World Cup Cocktail

Pakistan great Wasim Akram told his compatriots on Sunday they had to win the next game in their World Cup campaign or get ready for an early flight home.

Pakistan have had a miserable start to the tournament, being well beaten in their opening two group matches. Their 76-run defeat by arch-rivals and defending champions India was followed by an even heavier 150-run loss to the West Indies in Christchurch on Saturday.

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Pakistan next face Zimbabwe in a must-win Pool B game on 1 March, which Wasim warned will be a "make or break" for them.

"I am very optimistic that they can win but if they don't they have to go back home early," Wasim told AFP.

Double golden duck for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka became just the second team in one-day international history to have both openers fall for golden ducks as Afghanistan came agonisingly close to the biggest upset in Cricket World Cup history.

Set a target of 233 for victory, Sri Lanka was in immediate trouble at Dunedin's University Oval when Lahiru Thirimanne was trapped leg before wicket by the first ball of the innings from Dawlat Zadran.

In the second over, Tillakaratne Dilshan was caught behind off the first ball he faced from Shapoor Zadran.

The collapse did not end there, with Kumar Sangakkara bowled for seven and Dimuth Karunaratne out for 23, both falling to Hamid Hassan as former champions Sri Lanka slumped to 4-51 for four against World Cup debutants Afghanistan.

In the end Sri Lanka got home with four wickets and 10 balls to spare, thanks to a century by Mahela Jayawardene.

The one previous occasion when both openers fell for golden ducks in an ODI was in 2006 when West Indies quick Fidel Edwards removed the Zimbabwe pair of Piet Rinke and Terry Duffin in the first four balls of the innings at Georgetown, Guyana.

West Indies won that match by 82 runs.

Dunedin cricket fan in $1m prize pool

A cricket fan in Dunedin has today entered the running to win a share of a prize pool which could reach $1 million by catching a six with one hand.

Jamie Gough, a 35-year-old physiotherapist from Dunedin, was watching Afghanistan play Sri Lanka at the University Oval in Dunedin when he nailed the catch to the rapturous cheers of those around him.

The catch is the third to qualify for Tui's Catch-A-Million campaign, which links the total prize pool to the Black Cap's success in the Cricket World Cup.

The prize pool is currently at $250,000 and rises to $350,000 if the team makes it to the quarter-finals, $500,000 if they make it to the semi-finals, $750,000 if they make the finals and $1 million if the Black Caps win.

The prize pool is then shared among those who have executed a qualifying catch during the tournament.

The six was hit by Afghan batsman Asghar Stanikzai.

Tui spokesman Simon Smith said Mr Gough, a married father of two, was numb following the catch.

"He said he hasn't played cricket for a while and didn't know if he could catch one.

"He [thought] he'd be able to catch one because he was so high up in the stand."

Mr Gough is the third person to nail a qualifying catch.    --Compiled