Sabbir Hossain :The ICC World Cup Cricket begins today at the different venues across New Zealand and Australia. One time champions Sri Lanka will face New Zealand at Christchurch in New Zealand. The match begins at 4.00 am BST (Bangladesh Standard Time).Four times champions and favourites Australia will meet in-form England at Melbourne in Australia. The match starts at 9.30 am BST.A total of 14 teams splitting into two groups are taking part in the 11th edition of the gala extravaganza. Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England, Afghanistan, Scotland are in Group A while India, Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ireland, United Arab Emirates are in Group B.Top four teams from each group will get the tickets of quarter-finals. The winners of the quarter-finals will move into the semi-finals.The two winners of the semi-finals will battle in the final.The final will be taken place at Melbourne on March 29.Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan in their first Group A match on February 18.Then face Australia on February 21, meet Sri Lanka on February 26, play against Scotland on March 5, face England on March 9 and meet New Zealand on March 13.If Bangladesh intend to play in the quarter-final, Bangladesh have to win minimum three matches of Group A.Captain of New Zealand Brendon McCullum said, “We knew the expectation would rise so we were able to deal with that a while ago. One thing we discussed a lot is being really stable emotionally ourselves. The game has its ups and downs anyway without us adding our own ups and downs.”Captain of Sri Lanka Angelo Mathews said, “If it’s a good wicket, we’ll try and bat first. We’ve got the bowling to try and stop the opposition, but if we have to bowl first, we’ve got the experience in our batting lineup.”New Zealand (probable): Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (Captain), Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi , Corey Anderson, Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult.Sri Lanka (probable): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews (Captain), Dimuth Karunaratne/Dinesh Chandimal, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga.Captain of Australia George Bailey said, “I’d love to say it would count for something but I honestly don’t think it does. I think England have made some really positive changes to the way they chance and their structure. I personally think they look really dangerous.”James Anderson of England responds to Geoff Boycott’s assertion that Eoin Morgan “is not as good as he thinks he is.”Australia (probable): David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Steven Smith, George Bailey (Captain), Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin , Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood.England (probable): Ian Bell, Moeen Ali, James Taylor, Eoin Morgan (Captain), Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Steve Finn, Chris Jordan, James Anderson.
