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This article was first published 13 years ago

Cup Extras: Bollywood cheers Team India in Nagpur

Last updated on: March 12, 2011 22:01 IST

Image: Bollywood stars Bipasha Basu (left) and Abhishek Bacchan watch the match between India and South Africa on Saturday
Photographs: Reuters

Bollywood stars, including Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu were on Saturday seen cheering the Indian cricket team during match against South Africa at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium at Jamtha in Nagpur.

Clad in a white shirt and blue jeans, Abhishek was seen holding the national flag along with Bipasha, dressed in blue, and screaming "Come on, India" at the stadium.

- Complete Coverage

The duo is starring in the upcoming film Dum Maro Dum. Daggubati Rana, who is making his foray into Hindi film industry with the film, was also spotted along with them.

ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat was also seen alongside Bipasha in the stands.

Dum Maro Dum is slated to hit the theatres next month.

Vivek Oberoi, who made a name for himself with gangster movies such as Company, Shoot Out at Lokhandwala and Rakta Charitra, was also seen cheering Team India.

Media slams England for its poor show

Image: Shafiful Islam and Mahmudullah of Bangladesh celebrate scoring the winning runs as Andrew Strauss of England holds his head in his hands
Photographs: Getty Images

British media on Saturday pulled up Andrew Strauss-led England cricket team for putting up a shoddy performance against the minnows Bangladesh which has left the squad at the brink of an early exit from World Cup.

"Crash, Bang, Walloped" is how The Sun termed the mauling which England received at the hands of the Bengal tigers.

England's hopes to lift the elusive World Cup title received a jolt yesterday after the team lost to Bangladesh in a closely-fought encounter in Chittagong, which saw fortunes swing from one team to the other before a rearguard action from Mahmudullah (21 not out) and Shafiul Islam (24 not out) saw the hosts home by two wickets.

Chasing a modest total of 226 to win, Bangladesh were going strong at 155 for three before Imrul Kayes's run out ignited a middle-order collapse which saw the hosts lose four wickets for just 11 runs before a watchful innings from Mahmudullah along with Shafiul helped them to stay alive in the quadrennial event.

"Today they seemed to put both parts of the game together and were bad with both. They are clearly feeling the effects of a pretty long winter and a fairly hefty training schedule," former England captain and commentator Michael Atherton told Sky Sports.

Images: Bangladesh rally to shock England

Emphasising on the fact that the team now needs to win its last league encounter against the West Indies, Daily Mail reported, "England today suffered a shock two-wicket defeat against Bangladesh and will almost certainly need to beat the West Indies in their final Group B match to avoid another early World Cup exit."

"Oh no! England's World Cup hopes hang in the balance as Bangladesh claim dramatic two-wicket win," read the headline of Daily Mail.

The newspaper also highlighted the English off-spinner Graeme Swann's confrontation with the host team's captain Shakib Al Hasan, while TV commentator David Lloyd apologized to viewers when a burst of foul language aimed at umpire Daryl Harper was picked up by the stump mic.

"England deal in drama once again as Bangladesh win by two wickets," wrote Guardian.

"To the delirium of a nation and the despair of England's increasingly grumpy cricketers, Bangladesh conjured a famous victory that throws Group B wide open yet again," is how the newspaper explained the lost to the minnows.

ICC's UDRS comes under scanner once again

Image: Ireland's Gary Wilson speaks to umpire after he was given out
Photographs: Getty Images

The ICC on Friday faced an embarrassing situation when the Umpire Decision Review System yet again came under the scanner after well-set Ireland batsman Gary Wilson fell victim to the system at a crucial stage of a group B World Cup match against West Indies in Mohali.

Chasing 276 for victory, Ireland were in with a great chance, placed at 199 for five in 41.3 overs with Wilson batting on 61 off 62 deliveries and giving him company was all-rounder Alex Cusack.

But the complexion of the match changed completely when Wilson was given out LBW to Sammy by an erring Sri Lankan umpire Ashoka De Silva, who has messed up his verdicts in this tournament a couple of times.

De Silva adjudged Wilson lbw to Sammy with a ball that struck the batsman outside the off and was moving in with the seam.

- Images: WI thump plucky Ireland

Not convinced with the decision, Wilson immediately went for the review and TV replays later showed that the batsman was struck on the pad outside the stumps while he was attempting a late cut and the ball was just about kissing the off stump.

The third umpire in-charge Bruce Oxenford of Australia too was not convinced that Wilson fell at the wrong side of the decision and left the verdict on on-field official De Silva.

Even though, De Silva did not change his mind, an agitated Wilson refused to leave the ground which forced the Sri Lankan umpire to again go back upstairs. But in the end, after a review of the review of the original call, the Irish right-hander was given out, which clearly brought UDRS again under the scanner.

Wilson's lbw dismissal did not go down well with Ireland skipper William Porterfiled, who said that the verdict eventually cost them the game.

"It cost us the match. The technology is supposed to eradicate mistakes, but in this case it didn't," a visibly upset Porterfield said in the post-match press conference.

"It was a pretty crucial decision. In my opinion they got it wrong. According to me, the UDRS was working so far but if you get decision like this I don't know," he added.

The controversial UDRS came under flak from the onset of the World Cup and as the tournament progressed the situation only became worse for the ICC.

Ironically, UDRS was at the receiving end on numerous occasions in this tournament, including India's matches against England and Ireland.

During the tied India-England Group B match at the same venue on February 27, on-field umpire Billy Bowden stuck to his decision of ruling England's Ian Bell not out for a leg before appeal against him by the Indian team when he was rapped on the pad by Yuvraj.

India called for a review of the decision and technology showed that the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps but for the pad coming in the way. But the point of impact was more than 2.5m from the stumps and the batsman stayed on as Bowden stuck to his original call.

Even batsman Bell felt he was out and started walking back to the dressing room before he was asked to come back to the crease and continue his innings, and the incident created a major furore with India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni going to the extent of criticising DRS and the International Cricket Council (ICC) for introducing it in the mega-event.

In the India-Ireland match also Irish batsman Alex Cusack was given out out LBW to Yuvraj Singh even though the point of impact of the ball on the pad was more than 2.5 metres from stumps.

Australian umpire Rod Tucker initially ruled Cusack not out off Yuvraj in the 44th over but after a review appeal by India, he reversed his decision and gave the batsman out though TV replays showed the point of impact at the pad would have been more than 2.5 meters from the stumps.

Cusack, the eighth Ireland batsman to be out and Yuvraj's fifth victim in the match, was well down the track, his backfoot nearly a foot outside the crease and his front foot also well down the track though HawkEye showed the ball would have hit off and middle at a comfortable height.

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