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World Cup 2011 -
World Cup 2011
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Wednesday, 16 March 2011 17:31 |
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Contributed by Benny
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(3352 views) |
As Andrew Strauss heads out for the toss on Thursday against the West Indies, he might wonder how England got in to their present predicament. After a wobbly victory against Netherlands, and having stretched India to the maximum at Bangalore, Strauss could be forgiven for thinking that things couldn’t get any worse. Instead, a few days later, England bore the brunt of one of the finest innings in World Cup history as they crashed to a defeat against Ireland. This was followed by a morale boosting, thriller of a win against South Africa. Sobering news followed with the tournament exits of Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad due to injuries. Still, with games against Bangladesh and West Indies left, surely, England could breathe easy about their quarterfinal hopes, right?
Of course, with England being the team to watch in this World Cup, none should have been surprised at the result of the Bangladesh game. England pottered to 225 all out, thanks to half centuries from that indefatigable run machine Trott, and a fully fit again and firing Eoin Morgan. In response, Bangladesh stumbled to 169/8 in 40 overs after a stop-start performance. At this point, England would have expected to seal the game with plenty of time to spare. Instead, as it has been the case for the whole of England’s campaign so far, the match ended in a thrilling fashion, with a combination of dew and some magic from Shafiul Islam taking Bangladesh home. Now, England has a simple directive. Win four games at a stretch, if you want to win your first World Cup trophy. Going by their last five matches, it is hard to see England put up four consecutive good games.
To even make it to the quarters, they will have to pass through West Indies first. More specifically, they have to make it past the hulking figures of Gayle, Pollard and Benn. If they don’t get you, the silken grace of Bravo, the speed of Roach and canny skill of Sammy will make it that extra hard. West Indies are a team who seem to be on a good patch recently. After the loss to South Africa in their opening game, they have hit their stride, with some convincing performances against the other teams, with games against England and India still to go. More importantly, they are playing well as a unit, which England would dearly love to emulate. Here are some thoughts on what England’s game plan should be:
• I was one of the few supporters for the plan of using Prior as an opener, and so far he has made me look like a fool for that. Why a batsman who seems so suited for the top can’t find a way to succeed is beyond me. This being a critical game, it is pointless to hope that Prior comes good. It is better to save him from Roach’s pace and send him back to the middle order where he looks most comfortable. Push Bell to the top and let him give Strauss support in providing a good start.
• Trott might be scoring the runs, but he is under the cosh frequently for the rate at which he scores. Personally, I would take a slow batsmen who gets you runs, over a rapid fire batsman who gets you runs once in a while, any day. He is needed to stabilize the batting, so that the likes of Bopara, Morgan and Prior can play their free flowing innings around him.
• Yardy or Collingwood? This seems to be the issue that is vexing the think tank at the moment. Given their performances so far, I would rather place a punt on Luke Wright and back him to come good.
• Swann is England’s lone strike bowler at the moment and the pressure seems to be getting to him. He got into an unnecessary tirade against the umpire in the last game, and he has begun to bicker over the scheduling (valid as it may be, this is not the time for it). He would do well, to focus on his job and let his bowling do the talking. Provided, there is no dew of course.
• Shahzad and Bresnan have to bowl out of their skins to make up for Anderson’s shoddy show. Now, it is too late to expect miracles from Jimmy, and hopefully Strauss will find a way to minimize the damage that is sure to ensue from him overs. Bowl him in short spells and for the love of God, keep him away from the end overs!
My team for the West Indies game:
Strauss-Bell-Trott-Bopara-Morgan-Prior-Wright-Swann-Bresnan-Shahzad-Anderson
!joomlacomment 4.0 Copyright (C) 2009 Compojoom.com . All rights reserved."
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