England and New Zealand know their first World Cup match today is the most important of the group and could shape the rest of the tournament.
"We're desperate to win it and set the standard for the tournament," New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said. "Looking at the Super 8s you've probably got to beat every side to win this tournament at some stage and if we beat England now, it may help in the long run."
England captain Michael Vaughan says he's ready to open the batting and field for 50 overs after recently returning from a hamstring problem that came after a year out with knee problems.
PHOTO: AFP
While he batted in both of England's warmup matches, he only fielded for a total 27 overs in the two games.
"Hopefully I'll prove on Friday that I can get through a game," Vaughan said. "I've trained every single day and I've had nothing go wrong with the hamstring and nothing go wrong with the knee and I'm just looking forward to playing cricket now."
"There is absolutely nothing to suggest I won't play a full part in this World Cup," he said.
New Zealand's curse of the injured finger spread to England on Wednesday, with seamer Jimmy Anderson fracturing the little finger of his right hand during catching practice. The England Cricket Board said scans confirmed the break and Anderson was due to be reassessed by medical staff yesterday.
Losing Anderson would be a blow as he and Flintoff are the two most experienced members of the England attack.
It makes selection for the seam bowlers a little easier though, with Liam Plunkett and Jon Lewis expected to start ahead of Sajid Mahmood. Left-arm spinner Monty Panesar is expected to be included.
New Zealand's Jacob Oram and Peter Fulton both have injured fingers. Oram broke his in January and jokingly suggested he'd get it amputated in order to play, but the splint isn't causing too many problems.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB