Kemar Roach

West Indies defeated Netherlands by 215 runs to win their first match in the tournament in a Group B match at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. West Indies had scored 330/8 in 50 overs.  For the Windies Devon Smith (53) and Chris Gayle (80) put a 100 run opening stand, after which Darren bravo(30) , Ramnaresh Sarwan(49) and Kieron Pollard (60) added to West Indies’ score of 330. Pieter Seelaar was the most successful bowler for Netherlands with 3 wickets in 10 overs giving away 45 runs. Netherlands were literally unable to resist the Windies bowling attack except for Tom Cooper who scored 55 runs off 72 balls.

Kemar Roach was awarded the Man of the Match award for his six wicket haul which included a hat trick of the last three deliveries of the match. This was the sixth hat trick in any World Cup and second of the last three deliveries of the match. The first such a hat trick of the last three deliveries was taken by Brett Lee in the 2003 World Cup.

On the other hand Zimbabwe who were taking on Canada at the Vidharba Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur had won the toss and decided to bat first. The Zimbabwean team put on 298 runs in 50 overs. Tatenda Taibu (98) and Craig Ervine (85) were the most successful batsmen from the Zimbabwean team. Balaji Rao was the most successful bowler from Canada with 4 wickets in 10 overs giving away 57 runs.

Canada fell short of the target by a gap of 175 runs as they managed 123 runs in 42.1 overs before getting all out. Tatenda Taibu was awarded the Man of the Match award for his brilliant 98 run innings.

In an interview to ESPN- Star sports Taibu said that his association with the KKR had helped him to grow as a batsman. He further said that he had learnt a lot from great players like Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting while sharing the dressing room with them. Finally he said he would meet Dada whenever he visits Kolkata.

Meanwhile the ICC has announced its development programme awards for the year 2010. The winners of the Pepsi ICC Development Programme Awards 2010 are enlisted below:

Best Overall Cricket Development Programme – Cricket Scotland

Best Women’s Cricket Initiative – Japan Cricket Association

Best Junior Participation Initiative – Cricket PNG

Best Cricket Promotion and Marketing Programme – Cricket PNG and Cricket Ireland

Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative – Suriname Cricket Association

Photo of the Year – Bermuda Cricket Board (Fiona Holmes)

Volunteer of the Year – Neil Saint (France)

Lifetime Service Award – Mazhar Khan (UAE)

Prizes – the national cricket bodies of all global winners receive a US$2,000 cricket equipment grant.

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