Comment

England out to strangle Kangaroos

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE

England who took a severe beating from Australia in the seven match one-day series in their own backyard losing 1-6 will take the field at the Supersport Stadium in South Africa firing all cylinders when they meet in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 tournament today beginning at 6 p.m. Sri Lanka time.

First to England and when they flew into South Africa to contest this Trophy,not many gave them a chance after the hammering they received at the hands of their old enemy Australia. They won the final game and that seemed to have done their game a lot of good and in beating South Africa and Sri Lanka earned the right to play in the semis although they suffered defeat against New Zealand.

The team if their two victories are an indication are now playing to expectations. They have a set of cricketers well versed in this style of game and if they are not overawed by the occasion and play to ability,then they could push aside the Aussies and enter the final;.

England although they gave the game to the world,have yet to win a major tournament conducted by the ICC. They have never won the World Cup,the ICC Champions trophy or the Twenty20.Sad when one thinks of their reputation in the game.

Here again the winning of the toss would play an important role in the outcome of the game. The wicket at the Supersport has been friendly to the side batting first and should not be different this time round.

If England bat first it is important that skipper Andrew Strauss fires. Not to do so would mean to put the onus on the remaining batsmen. It has now come to be that when Strauss scores it rubs off on the rest and if he fails the rest too fail. They must come out of this groove if they are to be competitive in this game.

Veteran Paul Collingwood has carried the batting on his broad shoulders. He cannot be expected to deliver all the time. Batsmen of the calibre of John Denly, Ovais Shah,Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan must make it a point to contribute. In bowling they will look to Ryan Sidebttom and James Anderson to fire pace and Graham Swan to provide the spin to stall the Aussie run machine.

Australia the reigning champions are now riding a crest of a wave of success. Even sans vice captain Michael Clarke, the Aussie batting mean machine has mowed down all opposition bowlers. Skipper Ricky Ponting,Tim, Paine,Shane Watson, Callum Ferguson,Michael Hussey and Cameron White are all natural strokeplayers with the correct temperament for this style of bash.

Ponting and Hussey have been in top form and they would be looking to give continuity to that. The bowling will be led by demon bowler Brett Lee who has been bowling at his fiery best. If he strikes a good line and length and if there is pace in the wicket he could be a match winner.

Lee will be supported by the Nathan Bracken who has the ability to be always economical. The England batsmen will have to look sharp against the late swing of Mitchell Johnson and the tantalising off spin of Nathan Hauritz.After all is said and done,good batting and bowling will come to nothing, if the all important fielding is found wanting. Both teams would have been hard at practice concentrating on this aspect of the game which is the most important.

Over then to the Supersport Stadium and a game of cricket luvr’ly cricket. Australia were given a score by Pakistan who nearly beat them and bundled them out of the tournament.