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

April 2nd, 2011 : Today was a match between India vs Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup 2011. This was the Final match of the league. Sri Lanka have won the toss and elected to bat. Zaheer’s first three overs were all maidens, and at the start of his fourth he removed Upul Tharanga to keep Sri Lanka firmly on the back foot. Tillakaratne Dilshan (33) rebuilt the innings slowly with Kumar Sangakkara (48), taking the score to 60 before the right-hander swept a Harbhajan Singh delivery onto his stumps. Thilan Samaraweera had fallen for 21 in the previous over, and the back-to-back blows left Sri Lanka wobbling on 182 for five after 38.1 overs. Jayawardene finished unbeaten on 103 off 88 balls, sharing in a crucial 66-run partnership with Nuwan Kulasekara which gave Sri lanka an above-par total at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Thisara Perera (22 unbeaten) finishing the innings in style when he swung Zaheer Khan over square leg for six, leaving the capacity stadium speechless. A superb century from Mahela Jayawardene lit up the World Cup final and threatened to take the game away from India as Sri Lanka posted 274 for six after winning a controversial toss.

Match Notes
Toss – Sri Lanka have won the toss and elected to bat
Innings Break – 274/6 (50 overs)
Result – India won by 6 wkts

India vs Sri Lanka

Match: Final Match ICC World Cup 2011
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Date: April 2,2011 (Saturday)
Toss: Sri Lanka have won the toss and elected to bat
Result: India defeated Sri Lanka and won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 by 6 wkts

Scoreboard : Sri Lanka Innings

Fall of wickets (Sri Lanka):

1-17 (Tharanga, 6.1 ov), 2-60 (Dilshan, 16.3 ov), 3-122 (Sangakkara, 27.5 ov), 4-179 (Samaraweera, 38.1 ov), 5-182 (Kapugedera, 39.5 ov), 6-248 (Kulasekara, 47.6 ov)

Powerplay: 1-10, 11-15 (Bowling), 46-50 (Batting)

Scoreboard : India Innings

Fall of Wickets (India):

1-0 (Sehwag, 0.2 ov), 2-31 (Tendulkar, 6.1 ov), 3-114 (Kohli, 21.4 ov), 4-223 (Gambhir, 41.2 ov)

Powerplay: 1-10, 11-15 (Bowling), 46-50 (Batting)

Teams
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara(w/c), Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Thissara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suraj Randiv, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan

India (Playing XI): Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth

New Delhi, April 02, 2011 : India on Saturday will bid to become only the third team after Sri Lanka and Australia to win a World Cup title while chasing.

The Lankans, who won the toss and elected to bat at the Wankhede, were the first team to win the World Cup chasing. Set a target of 242, they hit 245/3 in 46.2 overs at Lahore’s Gadaffi Stadium to beat Australia in the final of the 1996 final. In the next edition of the tournament, Australia chased down a simple target of 133 for the loss of two wickets in just 20.1 overs against Pakistan at Lord’s.

Before Sri Lanka stemmed the trend, the first five World Cup finals all went in favour of the teams batting first.

In the first tournament in 1975, West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs. Chasing the Windies’ target of 292 in 60 overs, Australia were bowled out for 274. In 1979, the Windies won yet again batting first against England. The hosts chasing 287 to win, crashed to a 92-run loss.

In 1983, India turned the tables on the Windies in a low-scoring affair. Chasing India’s 183, the two-time and defending champions were bundled out for 140 to give India a historic win at the Lord’s.

In 1987, England went down by the tightest of margins, losing to Australia by seven runs at the Eden Gardens to give the eventual four-time champions their first World Cup title. Chasing Australia’s 253/5, England finished at 246/8.

England were left again on the losing side of a chasing final in the very next edition when they went down by 22 runs to Pakistan in the 1992 final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

It was then that Sri Lanka bucked the trend winning their first title by chasing against Australia, before the Aussies did the same against Pakistan in 1999.

With Australia in dominating form in the last decade, there was no chance that India and Sri Lanka when they took them in the finals of the 2003 and 2007 editions. Australia posted a mammoth 359/2 against India before winning the game by 125 runs. In 2007, Australia won yet again batting first as Sri Lanka fell short of the target of 281 runs by 53 runs according to the Duckworth/Lewis method.

So apart from Sri Lanka, India also has to beat history to lift this World Cup.
Source:Cricketnext.com

Mumbai, April 2 2011 : The 2011 World Cup final had a false start after there was confusion at the toss with Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara apparently losing the toss before claiming that he had not called at all.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni spun the coin and Sangakkara was seen to call tails in the presence of match referee Jeff Crowe and on-field commentator Ravi Shastri, who after the coin landed as ‘heads’ proceeded to congratulate Dhoni before the sudden claim in the middle that the Lankan skipper hadn’t called at all.

While it can all be attributed to a bundle of nerves and the nervous energy, there is no denying the fact that there seems to be more than just what meets the eye.

Why is it that Sangakkara did not protest before Crowe called out the result of the toss if he hadn’t called in the first place? And why is it that Shastri was going to ask Dhoni what he wanted to do after winning the toss if Sangakkara had not called at all?

Crowe and the Indian skipper, wanting to avoid any needless controversy on the field, sportingly decided to re-toss and this time the Lankan skipper called ‘tails’ and won the toss.
Source : Cricketnext.com