Australia won a record third successive World Cup on Saturday amid scenes of unprecedented confusion as night fell on Kensington Oval.

The Australians, who scored 281 for four from 38 overs, thought they had clinched the rain-reduced match when Sri Lanka needing 63 runs from three to win accepted the umpires' offer to go off for bad light.

As the Australians celebrated exuberantly while the scoreboard flashed "Congratulations Australia", umpires Steve Bucknor and Aleem Dar told the teams they needed to complete the remaining overs or return on Sunday.

Instead, as match referee Jeff Crowe admitted at a news conference later, the match was already over because Sri Lanka had completed the minimum 20 of their revised allotment of 36.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting and his Sri Lanka counterpart Mahela Jayawardene agreed that slow bowlers would bowl the remaining overs because it was so dark and the match finally ended with Sri Lanka 215 for eight and a 53-run victory to Australia.

The fiasco rounded off a trouble-strewn competition which was rocked early on by the suspected murder of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer and has been criticised for being over-long and over-priced for local Caribbean fans.

Australia, unbeaten in 29 World Cup matches since they lost to Pakistan in 1999, are the only team to win the tournament three times in a row. It was their fourth victory overall.

Australia coach John Buchanan, who quits his post after the tournament, said the gap between his team and the rest had been the difference "between night and day".

"Each individual strives for perfection all the time, from a coach's point of view that's a perfect team," he told a news conference.

Their win was set up by vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, who plundered a record 149 when play finally began 2-3/4 hours late.

Gilchrist broke Clive Lloyd's record for the fastest century in a World Cup final and went on to better Ponting's record individual score of 140 not out at the 2003 final. He equalled the World Cup record of eight sixes in an innings and he has also scored more than 50 in each of Australia's hat-trick of wins.

Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden (38) put on 172 for the first wicket, breaking the previous opening record of 129 in a final set by England's Mike Brearley and Geoff Boycott against West Indies in 1979.

Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions, made a spirited reply with Sanath Jayasuriya (63) and Kumar Sangakkara (54) adding 116 from 106 balls for the second wicket with some delightful strokes.

After their dismissals rain again swept across the Kensington Oval, stopping play for 12 minutes, and Sri Lanka's target was reduced to 269 from 36.

SUBLIME GILCHRIST

The Sri Lankans continued to go for their shots in the increasing gloom but wickets fell steadily and the game finally ended in total darkness with nobody on the ground able to figure out what was going on.

Gilchrist, who scored one in each of his last two innings, recaptured the timing that makes him one of the most destructive batsman in international cricket.

He lofted the second ball of Chaminda Vaas's second over for four then hit the left-armer over long-on for six and slashed a further boundary past slip.

Dilhara Fernando replaced the expensive Vaas in the attack but the tall paceman was unable to hold on to a sharp caught-and-bowled from Gilchrist, on 31, at ankle height.

The batsman celebrated with a four and a six from the next two deliveries.

Two sixes off off-spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan and another off Fernando brought up the 100 from 102 balls.

Gilchrist reached his century in 72 balls with eight fours and six sixes, 10 balls fewer than West Indian captain Lloyd's match-winning innings in the 1975 Cup final against Australia.

Hayden was caught in the covers by Jayawardene off the impressive Lasith Malinga and Gilchrist followed one short of his 150 caught off a skier after batting for 104 balls with 13 fours and eight sixes.

"He's a brilliant batsman and today he batted really well," said Jayawardene.

Sri Lanka opener Jayasuriya took fours through extra-cover, point and over slips from a Shaun Tait over.

Glenn McGrath, playing his last match for Australia, began economically before Sangakkara ruined his figures with a six into the crowd followed by two fours.

His dismissal, a simple catch to Ponting at mid-on off Brad Hogg's left-arm spin, was the beginning of the end for Sri Lanka. Jayasuriya was bowled for 63 from 67 balls by Michael Clarke and a difficult task for the remaining batsmen was made impossible by the rain and dark.

Shambolic World Cup final scenes sum up tournament

Shambolic scenes of disarray on the field and confusion among the spectators provided a sorry metaphor for the 2007 World Cup in the gloom of the Kensington Oval on Saturday evening.

Australia, the most awe-inspiring team in international sport, twice celebrated victory over Sri Lanka because of officials who either did not know or had forgotten their own rules.

After being recalled to the field unnecessarily for three more overs in a match which both teams realised had already finished according to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) rain regulations, Australia duly completed a unique third successive Cup triumph.

Their commanding victory was set up by an innings of 149 by vice-captain Adam Gilchrist of an audacity and enterprise surpassing West Indies captain Clive Lloyd in 1975 and Viv Richards four years later.

But even this inspired display, in which the ball sailed over the boundary eight times, was pushed into the background by the muddle at the end to Gilchrist's resigned bemusement at the post-match interviews.

ICC president Percy Sonn and chief executive Malcolm Speed were booed at the closing ceremony by the same crowd who cheered the two great Barbadian cricketers, Garfield Sobers and Everton Weekes.

WOOLMER DEATH

Tragedy irrevocably scarred the tournament in the opening round when Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer died at the age of 58 after he was found unconscious in his hotel room on March 18 following his team's unexpected loss to Ireland in Jamaica.

Shock turned to disbelief when deputy Jamaican police commissioner Mark Shields announced Woolmer had been strangled and that police had launched a murder inquiry.

A police statement said the death was "due to asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation".

Speculation has concentrated on illegal bookmakers in the Indian sub-continent where millions of dollars are bet on international cricket and where a former Pakistan and Indian captain have been banned for life for involvement in match-fixing. No arrests have yet been made.

The ICC were widely viewed in the Caribbean as the villains behind an over-long and over-priced tournament which took 46 days to discover that Australia were the world's best team by a distance.

Ticket prices starting at $US25 were beyond the reach of most local fans and the host of early restrictions on musical instruments alienated them further.

As a result they simply stayed away and the traditional West Indies' carnival atmosphere used by the ICC to help promote the event and attract visitors from overseas was absent.

"The ICC should be sued," Antiguan resident Alexis Jacobs told Reuters. "They charge first-world prices in a third-world country. They stopped the carnival atmosphere. Cricket in the Caribbean should be fun in the sun."

FEW HIGHLIGHTS

Speed defended the ICC, saying the prices had been set in conjunction with local organising committees and pointed out that the World Cup was a global event which required rules similar to other big tournaments.

The ICC, though, implicitly acknowledged the criticisms by lifting some of the more petty regulations and the atmosphere was certainly more vibrant from the second round.

Local organisers were friendly, helpful and usually efficient and fears of transport and accommodation chaos proved unfounded.

On the playing side, former winners Pakistan and India's first-round exits, although thoroughly deserved, devalued the tournament and kept thousands of potential spectators at home.

Too many games were too predictable with rare exceptions such as Ireland's tie with Zimbabwe, South Africa's narrow second-round win over Sri Lanka and England's one-wicket victory over West Indies in the final Super Eights match.

Individual highlights such as Herschelle Gibbs's six sixes in an over against the Netherlands and Lasith Malinga's four wickets in four balls for Sri Lanka were also sporadic.

Throughout the seven weeks in eight Caribbean regions the relentless excellence of the unbeaten Australians illuminated the tournament.

Opener Matthew Hayden scored the most runs, man-of-the-tournament Glenn McGrath in his final international series took the most wickets. Captain Ricky Ponting drove his men ruthlessly, setting ever higher standards of power and aggression.

Nobody challenged the Australians over the length of a game apart from themselves as they completed their season with the Champions Trophy, the Ashes and now a fourth World Cup.

"We've dominated this tournament like no team has dominated a tournament before," said Ponting. "We've never really been tested."

SCOREBOARD

 

Australia:

Adam Gilchrist c Silva b Fernando 149

Matthew Hayden c Jayawardene b Malinga 38

Ricky Ponting run out (Jayawardene) 37

Andrew Symonds not out 23

Shane Watson b Malinga 3

Michael Clarke not out 8

Extras: (leg byes 4, wides 16, no balls 3) 23

Total: (for four wickets in 38 overs) 281

Fall of wickets: 1-172 (Hayden, 22.5 overs), 2-224 (Gilchrist, 30.3), 3-261 (Ponting, 35.4), 4-266 (Watson, 36.2)

Bowling:

Chaminda Vaas 8 0 54 0 (2nb, 1w)

Lasith Malinga 8 1 49 2

Dilhara Fernando 8 0 74 1 (1nb, 4w)

Muttiah Muralitharan 7 0 44 0 (2w)

Tillakaratne Dilshan 2 0 23 0 (1w)

Sanath Jayasuriya 5 0 33 0

Sri Lanka:

Upul Tharanga c Gilchrist b Bracken 6

Sanath Jayasuriya b Clarke 63

Kumar Sangakkara c Ponting b Hogg 54

Mahela Jayawardene lbw b Watson 19

Chamara Silva b Clarke 21

Tillakaratne Dilshan run out (Clarke/McGrath) 14

Russel Arnold c Gilchrist b McGrath 1

Chaminda Vaas not out 11

Lasith Malinga st Gilchrist b Symonds 10

Dilhara Fernando not out 1

Extras: (lb 1, w 14) 15

Total: (for eight wickets in 36 overs) 215

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Tharanga, 2.1 overs), 2-123 (Sangakkara, 19.5), 3-145 (Jayasuriya, 22.6), 4-156 (Jayawardene, 25.5), 5-188 (Dilshan, 29.6), 6-190 (Silva, 30.1), 7-194 (Arnold, 31.5), 8-211 (Malinga, 33.6)

Bowling:

Nathan Bracken 6 1 34 1 (1w)

Shaun Tait 6 0 42 0 (2w)

Glenn McGrath 7 0 31 1 (1w)

Shane Watson 7 0 49 1 (3w)

Brad Hogg 3 0 19 1

Michael Clarke 5 0 33 2 (2w)

Andrew Symonds 2 0 6 1

 

Result: Australia won by 53 runs (Duckworth & Lewis method)

Toss: Australia (decided to bat)

Umpires: Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan)

TV umpire: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa)

Reserve umpire: Brent Bowden (New Zealand)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)

South Africa defended their aggressive batting tactics and denied they had panicked after being crushed by Australia by seven wickets in their World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath's triple strikes, including two wickets off successive balls, had half the batsmen back in the pavilion within the first 10 overs before South Africa were routed for their lowest World Cup total of 149.

The world champions eased to 153 for three in the 32nd over, setting up a final against 1996 champions Sri Lanka in Barbados on Saturday.

"I don't think we played reckless shots and threw wickets away," coach Mickey Arthur told a news conference. "We needed to disrupt Australia's momentum somehow and get on top and needed to get on top quick."

Captain Graeme Smith added: "We pride ourselves on these big days but we didn't play well.

"I definitely don't think we choked," he added. "We just weren't good enough. We were outplayed and you have got to give credit (to Australia).

"The top order just got out to good bowling, maybe one or two loose shots."

Smith himself was guilty of throwing his wicket away when the left-handed opener was bowled attempting a wild shot against paceman Nathan Bracken in the third over.

South Africa, desperate to reach a maiden World Cup final, never really recovered after they were reduced to 27 for five in the 10th over with fast bowler Shaun Tait complementing McGrath to finish with four wickets.

Jacques Kallis, usually the innings anchor, was also bowled trying a big shot against McGrath, who then had Ashwell Prince caught behind for a second-ball duck chasing a wide delivery.

"Our top order has played quite positive throughout the tournament," Smith said. "The ball did swing a bit up front which they used to their advantage.

"Once we became three down it became really difficult to wrest the initiative back."

South Africa have now been knocked out in the semi-final in three of the last five editions.

SCOREBOARD

South Africa:

G Smith b Bracken 2

A de Villiers c Gilchrist b Tait 15

J Kallis b McGrath 5

H Gibbs c Gilchrist b Tait 39

A Prince c Gilchrist b McGrath 0

M Boucher c Hayden b McGrath 0

J Kemp not out 49

A Hall c Gilchrist b Tait 3

S Pollock c & b Hogg 5

A Nel c Clarke b Tait 8

C Langeveldt b Watson 6

Extras (lb 4, w 13) 17

Total (all out; 43.5 overs; 199 mins) 149

Fall of wickets1-7 (Smith, 2.3 overs), 2-12 (Kallis, 5.3 overs), 3-26 (de Villiers, 8.5 overs), 4-27 (Prince, 9.4 overs), 5-27 (Boucher, 9.5 overs), 6-87 (Gibbs, 22.5 overs), 7-93 (Hall, 26.1 overs), 8-103 (Pollock, 29.4 overs), 9-130 (Nel, 40.1 overs), 10-149 (Langeveldt, 43.5 overs)

Bowling:

Nathan Bracken 7-2-15-1

Glenn McGrath 8-1-18-3 (1w)

Shaun Tait's 10-0-39-4 (5w)

Shane Watson 8.5-0-49-1

Brad Hogg 10-2-24-1 (3w)

Australia:

A Gilchrist b Langeveldt 1

M Hayden c Smith b Pollock 41

R Ponting b Nel 22

M Clarke not out 60

A Symonds not out 18

Extras (lb 5, w 3, nb 3) 11

Total (3 wickets; 31.3 overs; 146 mins) 153

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Gilchrist, 1.1 overs), 2-44 (Ponting, 8.6 overs), 3-110 (Hayden, 24.4 overs)

Bowling:

Shaun Pollock 5-1-16-1

Charl Langeveldt 6-0-34-1 (1nb, 1w)

Jacques Kallis 5-1-20-0 (1nb, 1w)

Andre Nel 7-1-31-1 (1w)

Andrew Hall 6.3-0-43-0 (1nb)

Justin Kemp 2-0-4-0

Result: Australia won by 7 wickets

Man of the Match: Glenn McGrath (Australia)

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and SA Bucknor

TV umpire: BF Bowden (New Zealand)

Match referee: JJ Crowe (New Zealand)

Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan bamboozled New Zealand on Tuesday to send the 1996 champions to the World Cup final with a 81-run victory.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene chose to bat and struck an unbeaten 115 to lead his side to a daunting 289 for five at Sabina Park.

Master spinner Muralitharan then took four for 31 as he ran through the New Zealand middle-order, picking up three wickets in six balls, with Stephen Fleming's side collapsing to 208 all out. Fleming quit as Kiwis' one-day skipper shortly afterwards.

New Zealand's semi-final jinx continued -- this was their fifth defeat at this stage of the World Cup in nine tournaments -- while Sri Lanka moved into their second final.

They will meet the winners of Wednesday's second semi between holders Australia and South Africa in St Lucia.

Jayawardene had said before the game that his side's strength lay in specialists and his superbly paced innings, along with a knock of 73 from Upul Tharanga, justified his confidence in the upper order.

Not for the first time, Lasith Malinga delivered a superb spell of pace bowling before Muralitharan's deceptive spin proved too much for the Kiwis.

New Zealand had been well poised in their reply working their way to 100-2 after 20 overs but Muralitharan turned the game, producing a spell of five wickets for just 11 runs in tandem with Sanath Jayasuriya.

EARLY SETBACK

Sri Lanka had suffered an early setback when Jayasuriya, his country's most prolific run scorer, was bowled by James Franklin for one.

Left-armer Franklin claimed his second victim when wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara dollied a simple catch to New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming at mid-on with the score at 67.

Tharanga and a cautious Jayawardene then put on 44 and threatened a major partnership before spinner Daniel Vettori bowled a sweeping Tharanga around his legs.

Chamara Silva was unfortunate to be given out lbw off a mis-firing Shane Bond for 21 when television replays suggested he had got bat on ball before it hit the pads.

Tillakaratne Dilshan joined Jayawardene at a crucial stage of the game with Sri Lanka 152 for four in the 35th over and the pair stepped up the pace putting on an 81-run partnership in 64 deliveries.

Jacob Oram got rid off Dilshan with another harsh lbw decision before Jayawardene, who had been dropped by Bond on 70, then took complete charge and Sri Lanka amassed 102 runs from the final 10 overs.

The response began poorly for New Zealand when Fleming was trapped lbw by Malinga -- bowling with outstanding pace and accuracy -- and Chaminda Vaas trapped Ross Taylor leg before to leave the Kiwis on 32 for two.

But Scott Styris and Peter Fulton put on a 73-run partnership which brought New Zealand back into the running before Styris (37) was caught at mid-wicket off Dilshan and the slump began.

Jacob Oram (3) was the victim of a superb caught and bowled from Muralitharan and the spinner dismissed Brendon McCallum first ball, the wicketkeeper caught by Silva after unwisely trying to sweep.

Fulton went for 46, caught by Silva off Jayasuriya, before Muralitharan struck again trapping Vettori lbw after he failed to read the 'doosra' -- the off-spinner's surprise leg-break. New Zealand were then 116-7.

Craig McMillan, who struggled throughout the game with a stomach muscle problem, provided a brief rally with a hard-hitting 25 but the damage had been done and Muralitharan's fourth victim came when he bowled Bond.

With the game all but over last-man Jeetan Patel hit a spirited 34 at the end before he holed out off Dilshan.

The seven-week tournament, the first in the Caribbean, culminates on Saturday with the final in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Fleming quits as New Zealand one-day skipper

Stephen Fleming quit as New Zealand's one-day captain on Tuesday after his side's crushing World Cup semi-final defeat by Sri Lanka.

Fleming, 34, has led the side for 10 years and wants to stays as test captain and continue playing limited over internationals.

"I want to keep on playing but I'm standing down as captain of the one-day side," he told a news conference.

"Every win was celebrated. The tournament wins were very special. I think we do damn well with what we have got."

Fleming has served as skipper for three World Cups, reaching two semi-finals.

But New Zealand have never reached the World Cup final and in all have now lost five semi-finals in nine tournaments following Tuesday's 81-run loss.

"I'm not sure there was much more we could have done. As far as planning goes, we were extremely clear in our minds what we wanted to do," Fleming added.

The Christchurch-born batsman, who is also New Zealand's most successful and longest-serving test captain, led the one-day side for 218 of his 280 internationals, winning 98 and losing 106 matches.

"Stephen has been a great leader for New Zealand for quite some time now," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said.

"Even when I started he was captain. You could learn a lot from him. He is a very good captain and with the resources he had he has built up a very decent team.

"He's been one of the top captains for the last 10 years."

Fleming, who made his one-day international debut against India at Napier in March 1994, first captained the side in a defeat by Sri Lanka in Christchurch in March 1997.

Vice-captain and key spinner Daniel Vettori

Centurion Jayawardene gives credit to bowlers

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene scored a match-winning century but handed the credit to his bowling attack after Tuesday's 81-run victory over New Zealand in their World Cup semi-final.

Off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took four wickets to rip the heart out of the New Zealand middle-order after paceman Lasith Malinga returned from his injury layoff with an outstanding opening spell.

Muralitharan grabbed three wickets in six balls to leave the Kiwis looking clueless against his cunning spin.

"When you have a guy like that you know that your wicket-taking options are better," said the skipper, who hit an unbeaten 115 in his team's total of 289 for five.

"But he is a human as well, he can't do it all the time. He comes up with some really good efforts for us though.

"With him, Lasith and (Chaminda) Vaas I think I have better options now and obviously as a captain that is a good position to be in."

While Muralitharan's spell turned the game in Sri Lanka's direction, Malinga had set the tone with a wicket-maiden in his first over. He claimed the scalp of New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.

Malinga had missed Sri Lanka's last three Super Eights matches due to an ankle injury but Jayawardene said he was not at all taken aback by his opening bowler's return.

"I wasn't surprised. The guy has been putting in a lot of effort and he was very upset that he wasn't playing, wasn't part of the team," he said.

"In the last two practice sessions we saw him looking really eager and he was doing things that he has done before.

BIG HEART

"He has a big heart and he has improved quite a lot as a cricketer in the last 12 months and I think his hard work has paid off."

The vital wicket of Scott Styris, who was looking threatening on 37, came not from one of Sri Lanka's frontline bowlers but back-up man Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Jayawardene said that surprise allowed him to turn the heat on New Zealand.

"Once the field went back after the Powerplays I thought I could sneak in maybe four or five overs but I never expected Dilshan to pick up a wicket that early," he said.

"That was a bonus, once we got that Murali came and asked me - 'shall we have a go at the batsmen for a few overs and try and pick up a few wickets?'

"That was a good time for us to put pressure on New Zealand and he picked up two wickets in that next over so everything worked pretty well. Nothing was planned, everything just happened so quickly."

Fleming, who announced after the match that he was standing down as one-day captain, acknowledged his side had been second-best.

"We certainly didn't play well enough I felt we were outclassed at key moments. But am proud of where we got to even if we wanted to go one further," he said.

will be the front-runner to replace Fleming.

 

SCOREBOARD

 

Sri Lanka:

W Tharanga b Vettori 73

S Jayasuriya b Franklin 1

K Sangakkara c Fleming b Franklin 18

M Jayawardene not out 115

L Silva lbw b Bond 21

T Dilshan lbw b Oram 30

R Arnold not out 14

Extras (lb 3, w 9, nb 5) 17

Total (5 wickets; 50 overs; 218 mins) 289

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Jayasuriya, 2.3 overs), 2-67 (Sangakkara, 13.1 overs), 3-111 (Tharanga, 25.1 overs), 4-152 (Silva, 34.3 overs), 5-233 (Dilshan, 45.1 overs)

Bowling:

James Franklin 9-1-46-2 (2nb, 2w)

Shane Bond 10-1-59-1 (1nb, 3w)

Jacob Oram 10-0-60-1 (2nb, 1w)

Daniel Vettori 10-0-51-1 (1w)

Jeetan Patel 10-0-62-0

Scott Styris 1-0-8-0 (1w)

 

New Zealand:

P Fulton c Silva b Jayasuriya 46

S Fleming lbw b Malinga 1

R Taylor lbw b Vaas 9

S Styris c Jayawardene b Dilshan 37

J Oram c & b Muralitharan 3

B McCullum c Silva b Muralitharan 0

C McMillan b Jayasuriya 25

D Vettori lbw b Muralitharan 0

J Franklin not out 30

S Bond b Muralitharan 2

J Patel c Fernando b Dilshan 34

Extras (b 5, lb 2, w 8, nb 6) 21

Total (all out; 41.4 overs; 181 mins) 208

Fall of wickets1-2 (Fleming, 1.3 overs), 2-32 (Taylor, 10.3 overs), 3-105 (Styris, 21.5 overs), 4-114 (Oram, 23.5 overs), 5-114 (McCullum, 23.6 overs), 6-115 (Fulton, 24.3 overs), 7-116 (Vettori, 25.4 overs), 8-144 (McMillan, 30.2 overs), 9-149 (Bond, 31.4 overs), 10-208 (Patel, 41.4 overs)

Bowling:

Chaminda Vaas 8-1-25-1 (1w)

Lasith Malinga 7-2-21-1 (1nb)

Dilhara Fernando 5-0-45-0 (5nb, 1w)

Muttiah Muralitharan 8-0-31-4 (1w)

Sanath Jayasuriya 9-0-57-2 (3w)

Tillakaratne Dilshan 4.4-0-22-2 (1w)

 

Result: Sri Lanka won by 81 runs

Man of the Match: M Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)

Umpires: RE Koertzen (South Africa) and SJA Taufel (Australia)

TV umpire: DJ Harper (Australia)

Match referee: MJ Procter (South Africa)

 

Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar plans to weigh up his options in one-day cricket after his team finished their World Cup campaign with a 99-run defeat by hosts West Indies on Thursday.

"I think I'm going to play a few more years in test matches and I am planning to think about my one-day career when I get home," Bashar told a news conference.

Bangladesh had unexpectedly reached the second round after a stunning win over 1983 champions India in the group phase. But the youngest test nation soon got a reality check after winning just one of their six Super Eight matches -- albeit against South Africa.

Bashar himself failed with the bat, totalling just 105 runs in eight innings at an average of 13.12.

Asked whether the responsibility of leading the side had affected his performance, he said: "I shouldn't give any excuses. I did not perform well and definitely did not have a good World Cup.

"When you are leading a team, you're under extra pressure. You need to cope with it."

Despite his own failings, the 34-year-old urged his young batsmen to learn from their Caribbean experience.

Bangladesh top-order batsmen caved in against the pace of Daren Powell and Corey Collymore on a bouncy Kensington Oval pitch chasing 231 for victory in their last Super Eights game.

"We need to adapt to this bounce a bit. We need to learn quickly from our mistakes," Bashar said.

"We had some good days and some ordinary days as everyone could see. We had only one good game and six bad games.

"It didn't show what we are capable of."

They managed to finish seventh in the Super Eights in their maiden second round appearance, ahead of debutants Ireland due to better net run rate after losing to the associate team.

Bashar praised coach Dav Whatmore for the team's progress. The Australian is expected to leave the team after playing a key role in their progress since they failed to win a match in the 2003 World Cup.

"He is very much respected by the players," Bashar said.

"No one really disagrees with him, which is very important for a coach.

"He gave us lot of confidence. He was really wonderful for us in the last four years."

England's World Cup performance was branded shambolic and feeble by the country's press after a crushing nine-wicket defeat by South Africa knocked them out of the tournament on Tuesday.

Coach Duncan Fletcher's days in the job are numbered, papers said, after his side struggled throughout their stay in the Caribbean, with Bangladesh the only test team they beat.

"If pride does not make him fall on his sword after a 5-0 Ashes whitewash and a miserable World Cup, he should be sacked by the ECB," wrote The Sun, on a page taken up largely by the headlines "Sunken Duncan" and "World Cup shambles".

The Times wrote that Michael Vaughan's career as one-day captain was likely to go the same way as Fletcher's after England's "feeble performance".

"The truth was simply confirmed: that their World Cup hopes have never been realistic," the newspaper wrote in its Wednesday edition. "England looked dazed, defenceless and defeated."

Vaughan said after Tuesday's match that England had deserved to be booed off and that the team had to hold up their hands and accept all the criticism that came their way.

South Africa in semis after outclassing England

South Africa outclassed England to take their place in the World Cup semi-finals after a nine-wicket victory in their Super Eights game on Tuesday at the Kensington Oval.

The defeat ended England's hopes of making the last four and the South Africans now join Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in the semi-finals.

Andrew Hall took a career-best five for 18 as England slumped to 154 all out and then skipper Graeme Smith made an unbeaten 89 as South Africa ruthlessly knocked off the target with more than 30 overs to spare.

England, who were booed off the field by their large travelling support, now have a meaningless final match of the tournament against hosts West Indies on Saturday in Barbados with both teams now eliminated from the competition.

Hall's intelligent seam bowling was the decisive element in the game, prompting a middle-order batting collapse, with five English wickets going for just 10 runs.

But after England's bowling was so ruthlessly dealt with it was easy to speculate whether a higher score would have made much difference.

England captain Michael Vaughan won the toss and opted to bat first on a wicket that has proven lively in the morning sessions, hoping to take advantage of the quicker pace on the track.

SLOW START

But Vaughan, opening with Ian Bell, made a slow start and England only managed five runs off the first five overs.

Seamers Shaun Pollock and Charl Langeveldt kept England pegged back and Langeveldt then claimed the wicket of a frustrated Bell who skied an attempted pull shot to Ashwell Prince.

The impressive Andre Nel then trapped Vaughan leg before for 17 to leave England at 37 for two in the 13th over.

The pressure was on England's South African-born batsman Kevin Pietersen who faced some hostility -- with bowling and staring -- from Nel.

It was not long before the seamer had his victim with Pietersen (3) spooning a catch to mid-off as he got himself tangled up on a drive.

Another South African-born batsman, Andrew Strauss, got his head down with Paul Collingwood and the pair produced England's best partnership by putting on 58 before Strauss went for 46.

Collingwood followed shortly afterwards for 30, lbw to Hall who then dealt with England's last real threat, Andrew Flintoff (5), removing the all-rounder's middle stump with a ball that cut back off the seam and through a huge gap between bat and pad.

Hall then took Paul Nixon and Sajid Mahmood with successive deliveries and only an unbeaten cameo innings of 27 from Ravi Bopara gave England's attack something to bowl at.

Hall picked up his fifth wicket with his final ball, dismissing James Anderson leg before as England's innings ended with two overs remaining.

Any hopes England had of putting their opponents under early pressure were swept aside in the opening overs as South Africa's opening pair of AB de Villiers and Smith raced to 44 in the opening five overs -- Sajid Mahmood going for 28 off his opening two overs.

De Villiers finally went, caught behind off Flintoff for 42, with South Africa at 85 for one in the 10th over.

Jacques Kallis then came in to see things through alongside the impressive Smith who needed just 58 balls for his 89 not out to crown what was his side's best display of the tournament so far. Smith's knock included 13 boundaries.

 

SCOREBOARD

Match No. 44th, South Africa vs England, Super Eight, Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on April 17

England:

I Bell c Prince b Langeveldt 7

M Vaughan lbw b Nel 17

A Strauss c Smith b Kallis 46

K Pietersen c Smith b Nel 3

P Collingwood lbw b Hall 30

A Flintoff b Hall 5

R Bopara not out 27

P Nixon c Boucher b Hall 1

S Mahmood b Hall 0

M Panesar c Boucher b Nel 2

J Anderson lbw b Hall 0

Extras (b 4, lb 4, w 5, nb 3) 16

Total (all out; 48 overs) 154

Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Bell, 7.3 overs), 2-37 (Vaughan, 12.2 overs), 3-53 (Pietersen, 16.2 overs), 4-111 (Strauss, 32.4 overs), 5-115 (Collingwood, 33.5 overs), 6-119 (Flintoff, 35.1 overs), 7-121 (Nixon, 35.6 overs), 8-121 (Mahmood, 37.1 overs), 9-144 (Panesar, 44.3 overs), 10-154 (Anderson, 47.6 overs)

Bowling:

Shaun Pollock 10-2-17-0 (1nb)

Charl Langeveldt 7-1-38-1

Andre Nel 10-3-35-3 (2nb, 4w)

Andrew Hall 10-2-18-5

Jacques Kallis 8-0-22-1

Justin Kemp 3-0-16-0 (1w)

South Africa:

AB de Villiers c Nixon b Flintoff 42

G Smith not out 89

J Kallis not out 17

Extras (b 4, w 3, nb 2) 9

Fall of wickets1-85 (de Villiers, 9.5 overs)

Bowling:

James Anderson 5-0-32-0 (2w)

Sajid Mahmood 4.2-0-49-0 (1nb)

Andrew Flintoff 6-0-36-1 (1nb, 1w)

Monty Panesar 2-0-24-0

Paul Collingwood 2-0-12-0

Result: South Africa won by 9 wickets

Man of the Match: Andrew Hall (South Africa)

Umpires: SA Bucknor and SJA Taufel (Australia)

TV umpire: BF Bowden (New Zealand)

Match referee: RS Madugalle (Sri Lanka)

Captain Habibul Bashar admitted Ireland had been a more consistent team in the World Cup than Bangladesh after losing to them by 74 runs in their penultimate Super Eights match on Sunday.

The skipper was critical of his team in their fielding, bowling and batting but still felt that his side should have chased down 244 to win at the Kensington Oval.

Instead they were bowled out for 169 by Ireland in the 42nd over.

"The way we played today we deserved to lose," Bashar told reporters. "It was one of those days when nothing went right for us. We fielded pretty ordinary, we bowled poorly and then chasing, we lost too many early wickets.

"It's very much frustrating for me," he added. "We've done a very good job in this World Cup so far by beating two big teams (India and South Africa).

"One day we look brilliant and the next we are ordinary. We need to be more consistent."

His comment referred to the way Bangladesh beat India in the group stage to oust the 1983 winners and then South Africa eight days ago when the Proteas were still ranked one in the world.

Bangladesh have been a fully-fledged test outfit since 2000 and have beaten Pakistan and defending champions Australia in previous years, but the defeat to World Cup debutants Ireland was one of their most embarrassing reverses.

"It looks like we are going to be number eight (in the Super Eights) after this match and we had hoped we would be sixth or seventh," Bashar said. "I must give credit to Ireland though. They played very well and put us under pressure."

Bangladesh are bottom of the Super Eights table on two points. They trail Ireland on net run rate.

Bangladesh's last match of the tournament is against hosts West Indies on Thursday in Barbados.

The seven-week tournament, the first in the Caribbean, started with 16 nations and was whittled down to eight for the second-stage Super Eights.

 Ireland's upset World Cup win over Bangladesh earned them entry into the main International Cricket Council (ICC) one-day ranking list.

Debutants Ireland, an associate team, beat Bangladesh by 74 runs in a Super Eights match between the tournament's two giant-killers on Sunday in Bridgetown

It was the second win over a test team for the World Cup debutants.

Ireland scored a shock win over 1992 winners Pakistan to knock them out in the first round and the win over Bangladesh was their first of the second-stage Super Eights.

According to ICC rules, an associate team will enter the main ranking list if they beat two test teams.

There are now 12 teams on the one-day international ranking list, the 10 test-playing nations plus 2003 semi-finalists Kenya and Ireland.

Our best game of cricket yet, says Ireland skipper

Captain Trent Johnston described his team's World Cup Super Eights win over Bangladesh on Sunday as the "best game of cricket" he has played with Ireland.

The World Cup debutants defeated test team Bangladesh by 74 runs after scoring 243 for seven and then dismissing them for 169 in the 42nd over.

It was Ireland's second