niggles. Although he hopes to be in a position to start bowling again ahead of this year's Ashes tour, Watson will for the time being need to justify his place as a batsman only.

"I don't think anybody walks into the Australian cricket team. It's about performance, and the strength of Shane is that he's performed over a period of time, in all three forms of the game," Clarke said. "He's vice-captain of the team and it will be great to have Watto back.

"As I've said to Watto, while he's not bowling he goes into a much bigger pool of players ... the pool of batsmen is much bigger than the pool of allrounders in Australian cricket at the moment. But Shane knows if he's at his best, he's as good as any player in the world, let alone in the Australian team. Our goal as a team is to help Watto get back to his best."

On Monday night in Melbourne, Watson was named the Twenty20 International Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony, no surprise given his dominance with bat and ball at the World T20 in Sri Lanka last year. But it has also been an injury-plagued pair of summers for Watson, who missed all of the 2011-12 home Tests with calf and hamstring problems and managed only three of the six played this season.

His position in the batting order has also been variable: in November 2011 he was opening on the tour of South Africa, then he filled the No.3 spot for most of his appearances last year before slipping down into the No.4 space vacated by Ricky Ponting in December. Watson has spoken of his desire to return to the opening position in Test cricket at some point but he is aware that he needs to be happy with any spot available for him as a batsman only.

"At this point in time it is purely as a batsman and wherever I fit in," Watson said of his role in the Test side. "It's been something that I've been thinking about for a long period of time, especially over the last 12 months, when things haven't gone exactly to plan with my body. Hopefully I can just get some continuity with my batting over the next few months and then slowly build into getting some bowling under my belt.

"The perfect world for me would be making sure I'm able to bowl and contribute with the ball during the Ashes. I know that's looking a long way forward, but even just physically to be able to give myself a chance to get to that is a dream for me at the moment."

Over the course of Watson's career, he has played 38 Tests of a possible 89, the majority having been missed through injury, and his main goal now is to allow himself to pursue a period of stability. That begins with the remaining three ODIs against West Indies, his first matches back at the elite level after returning via grade cricket and a Ryobi Cup match for New South Wales last week.

"One of the hardest things about being injured is coming back and trying to find form as quick as you possibly can," Watson said. "Hopefully I can do that over the next couple of weeks leading into the Indian Test series. Then we'll see how things evolve from there. But I'm certainly not getting in front of myself because I know how quickly it can change.

"The times when I've had the most success playing for Australia has been when I've been able to play games back to back. That's been one of the most frustrating things about the past 12 months, it seems like a lot of the times when I've been playing I've been coming back from injury, which makes it difficult to be able to build some momentum and find some form and hold some form, which I've been able to do in the past."

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Pleased with team effort - Aguilleira

West Indies' captain Merissa Aguilleira was pleased with the all-round effort of her team, and especially the batting, after they routed Sri Lanka by 209 runs in their second match of the Women's World Cup at the MIG Ground in Mumbai. They were bowled out for 179 in their previous match at the Brabourne Stadium, and three days later, the team put up a total of 368 here.

"I must say this is a great example of a team effort," Aguilleira said. "The batsmen did extremely well leading us upfront. We had a lot of people getting into the act with the bat. After that we followed up with the ball also. I think it was an all-round performance."

The major contribution was Stafanie Taylor's knock of 171 and she almost carried her bat through the innings. Aguilleira said the team is always confident of putting up a big score when Taylor is in the middle.

"We cherish Stafanie because she is such a phenomenal player and whenever she bats we believe that we will be able to get runs. She is very dedicated and we look forward to seeing more such innings from her in the future."

Taylor, who crossed her previous best score of 147, said she wanted to score as many runs as possible and that the thought of scoring 200 had crossed her mind. "My aim was just to go out there and do my best and build an innings with the others. The coach wanted me to score 200 today but unfortunately I was tired. I was trying but I think fatigue got the best of me."

Shashikala Siriwardene, the Sri Lanka Women's captain, was particularly unhappy with the team's fielding, as they dropped catches, missed run-outs and gave away many runs in overthrows. "Our fielding let us down very badly. I am very disappointed with it," she said. "Eighty percent of the singles that they took shouldn't have been conceded."

Siriwardene had put West Indies in to bat in slightly hazy conditions. But the West Indies batsmen were hardly troubled by the bowlers, who did not get much assistance from the pitch. "At one point I felt that we should have batted first," she said. "We thought that there was something in the pitch for the bowlers, like the England match. But sometimes we make wrong decisions and we look to improvise."

West Indies struck a total of 34 fours and seven sixes, a majority of them hit by Taylor and Deandra Dottin. Apart from the toss and the fielding, Siriwardene said, one of the main differences in the two teams was the way the West Indies batsmen hit the ball hard. "We all know West Indies players use their power a lot. They can clear the fence at any time. Hopefully we won't have to face the same problem against India in our next match."

All four teams in Group A have now played two matches, and won one and lost one each, which means net run-rate will come into play. England will now take on West Indies and India will play Sri Lanka on February 5, which will decide which teams proceed to the Super Sixes.

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South Africa hit back after Stone's five

England U-19s 52 for 3 trail South Africa U-19s 228 (Orros 69, Stone 5-31) by 176 runs
Scorecard

South Africa's bowlers hit back with bat and ball against England on day one of the second Test, after a disastrous start in which they were reduced to 8 for 4 and then 54 for 6. Vassilli Orros' 69 sparked a recovery before a last-wicket stand of 79 took South Africa to a respectable 228 and the hosts then took early wickets to leave England on 52 for 3 at the close.

Kagiso Rabada, whose 46 batting at No. 11 was South Africa's second-top score, made the opening breakthrough before his last-wicket partner, Jan Frylinck, added another. From 7 for 2, England recovered through Dominic Sibley and Kishen Velani but the latter fell for 25 shortly before the close.

England losing their way managed to overshadow a fine performance with the ball by their captain, Oli Stone. The Northamptonshire quick took 5 for 31 from 21 overs as South Africa seemingly squandered the opportunity to bat first after winning the toss. Orros and Vincent Moore rescued the innings with a seventh-wicket partnership worth 91, which was eventually broken by England opener Jonathan Tattersall's legspin.

Tattersall ended up with 2 for 58 but he was hit out of the attack by Rabada, who collected five fours and a six before being bowled four short of a half-century by Ed Barnard.

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Hales keen to continue England rise

England received positive news on Stuart Broad and Luke Wright, despite another curtailed practice session ahead of their first warm-up match on Monday. Wright had hurt his hand while fielding on Saturday, while Broad has been recovering from a heel injury that saw him miss England's limited-overs commitments in India, but both are expected to be fit for selection against a New Zealand XI in Whangerei.

Rain again cut short England's opportunity to train but Wright was able to bat, and Broad bowled outdoors for the second time on tour. Broad, England's T20 captain, has not played competitively since the second Test between England and India at Mumbai in November and has had his boots specially modified to try and cure the injury to his problematic heel.

England will play New Zealand in three T20s, starting on Saturday. While several members of the squad have been on ODI duty during January, the likes of Wright, Michael Lumb and Alex Hales played T20 in Australia's Big Bash League after helping England to a 1-1 T20 draw against India before Christmas. Hales, who scored 56 and 42 in India, further signposted his talent with a stunning 89 from 52 balls for Melbourne Renegades after being flown in as a last-minute replacement for the injured Marlon Samuels.

"I'd have to say it would be up there, as one of my highlights," Hales said. "I was glad to get that Big Bash opportunity - it was a little bit unexpected. I'd literally jumped straight off the plane, and genuinely don't remember too much about it. But it's a very strong competition, with very good overseas players, and something I'd definitely like to do again."

Hales subsequently pulled out of a proposed stint in the Bangladesh Premier League, where Wright turned out for Dhaka Gladiators, and he had been barred from entering the IPL auction by his county, Nottinghamshire. But he is not confining his goals to T20 and further displays of destructive hitting could help further his claims for an ODI debut, despite England's plethora of options at the top of the order.

"Any chance you get on the Big Bash or international stage means you can stake a claim to play at the top level," he said. "I'm pleased I did that then. But I've still got a long way to go, and a lot of ambition in the rest of cricket. I'm happy with how I'm playing at the moment, still working hard with the management here and the people back at Nottinghamshire. I'm not going to rest on my laurels at all, and I'm hoping to put up a couple of good performances against these Kiwis."

"Any opportunity in an England shirt is a time to put pressure on the guys [ahead of you].I didn't expect to go [to India]. The top order in the ODI side is incredibly strong, and something I'm going to have to work really hard to try to break into."

Alongside England's preparations for the T20 series, a couple of names in the New Zealand XI squad will provide the fixture with added interest. Ross Taylor is likely to return to New Zealand colours for the first time since he was removed from the captaincy and opted out of touring South Africa, while the former Australia wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi, who has completed his qualification period, could take the next step on his journey towards resuming his international career with New Zealand.

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Watson to make ODI return

Shane Watson will try to regain his batting touch at international level after he was recalled to Australia's ODI team against the West Indies.

Recalled in place of Usman Khawaja, Watson is set to take part in the remainder of the series before departing for India as part of the last of three groups of Test players to journey to the subcontinent.

Since returning to the game as a non-bowling batsman following a calf injury, Watson has managed scores of 30 and a duck for Sutherland in Sydney grade cricket, while he also made a scratchy six for New South Wales against Western Australia in a domestic limited overs match at the SCG.

He will now be afforded the chance to bat in the third ODI on the exceedingly friendly Manuka Oval pitch, which gave up almost 650 runs when the West Indians played the Prime Minister's XI in their opening tour fixture last week.

In naming the squad for the ODIS, the national selectors also outlined how the India squad will depart, with Watson, the captain Michael Clarke, Xavier Doherty, Mitchell Starc, Phillip Hughes and Mitchell Johnson to miss the opening warm-up game in Chennai in order to take part in the remainder of the West Indies matches.

David Warner, Matthew Wade and Glenn Maxwell will fly out to India on February 9, in time to take part in the first tour match, joining the advance party of Jackson Bird, Ed Cowan, Moises Henriques, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Steve Smith, who are all slated to leave on February 7.

The 19-year-old West Australian spin bowler Ashton Agar was also included in a development capacity, after a trio of striking domestic displays since his debut for the Warriors against New South Wales at Blacktown Oval.

"[Agar] will be in India for the period 9-16 February and will play in the first warm-up fixture," the national selector John Inverarity said. "He will provide ideal practice for the batsmen in the lead-up to that first Test in Chennai.

"Last year we took Mitchell Starc to the West Indies to further his development and this is a similar opportunity for Ashton."

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Sana Mir regrets Pakistan Women's seclusion

For every tourist in Cuttack, a visit to the remains of the Barabati Fort and the Deer Park not very far from it, on the banks of the Mahanadi River, is a must. However, despite being based at walking distance from both, the Pakistan Women's team can't take a trip to either.

Not just because they are focused on making their presence felt at the ongoing Women's World Cup. It has more to do with security reasons, after tension on the Indo-Pak border in the lead-up to the tournament had put a question mark over their participation.

As a result, Pakistan has had to stay apart from the other three teams in their group, who are all put up in the same hotel in Cuttack's twin city of Bhubaneswar; Pakistan stay within the Barabati Stadium premises, at the adjoining Odisha Cricket Association Academy. On the upside, the academy's accommodation boasts facilities as good as any other hotel in town and the team doesn't have to take the one-hour bus ride to and from the stadium every day.

"Everything is good over here, but we wouldn't mind that [bus journey]," Pakistan captain Sana Mir told ESPNcricinfo after their training at the Barabati Stadium on Friday, the eve of their second group tie against New Zealand.

Mir, one of the senior most pros in the team, had a taste of Indian culture during the Asia Cup in 2006. Now, she feels for the "four to five girls who are visiting India for the first time". "It's a shame because the last time when I came to India, my image of India changed a lot," she said. "Despite the historic rivalry between the two countries, the people here were really amazing. And we took a lot of love back to Pakistan. And I just wanted this new generation of Pakistan girls to feel that love and warmth. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances, we can't have that."

Moreover, Mir and her team-mates are missing out on savouring the company of the other teams - the discussions about the game and the sampling of new cultures, which usually go with the territory of a big, global sporting event. "Our pool has wonderful teams like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. New Zealanders, especially, have been really friendly always," Mir said. "When we stay at the same hotel, we walk up to senior players and learn a lot from them.

"That has been taken away [this time around]. Hopefully we can sit together with them before the group stage finishes and we head off to the next stage."

In the first half of their tournament opener against formidable Australia on Thursday, Pakistan produced one of their best performances with the ball but then let themselves down with the bat. Mir is doing everything she can to keep their morale up after that mediocre showing with the bat; after the team trained for well over 90 minutes, the Pakistan captain gave them a long pep-talk.

"I just reminded them that it has been a long journey for this Pakistan team to come and play in this World Cup. We have tried hard and showed against Australia that we are capable of stretching any team. We just need to apply ourselves better with the bat and that's what the emphasis would be on against New Zealand tomorrow."

Their subcontinent counterparts Sri Lanka surprising England in Mumbai was encouraging for her team, Mir said: "We have a lot to draw from what they have achieved, it was great to see Sri Lanka beating England yesterday. Their victory and our performance with the ball has shown that the gap between the top four and the bottom four is reducing. We just hope we can narrow it down further going ahead in the tournament."

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'Fit and confident' Powell keen on IPL challenge

"I am confident because of my past performance and my current fitness. It is also about state of mind: 85% of cricket is played in your head." So says Ricardo Powell, the former West Indies batsman, who could possibly be the biggest left-field pick at the 2013 IPL auction.

"I know in terms of competing at the highest level it is just a matter of getting back in the arena. I have played 109 ODIs. I have seen a lot of cricket and I have played against some of the best players in the world and performed against them," Powell said, announcing himself and his credentials, on the eve of the auction. "I am still very fit and right now I am on top of my game in terms of intellect. I see no worries nor am concerned."

Powell played his last international match in 2006. A powerful hitter, Powell is now 34. He has never played any Twenty20 internationals. His reserve price at the auction is a handsome $50,000. All that makes Powell's name, listed in the second set of batsmen on the IPL auction list, a curious one; a stand-out in the crowd of 108 names.

Powell, who resides in Florida, is an itinerant cricketer who splits his time between his native Trinidad and the USA. So what drives him to pit himself against active, fitter and younger players? "I am still young enough to play cricket," Powell said. "What I want to do is play Twenty20 cricket and the IPL is one of the tournaments I would like to play."

This is his second time Powell has entered the auction. In 2011, he had put his name down on the auction list but pulled out after his son Ross, who was then two-years-old, was diagnosed with autism.

Powell keeps himself fit by playing competitive cricket for Queens Park Cricket Club in Trinidad, local clubs in the USA and he recently even played for the International World XI against the Pakistan All Star XI in Karachi.

"Here in the USA, we have a lot of former international players and Asian players who have played at the highest level, and it is mostly T20 tournaments. So there is a lot of competitive cricket played here," he said. "And that is one of the main reasons for me to travel back and forth to the Caribbean, to hone my skills."

Powell, who is also a cricket commentator-cum-analyst for ESPN in the Americas region, decided he could utilise his experience to succeed in Twenty20 cricket. Being wiser, Powell believes, is the one factor that keeps him above his competition. "I am more experienced. I can play a game in the middle with my head. I feel that is what is needed in Twenty20 cricket.

"A lot of people feel T20 cricket is a fast-paced game and you have to do things differently. But to me T20 is a shorter version of 50-overs cricket. A lot of people get carried away and panic in T20, which is not the right thing to do. You have to play each ball and not necessarily the overs. You have 20 overs, 120 balls. And if you look at that way, you have 120 balls and you can easily score 160-170 runs. That is the way I look at it: yes, I have the power and the ability to score quickly but it is also about playing smart. About 10 years ago everything was about hitting the ball out of the park, but now it is different. Twenty20 cricket is about playing smart more than anything else."

As a 20-year-old, Powell emerged as a raging talent after his quickfire 124 against India in the final of the Singapore Challenge in 1999. He had walked in when West Indies, chasing 254, were 67 for 4. But Powell bludgeoned the Indian bowling, with 84 runs coming in boundaries including nine massive sixes.

However, Powell remained inconsistent and over the years his talent waned. In 2006, he played the inaugural Stanford Twenty20 but remained in the shadow of youngsters like Kieron Pollard. The difference between his game then and now, he said, is the enjoyment factor: "I am enjoying playing cricket. That is the important thing. When I walked away from cricket in 2006, I was not enjoying it. Now I am very relaxed and focused in terms of what I want to do. And I have options."

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