Sports

KANDY, Sri Lanka, (Reuters) – Sri Lanka crushed  Zimbabwe by 139 runs to breeze into the quarter-finals but  Tillakaratne Dilshan, architect of the victory, narrowly missed  a rare milestone in the World Cup Group A match yesterday.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Cricket World Cup organisers  said yesterday that no changes had been made to security  arrangements after the Indian government’s warning of a possible  militant attack on the showpiece event.

By Tony Cozier At the ICC World Cup In CHANDIGARH They wore the maroon of the West Indies as team mates in nine One-Day Internationals in Sharjah and Australia in the mid-1990s but Ottis Gibson and Phil Simmons were in different colours and in different roles at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in the Mohali district of this northern Indian city today (overnight south Caribbean time).

It is Assad Fudadin’s strongest message to date since he became captain of the national cricket team.

The Athletics Association of Guyana will up the tempo at the National Youth and Junior Championships tomorrow and Sunday with the addition of senior invitational events at the Police Sports Club Ground, Eve Leary starting from 10:30 hrs.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – India can underline their  credentials as World Cup favourites with victory over South  Africa in Group B tomorrow — and convince their own fans who  are becoming increasingly jittery about their prospects.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Former Australia captains  Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh will join a review  panel charged with finding ways to make the national team more  competitive following their humbling Ashes defeat to bitter  rivals England.

MEMPHIS, (Reuters) – Carmelo Anthony redeemed  himself for a needless foul by sinking the winning basket with  under a second to play as the New York Knicks grabbed a 110-108  win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.

(Reuters) – Cricket World Cup Group A standings on  Thursday. P                           W        L       T       Nr    NET PR        PTS Sri Lanka*         5         3       1         0     1    2.705          7 New Zealand    4         3       1          0    0    1.848          6 Pakistan            4         3       1          0    0    0.760          6 Australia           3         2      0          0    1    1.813           5 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Zimbabwe        4    1    3    0    0           -0.690               2 Canada             4    1    3    0    0           -2.083               2 Kenya               4    0    4    0    0           -3.403               0 * Denotes qualified for the quarter-finals (top four qualify for the quarter-finals) Next fixtures: March 13 – Canada v New Zealand, Mumbai Australia v Kenya, Bangalore March 14 – Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Kandy March 16 – Australia v Canada, Bangalore – – – –

The 2011 rugby season will kick off this Sunday at the National Park Rugby Ground when the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) stages its traditional Banks DIH Sevens Tournament commencing with an opening ceremony at 10:30 hrs.

The GT&T 10/10 Softball Cricket competition continued last weekend at various venues around the country  with two brilliant performances in the Georgetown and West Coast Demerara zones.

A packed day of schools’ basketball is scheduled for the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall today as eight tournament games and free throw shootout competitions get the ball rolling on the inaugural YBG Challenge Series from 13:00 hours.

ZURICH, (Reuters) – FIFA is investigating six match  officials over possible match-fixing in two friendly  internationals in Turkey that produced a total of seven  penalties last month.

By Tony Cozier At the ICC World Cup In CHANDIGARH THE West Indies have gone into their three previous World Cup matches with Kemar Roach as their solitary fast bowler.

By Treiston Joseph Trinidad-based Guyanese and former 400 metres Schools National Champion Phillip Drayton will be looking to make good his debut at the Southern Games trials in Trinidad and Tobago on the March 13 at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella from 10:00 hrs.

The initial approach of the England Lions team will be to exploit the Guyanese batting weaknesses and put them under pressure, according to their head coach Mick Newell.

DELHI, India,  CMC – World Cup favourites India survived a brief scare before rolling over minnows Netherlands by five wickets to remain unbeaten and on top of Group B yesterday.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – Miami’s recent cold streak  continued on Tuesday as a 105-96 loss to the Portland Trail  Blazers sent the Heat to their season-worst fifth loss in a row.

KOLKATA, (Reuters) – JP Duminy agonisingly missed  out on his first World Cup hundred by a run but his sparkling  effort propelled South Africa into the quarter-finals with a  crushing 131-run win over Ireland yesterday.

The steering committee of the Berbice Table Tennis Sub-Association continues  its efforts to promote table tennis in the area with a two-day tournament for school children and those attending tertiary institutions in Berbice.