Cricket World Cup Group A

SRI LANKA + AUSTRALIA + PAKISTAN + NEW ZEALAND + ZIMBABWE + CANADA + KENYA

GROUP A FIXTURES
(9am GMT start unless stated)
20 Feb (4am) New Zealand v Kenya Chennai, Ind
20 Feb Sri Lanka v Canada Hambantota, SL
21 Feb Australia v Zimbabwe Ahmedabad, Ind
23 Feb Pakistan v Kenya Hambantota, SL
25 Feb (4am) New Zealand v Australia Nagpur, Ind
26 Feb Sri Lanka v Pakistan Colombo, SL
28 Feb (4am) Zimbabwe v Canada Nagpur, Ind
1 Mar Sri Lanka v Kenya Colombo, SL
3 Mar Pakistan v Canada Colombo, SL
4 Mar (4am) New Zealand v Zimbabwe Ahmedabad, Ind
5 Mar Sri Lanka v Australia Colombo, SL
7 Mar Kenya v Canada New Delhi, Ind
8 Mar Pakistan v New Zealand Kandy, SL
10 Mar Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe Kandy, SL
13 Mar (4am) New Zealand v Canada Mumbai, Ind
13 Mar Australia v Kenya Bangalore, Ind
14 Mar Pakistan v Zimbabwe Kandy, SL
16 Mar Australia v Canada Bangalore, Ind
18 Mar Sri Lanka v New Zealand Mumbai, Ind
19 Mar Pakistan v Australia Colombo, SL
20 Mar (4am) Zimbabwe v Kenya Kolkata, Ind

SRI LANKA
ICC World ranking: 3
Coach: Trevor Bayliss
Captain: Kumar Sangakkara
World Cup best: Winners 1996
Recent ODI series results:
Feb 2011 v West Indies (H) W2-0
Nov 2010 v Australia (A) W2-1
Aug 2010 beat India (H) in Final of Triangular Series (W3 L1 NR1)
Jun 2010 lost to India (H) in Final of Asia Cup (W3 L1)
Jun 2010 beat Zimbabwe (A) in Final of Triangular Series (W3 L2)
Warm-up matches:
12 Feb - beat Netherlands by 156 runs
15 Feb - beat West Indies by four wickets
Prediction: Semi finals
The last time that the World Cup was held on the subcontinent, Sri Lanka won it, shocking favourites Australia in the Final to win by seven wickets. Now, this talented and experienced Sri Lankan side feels the time is right for them to strike again.
Led by skipper Kumar Sangakkara, an athletic wicket-keeper, Sri Lanka will benefit from home advantage in the Group stage and an experienced bowling attack, spearheaded by the unorthodox Lasith Malinga and the outrageously talented Muttiah Muralitharan.
Now 38, this tournament surely represents Murali's last chance at claiming a second World Cup to add to the one won in 1996. Undoubtedly, it would be a fitting end to an outstanding career for the spinner who took his 800th and final Test wicket with the last ball of a Test match victory over India in July 2010.
Frustratingly for Sri Lanka and Murali, they had the chance of a second World Cup four years ago in 2007 but the team was second-best to Australia in the Final and, with 23 scalps, Murali finished as the second-highest wicket taker behind Aussie Glenn McGrath.
This time, Sri Lanka will be hoping to go one better, and the form guide suggests they could with recent series victories in Australia and over India in a Triangular tournament final. There is certainly no one that Sri Lanka will fear in this World Cup.

AUSTRALIA
ICC World ranking: 1
Coach: Tim Nielsen
Captain: Ricky Ponting
World Cup best: Winners 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007
Recent ODI series results:
Feb 2011 v England (H) W6-1
Nov 2010 v Sri Lanka (H) L1-2
Oct 2010 v India (A) L0-1
Jul 2010 v England (A) L2-3
Warm-up matches:
13 Feb - lost to India by 38 runs
15 Feb - lost to South Africa by seven wickets
Prediction: Semi finals
Australia arrive at the World Cup full of confidence after a 6-1 post-Ashes pummelling of injury-ravaged England in the ODI series and with a record in this tournament which is second to none.
The Aussies have won the World Cup on four previous occassions and the team is unbeaten in its last 29 matches, stretching back to 1999. The 12-year unbeaten run enabled Australia to win the tournament in 1999 despite a slow start in which they lost two of their opening three group games, famously reaching the Final after a tie in the semi-final against South Africa.
And 23 wins out of 23 since the 1999 Final against Pakistan confirmed Australia as the dominant force in cricket during the last decade with further Final wins against India in 2003 and Sri Lanka in 2007.
However, none of those tournament victories came on the subcontinent where Australia often find it tougher. The 1999 tournament was hosted by England, the 2003 edition was in Africa and the last World Cup was hosted by the West Indies. The most recent World Cup on the subcontinent was in 1996 when Sri Lanka caused an upset by beating the Aussies in the Final.
Of course, losing in the Final is no particular disgrace, and with opener Shane Watson back in the runs and captain Ricky Ponting having recovered from a broken finger, the Aussies could well reach the showpiece occasion for a fifth time in a row.
However, Mike Hussey is out with injury and the absence of Nathan Hauritz exasperates Australia's lack of spin options which can be a vital factor on the subcontinent. Also, the easy 6-1 win over a tired and demoralised England opposition still does not hide away the fact that Australia's air of invincibility has faded in recent years.
Since last summer, the Aussies have lost ODI series in England, India and against Sri Lanka at home. In the two warm-up matches, Australia were quite convincingly beaten by both India and South Africa. As such, a repeat of Australia's previous feats looks beyond this team - expect the unbeaten run to end sometime in the next six weeks.

PAKISTAN
ICC World ranking: 6
Coach: Waqar Younis
Captain: Shahid Afridi
World Cup best: Winners 1992
Recent ODI series results:
Feb 2011 v New Zealand (A) W3-2
Nov 2010 v South Africa (in UAE) L2-3
Sep 2010 v England (A) L2-3
Jun 2010 - finished third out of four in Asia Cup (W1 L2)
Warm-up matches:
15 Feb - beat Bangladesh by 89 runs
18 Feb - v England
Prediction: Quarter finals
Pakistan was meant to host 14 matches in this World Cup but that privilege was taken away in the wake of the attacks in Lahore on the touring Sri Lankan team in 2009.
Since then, Pakistani cricket has been further rocked by bans to former captain Salman Butt, and bowlers Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amin for spot-fixing on the 2010 tour of England.
Inevitably, all the negative press has had a detrimental effect on the team's efforts on the field although a good recent ODI series win in New Zealand suggests Shahid Afridi and his men are finally starting to turn the corner.
Certainly, Pakistan should have enough to avoid the embarrassment of going out in the First Round for a second successive World Cup. But the confidence of the side remains fragile and any more than a last-eight place would come as a surprise.

NEW ZEALAND
ICC World ranking: 7
Coach: John Wright
Captain: Daniel Vettori
World Cup best: Semi finals 1975, 1979, 1992, 1999, 2007
Recent ODI series results:
Feb 2010 v Pakistan (H) L2-3
Dec 2010 v India (A) L0-5
Oct 2010 v Bangladesh (A) L0-4
Aug 2010 v Sri Lanka/India - finished third (W1 L2 NR1)
Warm-up matches:
12 Feb - beat Ireland by 32 runs
16 Feb - lost to India by 117 runs
Prediction: Quarter finals
New Zealand normally produces a team greater than the sum of its parts but this year could be the exception. The Black Caps have reached five World Cup semi finals, winning many games against the odds, although the difficulty of doing this over and over again perhaps explains why the Kiwis have gone no further.
Even so, in the 1992 World Cup, then-New Zealand captain Martin Crowe was recognised as a great innovator in the One-Day game, opening with spinner Dipak Patel and employing the use of a pinch-hitter (a lower-order batsmen promoted to score quick runs).
The current skipper Daniel Vettori is also one of the most thoughtful in the game but his announcement of his retirement after this tournament demonstrates the general malaise currently affecting New Zealand cricket. Future hopes lie mainly with youthful fast bowler Tim Southee and big hitter Jesse Ryder.
Looking at the present day and recent form has not been good with the team suffering a 4-0 humbling in Bangladesh followed by a 3-2 home defeat to Pakistan. The Black Caps should still have enough to reach the knockout phase but progress beyond that stage would be a greater surprise than usual.

ZIMBABWE
ICC World ranking: 11
Coach: Alan Butcher
Captain: Elton Chigumbura
World Cup best: Super Six 1999, 2003
Recent ODI series results:
Dec 2010 v Bangladesh (A) L1-3
Oct 2010 v South Africa (A) L0-3
Sep 2010 v Ireland (H) W2-1
Jun 2010 lost to Sri Lanka (H) in Final of Triangular Series (W3 L2)
Warm-up matches:
6 Feb - beat Ireland by six wickets
8 Feb - beat Netherlands by 115 runs
12 Feb - lost to South Africa by eight wickets
15 Feb - lost to Ireland by four wickets
Prediction: First Round
Zimbabwe's policy of self-exclusion from Test cricket seems to have paid dividends. By rebuilding their team around youth and building their confidence by not exposing them to a series of hammerings, Zimbabwe can enter the World Cup this time and expect to perform credibly. There are even hopes that Zimbabwe will return to playing Test cricket soon after the World Cup.
Fans of Zimbabwean cricket will recall ventures to the Super Six stage in 1999 and 2003 (although the latter was aided by England refusing to play in Zimbabwe due to security concerns caused by Robert Mugabe's oppressive government).
But, in 2007,the team went down to heavy defeats to West Indies and Pakistan in the First Round after a tie with Ireland in their opening match. The tournament completed a woeful few years for Zimbabwe, far removed from the successes of the late 1990s when the team even appeared able to compete at Test level.
In 2004, then-captain Heath Streak had been sacked by the Zimbabwean cricket authorities, prompting a mass walkout and a series of results with a weakened side which could only be described as embarrassing. The results included consecutive innings defeats to South Africa and a two-day home Test defeat to New Zealand in which they were bowled out twice in a single day.
This series of embarrassments prompted a re-think which included a self-imposed suspension of the team at Test level. Since then, Zimbabwe has built a team based mainly in their early- to mid-20s with an emphasis of spin which should prove useful on the subcontinent. It still will not be enough to see Zimbabwe progress but the team will be expected to perform admirably and above the level of the Associate nations.

CANADA
ICC World ranking: not ranked
Coach: Pubudu Dassanayake
Captain: Ashish Bagai
World Cup best: First Round 1979, 2003, 2007
Recent ODI series results:
Sep 2010 v Ireland (H) D1-1
Jul 2010 - finished fifth out of six in ICC World Cricket Div One (W2 L4)
Warm-up matches:
6 Feb - beat Netherlands by four wickets
8 Feb - lost to Afghanistan by five wickets
12 Feb - lost to Bangladesh by nine wickets
16 Feb - lost to England by 16 runs
Prediction: First Round
Canada is perhaps the weakest of the Associate nations to have qualified after finishing fifth out of six in the 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division One. Of course, not much will be expected of Canada in this tournament though that is perhaps just as well, given their previous record at World Cup finals which reads as played 12, won one.
That sole victory came against a poor Bangladesh team in 2003 although big hitter John Davison then enjoyed a personal highlight by scoring a century against West Indies off 67 balls, the fastest in the World Cup at the time.
However, in that same tournament, the Canadians were bowled out for just 36 by Sri Lanka, and the chances are that the team has already had its high point of the whole campaign this time by restricting England to a measly 16-run win in a warm-up match this week.

KENYA
ICC World ranking: 13
Coach: Eldine Baptiste
Captain: Maurice Ouma
World Cup best: Semi finals 2003
Recent ODI series results:
Oct 2010 v Afghanistan (H) W2-1
Jul 2010 - finished bottom of ICC World Cricket Div One (W0 L6)
Warm-up matches:
6 Feb - beat Afghanistan by 49 runs
8 Feb - beat Ireland by three wickets
12 Feb - lost to West Indies by 61 runs
15 Feb - lost to Netherlands by two wickets
Prediction: First Round
Kenya burst onto the international cricket scene in 2003 after a surprising run to the World Cup semi finals, still the only non-Test playing nation to do this. On the way, the Kenyans beat Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and benefited from New Zealand's decision not to visit Nairobi over safety concerns.
However, the underdogs were well-beaten in the semi finals by India and their earlier victories actually proved to be detrimental in the long run, raising expectations from supporters and sponsors alike. A poor showing in an ODI quadrangular series against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe later in 2003 was followed by player strikes and a match-fixing ban for former captain Maurice Odumbe.
By 2005, Kenyan cricket was left without sponsors or any semblance of organisation, and the team returned to playing against fellow Associate nations. This process of rebuilding appeared to be working when Kenya hosted and won the ICC World Cricket Division One in 2007. But, three years later, Kenya suffered an annus horribilis, losing all of its matches in the same tournament in 2010.
There were also ignominious ODI defeats to Afghanistan and Uganda, and - most recently - a disastrous tour of India in early 2011 in which they lost all five to local sides. The tale of Kenya's cricket history naturally centres about the 2003 success but the team finished bottom of the group in the First Round in 2007 and 2011 may be a repeat of that, depending on the result of the Canada match.