The Latest: West Indies say Russell, Gayle OK fitness-wise

By Associated Press 01 June 2019, 12:00AM

NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — The Latest on the second day of the Cricket World Cup (all times local):

3:35 p.m.

West Indies has eased any injury concerns over star players Andre Russell and Chris Gayle, who came off the field in apparent pain during the seven-wicket win over Pakistan.

Captain Jason Holder said he expects both players to be fit for the West Indies' next game, against Australia back at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

The 39-year-old Gayle is managing a longstanding back complaint that appeared to flare up toward the end of his innings of 50.

Russell, an allrounder, came off near the end of Pakistan's innings of 105 all out after aggravating a left knee problem when fielding. He said after the game he was "not worried" and that he came off only because West Indies was in such a good position.

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3:20 p.m.

Cricket World Cup organizers have apologized by statement to fans at Trent Bridge who were caught up in longer-than-expected queues and missed some of the West Indies-Pakistan match.

The organizers said they will be automatically refunding in full all fans who were impacted by the delays.

They said they didn't expect the high volume of fans who opted for ticket collection at the ground.

There were similar issues at the opening England-South Africa match on Thursday at the Oval.

Organizers said they will be working with ticket seller Ticket Master to offer the option of printing tickets at home, and improving distribution at venues.

"I sincerely apologize to every single fan who was affected by the queues today," World Cup managing director Steve Elworthy said in the statement. "It is certainly not what we want their first experience of what is already proving to be a fantastic Cricket World Cup to be.

"We have delivered over 700,000 tickets to more than 120 countries, but not all tickets were successfully delivered and as such we have seen a higher volume collecting at the venue. It is only right that we refund these fans by way of apology."

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3 p.m.

David Warner is set to play his first official game for Australia in more than a year after passing a fitness test on a muscle strain that clouded his participation in Saturday's Cricket World Cup group game against Afghanistan.

Skipper Aaron Finch confirmed on Friday that Warner has been cleared to play, meaning the opening pair from Australia's World Cup winning campaign in 2015 will likely be reunited for the opening game of the title defense in Bristol.

Finch, who took over the captaincy of the one-day international squad after Warner and ex-skipper Steve Smith were banned in March last year following a ball-tampering scandal, said the starting lineup hadn't been finalized for the Afghanistan game.

Warner and Smith have been involved in Australia's unofficial practice matches against New Zealand, West Indies, England and Sri Lanka since rejoining the squad to prepare for the World Cup.

Usman Khawaja, who partnered Finch at the top of the order in Warner's absence, is likely to bat at No. 3 and Smith at No. 4.

The bowling attack is still under consideration, with most speculation revolving around which seamer will support likely starting pacemen Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

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2 p.m.

Chris Gayle backed up a short-bowling barrage by his pacemen by smashing a 34-ball 50 to lead West Indies to a seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup on Friday.

Underlining its status as a dangerous outsider for the title, West Indies skittled out Pakistan for 105 in 21.4 overs — the team's second lowest total in the history of the tournament.

Gayle then played a starring role in the run chase, plundering the only half-century of the match as the West Indies reached its target in 13.5 overs. It finished on 108-3.

The 39-year-old Gayle, playing in his final World Cup, walked off gingerly after sustaining an injury during his innings in a potential concern for the Windies on just the second day of the World Cup.

Pakistan slumped to an 11th straight loss in ODIs

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12:25 p.m.

Pakistan failed to handle the West Indies' bombardment of short bowling and was skittled out for 105 in 21.4 overs in the second match of the Cricket World Cup at Trent Bridge.

All of the wickets were taken by West Indies' pacemen, whose approach of pitching the ball short and often into the body dumbfounded the Pakistanis and led to some unwise shot selection.

Oshane Thomas had 4-27, Jason Holder took 3-42, and wicketkeeper Shai Hope took four catches for the West Indies, which is looking to win its third 50-over world title and first since its glory days in the 1970s.

Pakistan, which capitulated from 75-4 and lost its last six wickets in 5.3 overs, is on course to lose its 11th straight completed ODI.

The top-scoring batsmen were Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam, who both made 22.

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10:10 a.m.

West Indies has won the toss and chosen to bowl first under cloudy skies in Nottingham.

Pakistan included fast bowlers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir, who were both brought into the World Cup squad from the cold late on in response to the run of poor results leading into the tournament.

There were no surprises in the West Indies team, with captain Jason Holder saying Evin Lewis and Shannon Gabriel were not fit to start. Chris Gayle is in prime form ahead of his last World Cup and the 39-year-old opener's first big knock could come at Trent Bridge, where the boundaries are short and England has hit the two biggest ODI scores in history since the last World Cup.

Conditions are warm and overcast.

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (captain), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz.

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9:25 a.m.

Pakistan heads into its Cricket World Cup opening match against the West Indies on Friday at high-scoring Trent Bridge having lost its last 10 completed one-day internationals.

However, Pakistan has won seven of their last nine matchups against the West Indies.

In World Cup history, the West Indies lead on head-to-head 7-3.

Pakistan's Babar Azam has struck hundreds in four of his six ODIs against the West Indies, and needs one more century to equal Brian Lara's record for the most by a batsman in these matchups.

West Indies' Chris Gayle has scored 50-plus in his last five ODIs.

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More AP cricket: www.apnews.com/cricket and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

By Associated Press 01 June 2019, 12:00AM

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