da fazobetai： India can keep alive their hopes of making the World Twenty20semi-finals with victory over a demoralised England at Durban onWednesday
The Preview by Andrew McGlashan18-Sep-2007England v India, Durban, Wednesday September 19, 1800 local time (1600 GMT)
Hoping for a turnaround: Paul Collingwood has not had a great run of late © Getty Images
India can keep alive their hopes of making the World Twenty20semi-finals with victory over a demoralised England at Durban onWednesday. They should have won their opening Super Eight matchagainst New Zealand but came unstuck against Daniel Vettori. Englandare left needing a miracle to qualify after falling away badly againstthe Kiwis and have been found wanting despite bringing plenty ofTwenty20 knowledge with them.Bat play: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir raced to 76 inthe first six overs against New Zealand, a record for the tournament,but the middle order couldn’t continue the good work. Yuvraj Singh,who was in sparkling form during the one-day series against England,hasn’t fired in South Africa; however Robin Uthappa and Irfan Pathanhave showed their ability to clear the ropes. Pathan’s return hasprovided the all-round option India were missing in England.Darren Maddy and Vikram Solanki finally provided a solid openingstand of 62, but the remaining batsmen failed take advantage. KevinPietersen gave his innings away with an ugly reverse sweep and twobig-hitters, Andrew Flintoff and Dimitri Mascarenhas, made one betweenthem. But Luke Wright was more comfortable in the middle order.Wrecking ball: Left-armers Pathan and RP Singh have beenimpressive, Pathan showing that he has rediscovered his late swing.However, Harbhajan Singh has been the pick on his return to Indiancolours and will fancy his chances against England. Ajit Agarkar isagain struggling and knows he won’t be playing against Australia inthe forthcoming one-day series after missing out on the squad.Again England’s early bowling was impressive against New Zealand withFlintoff, Stuart Broad and James Anderson making inroads. They lost their way when the seven overs from Mascarenhas and Paul Collingwood went for 73. Flintoff appears in more pain every time he bowls.Keep your eye on: Sreesanth. He made a mark during the Testseries in England, but often for the wrong reasons with a beamer toPietersen and huge no-balls. He gets hyped-up in the slower tempo ofTest cricket so it’s a surprise he hasn’t exploded in Twenty20.Shop talk: It’s not been a great few days for Collingwood,losing crucial matches and being caught out at a lap-dancing club inCape Town. “The fact is I made a mistake, that’s what it comes downto, and what I need to focus on now is a big game on Wednesday forus,” he said. “We’re getting so close to knocking the runs off andthen we lose an important wicket and that partnership we need at avital time we’ve just not been able to get.Gambhir, who stood in for Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the pressconference, said India will still be wary of England. “There’s nopsychological edge in such a short version. Whoever plays well on thatday will win. Even Zimbabwe managed to beat Australia in thiscompetition. We have to win both games and we will be looking to dojust that.”Pitching it right: The ball zipped around with a 10am start,but this match is at the opposite end of the day so the impact of thefloodlights will be the important factor. Batting second isn’t easyat Kingsmead, but it is also the preferred way of playing Twenty20.TeamsEngland (probable) Darren Maddy, Vikram Solanki (wk), KevinPietersen, Paul Collingwood (capt), Owais Shah, Andrew Flintoff, LukeWright, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Chris Schofield, Stuart Broad, JamesAndersonIndia (probable) Virendar Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, RobinUthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik,Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Sreesanth, RP Singh