24 February,2011 12:45 PM IST | | AFP
Serial under-achievers South Africa start their World Cup bid on Thursday but chaos ruled in Bangalore as baton-wielding police charged fans desperately scrambling for India match tickets.
Police clashed with thousands of fans queuing for the 7,000 tickets put on sale for India's match with England on Sunday, leading to several injuries.
Sunday's game was switched at the last-minute because of problems at Eden Gardens in Kolkata where the match had been due to be played.
In another embarrassment for besieged organisers, a letter was leaked in which the International Cricket Council told local organisers that commercial backers were at breaking point over delays in ticket provision.
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It also warned of more violence if plans to sell the remaining 4,000 tickets for the April 2 final in Mumbai were sold over the counter.
"With the significant demand and little availability...there is potential for chaos and physical injury when the box office sales open," David Becker, head of legal at the ICC, warned in a letter to its own president Sharad Pawar.
"For this reason we strongly recommend that this sale of tickets be cancelled."
The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was chosen to host the final despite boasting only a capacity of 33,000.
Around 20,000 tickets have been reserved for clubs linked to the Mumbai Cricket Association and 8,500 to the ICC.
The ICC also told Pawar, who is the head of the World Cup organising committee, that issues surrounding distribution of tickets "had now reached critical status and require your immediate intervention."
It said Kyazoonga, the official ticketing company, had not been given printed tickets in time to deliver to customers.
It also complained that the website crashed when tickets for the final went on sale, and that the ICC's commercial partners had received none of their promised tickets for venues including the Wankhede stadium.
"This is placing our sound relationships at breaking point and it is highly likely that some or all of them will seek compensation," it warned.
On the pitch, South Africa will bank on their recent form and fitness of key player Jacques Kallis when they take on an upredictable West Indies at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla ground.
The South Africans enter their Group B match on the back of 11 consecutive one-day wins against Ottis Gibson's side and a 3-2 series victory over India at home.
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi believes his team still have shortcomings to overcome ahead of their crunch clash against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan overcame early hiccups to post a challenging 317-7 against Kenya before Afridi took centre stage with 5-16 to bundle out their out-classed opponents for 112 to record a 205-victory in Wednesday's opener.
"It's a good start but we shouldn't be 100 percent satisfied, there is a lot of work ahead of us still," said the captain.
Pakistan lost openers Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shahzad inside seven overs with just 16 on the board against Kenya.
"Whether in batting or bowling you need a positive start. But since the ball was sticking to the pitch a little, it wasn't easy. I hope my openers don't repeat those mistakes," said Afridi.
