England vs. West Indies: ICC World Cup 2011 Group B fixture – Preview
England will take on West Indies on Thursday in a Group B match of the ICC World Cup 2011 at Chennai in a quest for their survival in the mega event.
It is an extremely important fixture for both the teams as a loss would kick the English team out of the World Cup, whereas in case of England’s victory, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 would have to beat India in their last group match of the tournament in order to survive.
England have had a very poor World Cup so far as they got beaten by Bangladesh and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 who are another strong contenders of the elite
trophy.
Batting has been the strength of Andrew Strauss and company in the tournament but they faced a huge blow in shape of Kevin Pietersen’s injury, who was ruled out of the tournament with a hernia concern.
Pietersen is without doubt England’s best batsmen in the limited-over format of the game and has the ability to win matches for his adopted country on his own. However, the positive point for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Morgan-c77707, who made an immediate impact
on the tournament by scoring a half-century in the losing cause against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
England team director Andy Flower would be hoping that his bowlers can raise their game. James Anderson and company have failed to restrict the oppositions apart from the game against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757.
The English team has had a very busy schedule of late as they have been playing consecutive cricket since the start of the Ashes 2010-11 in November 2010. Naturally, the fatigue factor is creeping in the England squad.
West Indian captain Darren Sammy also pointed out Wednesday that this was the best time to take on the English team as they have been out of home for so long and it would not be easy for them to just concentrate on the game.
Sammy said, “This is a good time to play England, they have been on the road a long time, in order to stay on in India they have to win. Maybe some of them want to go home to their families, you never know.”
West Indies on the other hand have performed well in the tournament since their defeat against the Proteas. Just like the English team, the West Indian strength lies in their batting department. The likes of Chris Gayle and Kieren Pollard can change the
complexion of the match within minutes, whereas http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shivnarine-Chanderpaul-c90073 and Ramnaresh Sarwan offer a lot of experience and calmness in the middle order.
Although Kemar Roach and Suleiman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Benn-c47745 have performed quite well in the mega event so far but the rest of the West Indian bowling lacks the firepower to dismantle strong batting line-ups of the world including England.
The Windies have one more match to play after the encounter against England but they would love to secure the quarterfinal berth by beating the Poms as it is not going to be an easy task for them to dismantle India.
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