CRICKET WORLD CUP
Group A preview - Group B preview - Results sheet
Group update - Group review - Quarter finals - Semi finals - FINAL
GROUP A RESULTS
Group update - Group review - Quarter finals - Semi finals - FINAL
ENGLAND got their faltering World Cup campaign back on track with a straightforward 119-run win over minnows Scotland in Christchurch.
Moeen Ali struck 128 off 107 balls as part of a record opening stand of 172 with Ian Bell as Peter Moores' under-pressure side belatedly enjoyed their first success of the tournament.
Earlier, England had been well-beaten by both co-hosts, Australia and New Zealand, as they briefly sank to the bottom of Group A.
The match on the opening night against the Aussies began well enough as England reduced the home side to 70-3.
But, in front of a packed out Melbourne Cricket Ground, Aaron Finch put the Baggy Greens in the driving seat with a 135 before Mitchell Marsh produced the goods with the ball, taking 5-33.
Yes, it was not Mitchell Johnson but rather his namesake Marsh who did the most damage with only James Taylor offering significant resistance.
Indeed, Notts batsman Taylor made an unbeaten 98 and was unfairly denied the chance of a century after last man James Anderson was run out off a dead ball.
The ball had become dead after Taylor was adjudged to have been trapped lbw before overturning the decision on review.
It was a bizarre conclusion to a slightly bizarre match in which Steven Finn became the first Englishman to take a World Cup hat-trick to finish with figures of 5-71.
Finn took three wickets off the final three balls of the Aussie innings, all from miscued shots to catches in the deep, as Darren Lehmann's side - in typical style - looked to pulverise their opponents.
But, ultimately, their score of 342 was more than enough as England were bowled out in 41.5 overs.
Amazingly, England's next match - against New Zealand - lasted little more than that length of time in its entirety.
Winning the toss again, but this time opting to bat, England crumbled to the swing of Tim Southee as he became the first New Zealander, and only the fourth man ever, to take seven wickets in a World Cup match.
Southee ended up taking 7-33 as England were 123 all out in just 33.2 overs. Losing their final seven wickets for just 19 runs, it was a lower score even than Scotland had managed in the Black Caps' previous match.
In that game, Brendon McCullum's men only just got over the line, winning by three wickets in Dunedin - but McCullum himself was to ensure this contest would remain thoroughly one-sided throughout.
The Kiwi skipper broke his own World Cup record with a half-century in 18 balls beating his previous marker of 20 from 2007.
And, after scoring four successive sixes off the bowling of Finn (0-49 off two overs), McCullum was eventually out to Chris Woakes for 77 off just 25 deliveries.
Woakes then made another quick blow to dismiss Martin Guptill - and New Zealand, by then requiring just 12 more runs, were forced by the vagaries of cricket rules to take a scheduled 45-minute break.
Nevertheless, Woakes's efforts were far too little too late as Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor saw the co-hosts home inside 13 overs. Altogether, Wellington had seen less than half a game.
It was indeed a crushing defeat, perhaps England's worst, with BBC correspondent Jonathan Agnew being kind in describing it as the "most one-sided international match" he had ever seen.
Most commentators were far more scathing than that, with former captain Michael Vaughan suggesting on Twitter that the match against Scotland had become an "even money contest".
Ultimately, it was nothing of the sort as England enjoyed their largest World Cup victory margin by runs since beating East Africa by 196 runs at Birmingham in 1975.
Even still, there were areas for huge improvement. England, having built up that big opening stand of 172, lost eight wickets and managed only 131 runs in the final 20 overs.
As the Scottish openers took to the crease, memories of Ireland successfully chasing down 327 four years ago threatened to return to haunt England.
But, once captain Preston Mommsen and Kyle Coetzer departed in successive overs, the Scots were never really in the chase.
Indeed, the Saltires have now lost every single one of their 10 World Cup games across three tournaments.
And they now must look to their next game against Afghanistan on Wednesday or perhaps exactly a week later against Bangladesh to break their duck.
The Bangladeshis, though, could be a tough proposition as they have their tails up without even playing after gaining an unexpected point in their match against Australia in Brisbane.
Torrential rain from a cyclone off the Queensland coast caused only the second ever complete abandonment of a World Cup match.
Instead, it is looking more and more as if England v Bangladesh on 9 March will effectively become a fourth-place playoff for the final qualifying spot in Group A, behind New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka.
Group B is less straightforward as a result of Ireland yet again proving their World Cup worth after they easily chased down West Indies' total of 304 to win by four wickets in Nelson.
It was Ireland's fourth win over a Test-playing nation at World Cups following victories over Pakistan and Bangladesh in 2007, and - as mentioned above - England in 2011.
Moreover, of the five successful World Cup chases in excess of 300, three of them have been by the indefatigable Irish.
Following this most recent success, legendary West Indies bowler Michael Holding rightly called for William Porterfield's men to be given Test status immediately - and so they should, at least on a trial basis.
Following this most recent success, legendary West Indies bowler Michael Holding rightly called for William Porterfield's men to be given Test status immediately - and so they should, at least on a trial basis.
After all, what exactly have the governing body, the ICC, got to lose by expanding the game, especially in a place where the seeds of success have already been sown?
Back to Group B, and West Indies therefore did remarkably well to bounce back from the Ireland defeat with a convincing 150-run thumping of Pakistan.
That defeat for Pakistan leaves them rock-bottom of Group B with two defeats out of two after they lost a sixth World Cup match out of six against India on the opening weekend in Adelaide.
The game against India was the most watched cricket match of all time with an estimated television audience of one billion.
But, after Virat Kohli's 107 and Mohammed Shami's 4-35, it was the same old story for Pakistan who - like England - must now rely on turning their form around against the minnows.
By contrast, holders India - who arrived at the tournament in terrible form - now already have one foot in the quarter finals after carrying the momentum from the Pakistan win into their match against South Africa.
The Proteas - who had won their opening match against Zimbabwe comfortably enough - collapsed from 108-2 to 177 all out to lose by 130 runs after India's Shikhar Dhawan provided scoreboard pressure with a 137.
It leaves the Group B table looking good for India who are clear at the top on four points. Ireland are the only other unbeaten team in the section - but, having played just once, they are one of a clutch of four teams on two points.
UAE and Pakistan bring up the rear on zero points - with Ireland playing the former in an eminently winnable game on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, England are next in action at 10pm on Saturday night British-time against Sri Lanka.
GROUP A RESULTS
| Date | Venue | Result |
| 13 Feb 22:00 | Christchurch NZ | NEW ZEALAND 331-6 beat SRI LANKA 233 46.1 by 98 runs |
| 14 Feb 03:30 | Melbourne Aus | AUSTRALIA 342-9 beat ENGLAND 231 41.5 by 111 runs |
| 16 Feb 22:00 | Dunedin NZ | NEW ZEALAND 146-7 24.5 beat SCOTLAND 142 36.2 by 3 wkts |
| 18 Feb 03:30 | Canberra Aus | BANGLADESH 267 beat AFGHANISTAN 162 42.5 by 105 runs |
| 20 Feb 01:00 | Wellington NZ | NEW ZEALAND 125-2 12.2 beat ENGLAND 123 33.2 by 8 wickets |
| 21 Feb 03:30 | Brisbane Aus | AUSTRALIA N/R BANGLADESH - match abandoned (rain) |
| 21 Feb 22:00 | Dunedin NZ | SRI LANKA 236-6 48.2 beat AFGHANISTAN 232 49.4 by 4 wickets |
| 22 Feb 22:00 | Christchurch NZ | ENGLAND 303-8 beat SCOTLAND 184 42.2 by 119 runs |
| GROUP A | W | L | NR Tie | Run rate | Pts |
| NEW ZEALAND | 3 | 0 | 0 | +3.59 | 6 |
| AUSTRALIA | 1 | 0 | 1 | +2.22 | 3 |
| BANGLADESH | 1 | 0 | 1 | +2.10 | 3 |
| SRI LANKA | 1 | 1 | 0 | -0.86 | 2 |
| ENGLAND | 1 | 2 | 0 | -1.42 | 2 |
| AFGHANISTAN | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1.18 | 0 |
| SCOTLAND | 0 | 2 | 0 | -2.74 | 0 |
GROUP B RESULTS
| Date | Venue | Result |
| 15 Feb 01:00 | Hamilton NZ | SOUTH AFRICA 339-4 beat ZIMBABWE 277 48.2 by 62 runs |
| 15 Feb 03:30 | Adelaide Aus | INDIA 300-7 beat PAKISTAN 224 47 by 76 runs |
| 15 Feb 22:00 | Nelson NZ | IRELAND 307-6 45.5 beat WEST INDIES 304-7 by four wickets |
| 18 Feb 22:00 | Nelson NZ | ZIMBABWE 286-6 48 beat UAE 285-7 by four wickets |
| 20 Feb 22:00 | Christchurch NZ | WEST INDIES 310-6 beat PAKISTAN 160 39 by 150 runs |
| 22 Feb 03:30 | Melbourne Aus | INDIA 307-7 beat SOUTH AFRICA 177 40.2 by 130 runs |
| GROUP B | W | L | NR Tie | Run rate | Pts |
| INDIA | 2 | 0 | 0 | +2.06 | 4 |
| WEST INDIES | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1.27 | 2 |
| IRELAND | 1 | 0 | 0 | +0.62 | 2 |
| ZIMBABWE | 1 | 1 | 0 | -0.49 | 2 |
| SOUTH AFRICA | 1 | 1 | 0 | -0.68 | 2 |
| UAE | 0 | 1 | 0 | -0.26 | 0 |
| PAKISTAN | 0 | 2 | 0 | -2.26 | 0 |
LIST OF CENTURY MAKERS
138* David Miller (South Africa) off 92 balls v Zimbabwe in Hamilton
137 Shikhar Dhawan (India) off 146 balls v South Africa in Melbourne
135 Aaron Finch (Australia) off 128 balls v England in Melbourne
128 Moeen Ali (England) off 107 balls v Scotland in Christchurch
115* JP Duminy (South Africa) off 100 balls v Zimbabwe in Hamilton
107 Virat Kohli (India) off 126 balls v Pakistan in Adelaide
102 Lendl Simmons (West Indies) off 84 balls v Ireland in Nelson
100 Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) off 120 balls v Afghanistan in Dunedin
LIST OF FIVE-FERS
7-33 Tim Southee (New Zealand) v England in Wellington
5-33 Mitchell Marsh (Australia) v England in Melbourne
5-55 Sohail Khan (Pakistan) v India in Adelaide
5-71 Steven Finn (England) v Australia in Melbourne
