NEW DELHI (AP) — Australia and New Zealand swept aside the opposition at the World Cup on Sunday to secure spots in the quarterfinals, while India's skipper castigated his batsmen for playing to the gallery rather than for the country.
Australia hadn't played a full game for two weeks and it showed in a 60-run victory over Kenya. Michael Clarke hit 93, Brad Haddin 65 and Mike Hussey, called in as a late injury replacement, hit 54 in Bangalore as the reigning World Cup holder reached 324-6 without breaking into a sweat.
But in the field it was a different story as Australia's pace attack of Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson looked wayward and was punished by Tanmay Mishra, with 72 and Collins Obuya, who finished on 98 not out as Kenya scored 264-6, its highest of the tournament. Brett Lee was his usual accurate self, taking 1-26 from eight overs.
Better batting attacks will surely punish Australia's bowling unless it improves considerably. "There was a bit of rust on the team but you can't expect much more after 16 days without a game," said captain Ricky Ponting.
It was a similar story in Mumbai, where New Zealand's batsmen sprayed Canada's inexperienced bowling around the Wankhede Stadium, where the final will be played on April 2.
New Zealand reached 358-6, with Brendon McCullum scoring 101 and Ross Taylor following his century against Pakistan last Tuesday with an equally brutal 74.
Opener McCullum's well-timed century was his first in 22 World Cup matches, while stand-in skipper Taylor clobbered a bowling attack for the second successive match. James Franklin finished unbeaten on 31 from eight balls.
Canada managed a creditable 261-9 for a 97-run defeat.
Many spectators and players agree the early stages of the cricket World Cup can be tedious, with one-sided games offering little in the way of entertainment.
The 50-over form is struggling to compete with the popularity of Twenty20 cricket and the International Cricket Council will reduce the number of teams taking part in the next World Cup from 14 to 10, shortening the length of the competition and hopefully increasing the entertainment value.
India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni felt his players offered a little too much entertainment to the public during Saturday's defeat to South Africa, accusing his batsmen of playing to the gallery.
"In the batting powerplay, it's important that you don't play for the crowd, but for your country," Dhoni said after South Africa's three-wicket victory.
India's top three batsmen scored freely against South Africa, with Sachin Tendulkar getting 111, Virender Sehwag 73 and Gautam Gambhir 69. But the rest of the Indian team, thinking they could score just as easily, surrendered their wickets cheaply. Only Dhoni batted sensibly and was not out at the end. India slumped from 267-1 to 296 all out.
"Spectators love to see fours and sixes, but when you lose two-three wickets, you need to change your approach. When you have 270-280 runs on the board, batsmen want to play big shots," said Dhoni.
"You need to curb your thinking. Different people have different roles and responsibilities."
The country's press was even more critical. "The Choke is on India," The Times of India mocked in a reference to South Africa's reputation as being a team that chokes under pressure.
In Chittagong, Bangladesh, Netherlands captain Peter Borren said he'd like nothing more than to spoil a party being celebrated by 150 million people.
Norren is aiming to halt the party which the population of Bangladesh has been holding since its victory over England on Friday.
"In these conditions Bangladesh are obviously a very tough team to beat," Borren told reporters. "Bangladesh are right in the mix."
"But we are positive about it," he said. "Definitely it will be our intention to ruin the party for them," he said.
Ireland has blown winning positions in every one of its three defeats at the World Cup so far, South Africa-born allrounder Andre Botha said.
Those missed chances have left the underdog needing to win both its remaining Group B matches — against Botha's country of birth and then Netherlands — to have any chance of a place in the quarterfinals.
Botha told reporters at Kolkata's Eden Gardens, which will host Ireland vs. South Africa on Tuesday, that the Irish squad was disappointed after it let slip its latest winning position against West Indies last week. Ireland lost its last five wickets for 32 runs in a 44-run defeat after being on course for victory in Mohali on Friday.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi says his opening batsmen are struggling in the World Cup because they were unsure whether to play positively or just try to survive early overs.
"At the moment, boys (openers) are thinking let's play 15 overs, but don't lose wickets and another way they are thinking is to play their positive game," Afridi said in Sri Lanka, where Pakistan play Zimbabwe in a Group A match on Monday.
Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad have scored just 93 runs between them in four matches as their poor starts have put the middle-order under pressure and the team failed to cross the 200-run mark against Canada and New Zealand.
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