Ponting's on-field anger display continues
Australia dismissed Canada for 211 on Wednesday, eyeing a win that would take them to the top of their group as England mulled their bowling options ahead of their crunch West Indies tie.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: March 16, 2011 11:14 PM IST
Australia dismissed Canada for 211 on Wednesday, eyeing a win that would take them to the top of their group as England mulled their bowling options ahead of their crunch West Indies tie.
All four qualifiers from Group A are already decided with New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia safely through, but final positions are crucial because they determine opponents in the last eight.
Australia's fast bowlers were given plenty to think about before they dismissed non-Test nation Canada in Bangalore.
Teenage opener Hiral Patel took the attack to the quicks in fine style with a career-best 54 after Canada captain Ashish Bagai won the toss.
But Brett Lee took four for 46 to peg back the North Americans, who were bowled out with 26 balls to spare.
Canada, unable to reach the last eight, were well-placed at 150 for two but Australia then took five wickets for 19 runs.
Frustrated skipper Ricky Ponting, who appeared to be suffering from discomfort in the finger he broke during the Ashes, boiled over when both he and Steven Smith collided in going for a catch to dismiss Harvir Baidwan.
Ponting held the chance but flung the ball to the ground in fury.
A win over minnows Canada, who have endured a miserable campaign, would give Australia nine points and extend an unbeaten run that now stretches all the way back to 1999 -- 33 matches in all.
Ponting's men round off their Group A campaign against Pakistan in Colombo on Saturday in what is expected to be their first major test of their Cup credentials.
Meanwhile, England face a do-or-die clash with the West Indies on Thursday and were agonising over whether to stick with misfiring strike bowler James Anderson as their World Cup date with destiny approached.
Andrew Strauss's Ashes winners must win the match in Chennai to have a chance of reaching the quarter-finals, although they will still need other results to go their way.
Defeat would spell the end of a World Cup campaign that has already seen them suffer shock losses to both Ireland and Bangladesh.
One major problem for England has been the form of Ashes spearhead Anderson, whose four wickets have cost 282 runs at an average of more than 70 apiece.
"Jimmy has had a tough time in some of the games in the World Cup so far but we all know what a qualify performer he is," said England captain Strauss, who returned to training on Wednesday after a bout of illness.
"He has done it for us over and over again during the course of the winter and previously. So his name is very much in the mix for selection."
Fast bowler Ajmal Shahzad became the latest player, after Strauss and off-spinner Graeme Swann, to succumb to illness.
Strauss said he hoped the make-or-break nature of Thursday's contest would see England raise their game.
"We have done well in big matches over the last couple of years. The equation is very simple and this isn't a time to go into our shells -- we have to got out there and take the West Indies team on.
"We've lost two games we shouldn't have lost. We've put ourselves in this situation, which is disappointing. We're not going to hide away from that."
Strauss maintained England could yet go on to win what would be a first World Cup title.