The people that travelled through the hills to watch the first one-day international in Pallekele witnessed a Pakistan team in shambles: they saw a glut of extras, three dropped catches, the worst possible display of end-over bowling, and a batting implosion from a shell-shocked team. They also...

New Zealand secured a surprise ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final berth with a thrilling 49-run victory over South Africa in Dhaka on Friday. The Black Caps were first thankful to Jesse Ryder (83) and Ross Taylor (43), who rescued them from 16 for two at one stage and helped them post 221 for...

Muttiah Muralitharan's swansong appearance on home soil could not have been better as he scalped a wicket of his last ball in the ICC CWC semi-final. Muralitharan had Scott Styris LBW off the final ball of his 10th over to finish with two for 42 after earlier dismissing Jesse Ryder for 19...

Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 5 wickets to reach the final of the 2011 ICC World Cup. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara scored half-centuries to provide stability to Sri Lankan innings in the middle.

BANGALORE ROYAL CHALLENGERS Key batsmen: AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Tillakaratne Dilshan Key bowlers: Zaheer Khan, Dirk Nannes, Daniel Vettori Best: Runners-up, 2009 Last year: Third Chances: Any team with De Villiers and Dilshan, whose stock rose as he finished top runscorer in...