Big four fire opening World Cup shots

BRIDGETOWN (Barbados) March 4: Hosts West Indies, England, South Africa and Sri Lanka will fire the opening shots in their World Cup campaigns on Monday at the start of series of warm-up matches. West Indies, bidding to become the first host nation to win the title, face Kenya in Jamaica, England will look to pile up the runs against debutants Bermuda at St Vincent while the world's leading team South Africa clash with Ireland in Trinidad. Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions, will play Scotland in Barbados. West Indies captain Brian Lara believes his team have the ability to reach at least the semi-finals as they bid to win the title for a third time but first since 1979. "We are looking to get to the semi-finals and then take it from there," said Lara. "We have a very good record at home, and the players are really looking forward to this major event. We have a fit team that is ready to go. We have the ingredients to do well." At Kingstown, England skipper Michael Vaughan will test his fitness after a combination of knee and hamstring injuries meant he has played in just three of his team's 35 One-dayers. He sat out the tri-nations win over Australia when Andrew Flintoff took over the captaincy duties but plans to feature in some of the warm-ups before assessing his chances of playing in England's opening game of the tournament against New Zealand on March 16. "I will play a part against Bermuda and more so against Australia (in the second warm-up on March 9). It is a gradual process." Influential batsman Kevin Pietersen will also test his recovery from the rib injury sustained in Australia. South Africa coach Mickey Arthur insists the team have prepared well for a tournament which has brought them nothing but heartache in the past. "It is all about peaking at the right time and I think, for us, things have been going nicely this season. We have shown an upward curve so hopefully our planning is coming to fruition," said Arthur. South Africa defeated Australia at home last year and have also won seven of their last eight matches. But they were knocked out in the World Cup first round on home soil in 2003 when they misunderstood the rain rules. Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody believes the 2007 World Cup will be the most open yet. "This World Cup is really open. I know that's kind of a cliche that has been thrown around for a while now, but actually it's quite true," said Moody, who was in the winning Australian team under Steve Waugh in 1999. "I believe Sri Lanka has as good a chance as any other team. We just have to knuckle down and take our chances and prove our worth." Sri Lanka will also play New Zealand in a warm-up on March 9 before heading to Trinidad for their first round matches against India, Bangladesh and Bermuda. Monday's warm-up matches: At Jamaica West Indies v Kenya At St Vincent England v Bermuda At Trinidad South Africa v Ireland At Barbados Sri Lanka v Scotland. courtesy:timesofindia