2012 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20: India V England – Match Preview
Former World champions India gear up to face defending champions England in a Group A World T20 encounter, at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, September 23, 2012. Dhoni’s Men in Blue would have to iron out their shortcomings, especially in the pace bowling department, if they are to win this battle of supremacy against the three http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lions-c808.
Tonight’s encounter is anticipated to be the biggest clash of the 12-team tournament so far, especially after rain ruined Saturday’s matches between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760.
Ahead of the summit clash, it is Dhoni-led Indian contingent that looks in trouble. Their 23-run win over minnows Afghanistan, on Wednesday was far from convincing. They not only failed to put a formidable total on board, but also failed to restrict the inexperienced Afghanistan line-up, as the minnows went on to score 136 runs in reply to India’s 159 for 5. Dhoni himself had admitted that it was an unimpressive win for them.
Bowling has been Dhoni’s biggest concern so far, and spearhead pacer Zaheer Khan’s consistent poor form is on the top. The left-arm seamer seems to have lost all he is known to posses. After returning wicketless against Pakistan in the high scoring warm-up match, which India lost by five wickets, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Z-Khan-c98379 to fire on Sunday and get some confidence back before going into the knock out stage.
Their batting on the other hand looks in relatively decent shape, with Virat Kohli, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Gambhir-c1447, however have been out of form of late, and need to get it right against the Poms tonight, as this would provide them one last chance to iron out weaknesses before going into the Super Eight stage.
On the other side of the coin, the defending champions will be oozing with confidence as they not only defeated Pakistan and Australia in their warm-up fixtures in the lead up to the global event, but also crushed Afghanistan by 116 runs on Friday.
England’s batting line-up, including Alex Hales, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, might be low on experience, but it has the necessary firepower to put a tab on the Men in Blue. Their world class bowling attack, featuring likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harold-William-Stephenson-c61707 Finn, Graeme Swann, Jade Dernbach and Broad himself, is far more strong than Zaheer and company. The presence of useful all-rounders in Luke Wright and Samit Patel also gives them an edge over Dhoni and his men in blue.
England skipper Stuart Broad said that after having defeated http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 challenge. In the meanwhile, he has also warned his side against complacency.
Both England and India have already qualified for the Super Eight Stage, after having beaten http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afghanistan-c745 and Sunday’s match between the two sides would only define the group positions. Whoever comes out on top tonight, will lead Group A. However, Broad said that it would not change their approach to the game and they will go out to win.
The R Premadasa wicket used for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c749-Afghanistan match had a variable bounce. Since the match will be played under lights, the wicket is expected assist fast bowlers. Scattered thunderstorms have been predicted in Colombo on Sunday night, but it is unlikely to affect the game.
Teams:
England (possible): http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ST-Finn-c2566, 11 Jade Dernbach
India (possible): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harbhajan-Singh-c61453.
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