Cricket’s world governing body has launched an investigation into “black marketeering” during the World Cup ticket sales fiasco that left thousands of fans with no hope of seeing the marquee matches.

The International Cricket Council made the announcement after its executive board in Hong Kong received a confidential report criticising the handling of ticket sales in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

“Although the event was universally acclaimed as a success and one of the best cricket events in history, the report highlighted certain shortcomings around ticketing and stadia construction,” the ICC said in a statement released late Wednesday.

The statement said the directors had “noted the appointment of forensic auditors to review ticketing during the ICC Cricket World Cup, including allegations of black marketeering”.

“Even though the event was hugely successful, it is important for us to learn lessons so that we can continually improve our events,” ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said.

The controversy over ticket distribution and availability caused a rift between the world body and local organisers during the tournament.

The choice of Mumbai for the April 2 final was controversial as the Wankhede Stadium had only a 33,000 capacity with 20,000 tickets going to clubs linked to the Mumbai Cricket Association and 8,500 to the ICC.

The remaining tickets, around 4,000, were sold to the general public.

Fans in Mohali told AFP of concerns over forged tickets being sold for the India-Pakistan semi-final.

One fan said a 500-rupee ($12) ticket was fetching up to 20 times its value.

Lorgat was forced to apologise in February after fans in Bangalore, many of whom had queued overnight in the hope of securing one of 7,000 tickets for the India-England game on February 27, were baton-charged by police at Bangalore’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“What is unfortunate is that too few go to the public as a general sale,” he said.

“No matter what sort of capacity we provide, the truth is that we won’t have enough seats for the demand that we have on our hands.”

The ICC has also ruled that stadiums hosting major ICC tournaments must be “match ready” at least six months before the event.

Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, the home of cricket in India and one of the world’s most famous venues, wasn’t ready to host its first World Cup game, forcing organisers to move the India-England clash to Bengalaru on February 27.

The decision was a severe embarrassment to organisers and caused intense disappointment in cricket-crazy Kolkata, where an estimated 80,000 spectators were expected to pack the famous stadium.

© AFP

Dhaka, March 19 [AFP] : Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan apologised to fans on Saturday for the team’s humiliating capitulation to South Africa that ended their World Cup dream.

South Africa set the home side a daunting total of 285 to win in the Group B clash in Dhaka but Bangladesh never looked like getting anywhere near their target, slumping to 78 all out to lose by a whopping 206 runs.

“We missed a big opportunity because we have been performing for the last 12 months and we thought we would have a very good opportunity to qualify for the second round,” said Shakib”We didn’t play good cricket at all throughout this tournament, although we won some games.

“The way we finished the tournament is not the way we wanted to finish it. We wanted to finish on a high,” he added.When asked if he had a message for the passionate fans, Shakib simply said “sorry”.

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith, whose side finished top of Group B, was delighted his team had won despite rotating the squad.”We gave a few guys an extra couple of days to rest but it was fantastic to see other guys that came in, the motivation they had and the way they performed. That’s always exciting to see.”"We’ve just got to hope we make the right decisions that will benefit the squad,” he added.

March 19, 2011 : Today was a match between Bangladesh vs South Africa in the ICC World Cup 2011. This was the 39th match of the league. South African skipper Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat first against the Bangladesh in their penultimate Group B match on Saturday at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. South Africa has made two changes in their squad, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel have been rested. Imran Tahir and Colin Ingram makes it to playing eleven. Batting first after winning the toss, the side was off to a rapid start with 27 coming in the first three before the spinners pulled it back for the home team.

Team Captain Graeme Smith seemed be overcoming his issues with the bat but at 45, he tried to charge at Mahmudullah and was stumped. Amla got to his 51 and looked as good as he has throughout the tournament. But much like what he has done in the World Cup, he failed to convert that into anything monumental. JP Duminy scoring 17 that came in 22 balls. Jacques Kallis added his share 69 runs in 76 balls with 5 fours and 1 six. South Africa lost his 6th wicket of Faf du Plessis who scored 52 runs in 52 balls with 4 fours and 1 six. Botha runout at 12, Robin Peterson (22) and Lonwabo Tsotsobe (4) remained unbeaten. In the end of the innings South Africa had 284/8 in 50 overs

Match Notes
Toss – South Africa elected to Bat
Innings Break – 284/8 (50 overs)
Result – South Africa beat Bangladesh by 206 runs

Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign came to a grinding halt on Saturday as they lost their final Group B encounter against South Africa by 206 runs in Mirpur. For Bangladesh, it’s the end of a rollercoaster World Cup, but the players will be the first to admit they weren’t consistent enough. Chasing 285 was always going to be difficult on a track for Bangladesh. All the players exept team captain scored less than 10 scores. Team Captain Shakib Al Hasan was highest scorer of the team he scored 30 runs. Bangladesh were shot out for a paltry 78 in 28 overs.

Bangladesh vs South Africa

Match: 39th ODI Match ICC CWC 2011
Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Date: March 19th,2011 (Saturday)
Toss: South Africa win toss; elect to bat first
Result: South Africa beat Bangladesh by 206 runs

Scoreboard : South Africa Innings

Fall of wickets (South Africa):

1-98 (Smith, 20.4 ov), 2-107 (Amla, 22.3 ov), 3-141 (Duminy, 29.6 ov), 4-223 (Kallis, 44.3 ov), 5-245 (van Wyk, 46.4 ov), 6-249 (du Plessis, 47.3 ov), 7-273 (Botha, 49.1 ov), 8-280 (Parnell, 49.4 ov)

Scoreboard : Bangladesh Innings

Fall of Wickets (Bangladesh):

1-14 (Tamim Iqbal, 3.3 ov), 2-15 (Imrul Kayes, 5.4 ov), 3-21 (Junaid Siddique, 6.6 ov), 4-21 (Shahriar Nafees, 7.6 ov), 5-36 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 15.1 ov), 6-58 (Mahmudullah, 21.3 ov), 7-61 (Shakib Al Hasan, 23.4 ov), 8-61 (Shafiul Islam, 23.6 ov), 9-62 (Abdur Razzak, 24.6 ov), 10-78 (Naeem Islam, 27.6 ov)

Powerplay: 1-10, 11-15 (Bowling)

Teams
Bangladesh (Playing XI): Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain

South Africa (Playing XI): Graeme Smith(c), Hashim Amla, Morne van Wyk(w), Jacques Kallis, Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Johan Botha, Robin Peterson, Imran Tahir, Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

March 19, 2011 : South Africa will look to get to the top of the points table in the Group B when they take on Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla in Mirpur on Saturday. It is a day game. South Africa have won four of their five games and are the only side from their group to have got through to the quarter-finals. On the other hand, Bangladesh have six points and need a win to go through to the next round. If they lose, they can almost kiss their chances of entering the quarter-finals a goodbye, thanks to a possibly poorer net run-rate to the other teams. Three games have already been played on this ground and apart from the first one where India slammed 370, the remaining two have been low-scoring. However, with the curators having had more time to prepare the pitch given the two-week break, one can expect the track to be full of runs.

Match Details
Match – ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 39 Match
Date – March 19th,2011 (Saturday)
Time – 03:30 GMT (09:00 IST)
Venue – Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur

Bangladesh’s performance in this World Cup has been rather dramatic this World Cup. After getting bowled out for 58 against the West Indies they successfully chased 227 after being at a precarious position of 169/8. Their batting has been wobbly and mediocre to say the least. It has always been Imrul Kayes who has held the fort whenever Bangladesh have performed well. Tamim Iqbal has been disappointing to say the least. The middle order comprising of Raqibul Hasan, Junaid Siddique and Shakib Al Hasan has so far looked shaky and if the South Africans do make an early in road into them then it may very well be déjà vous for the host nation. Bangladesh’s bowling is the only thing that has stood out in this campaign for them. The spin trio of Shakib, Abdur and Naeem along with the disciplined bowling of Shafiul Islam has been a huge positive for them and they will be heavily counting on them to produce a victory.

South Africa have very much looked the balanced side in this World Cup. Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith haven’t still given them the perfect base to build on but both of them have shown flashes of brilliance. Jacques Kallis has been in a rather subdued form this World Cup however with the middle order comprising of AB De Villiers and JP Duminy being in such a brilliant form the Proteas wouldn’t really mind that. The Steyn-Morkel duo is presently one of the best new ball opening pair in the cricketing scenario. Like a pride of lions they like to work out their batsman together before actually devouring them. One of the bigger surprises of this World Cup has to be the form of left arm spinner Robin Peterson who has already taken 10 wickets in 5 matches with an average of 17.70 and with Imran Tahir likely to sit out due to an injury, he will be eager to add on that tally.