Do or Die game for Englishmen against Carribeans

Its been unfortunate and forgettable tournament for the English team so far and today is their D-Day and they have to come good on this day. If they lose today they will go home, so they have to win at any cost. They can take inspiration from Pakistan's 1992 World Cup victory where Pakistan was in the similar situation and from that situation they bounced back and ended up as champions. So still little hope alive and to keep it alive England have to win.

So far England's journey in this World Cup is bit scratchy. They involved in four matches which ended with unexpected results which is very rare in International Cricket. They have 5 points from the 5 matches they played so far and this is also highly unexpected of them because before the start of tournament they were considered one of the team who can lift the elite trophy on April 2 but now they are on the stage where they can be knocked-out of the tournament. I think if they win today then I believe they will win the World Cup for sure. England also plagued  with injuries as half of their team was injured before the start of tournament and to add to their woes Kevin Pietersen also suffered hernia problem and left the team in the middle of tournament. English bowlers  also don't look that fit and this is because of fatigue.  The amount of cricket they played before the World Cup definitely affecting their bodies and mind. More than physical, it is mental fatigue which is affecting England because they did not get the time after Ashes to switch-off from the cricket and kept playing cricket till the World Cup. You need good amount of mental and physical rest before the tournament like World Cup.

Coming to today's game, I think Andrew Strauss is key man for England. He is captain and he is their in-form batsman. Strauss have to lift his game today and have to lead his side from the front. Good innings up-front from the captain will certainly boost the morale of entire team. Strauss have to make his luck to work today in terms of toss. In Chennai team batting second always face trouble, so Strauss have to win the toss and put runs on the board. Pitch will certainly turn more in second innings and whichever team bats second will face lot of problems. Batting is not very big problem for England so far in the tournament as Trott, Bell and Bopara are in good form and their batting have been bolstered little bit with the return of Eoin Morgan and he holds the key in the death overs for England. Morgan have to stay on wicket till 50th over and have to play the finisher role with perfection because good start requires good finish as well.  England restricted Proteas on the same ground last week  for just 165 and won the game even after scoring 171 runs. So they take inspiration from that victory. Swann and Yardy holds the key in this match and if these two bowlers bowls well than England can think of winning this contest. So its a must win situation for England to stay in hunt.

As far as West Indies is concerned, they are really not the team which they were in 70s and 80s but still they have good enough players who can win them any game on their day, so in that way one cannot count West Indies out of the contest. They have quality players like Sarwan, Gayle, Pollard, Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo who can change course of any game in a minute. Bowling also look far more better with Roach picking wickets consistently and with his speed he can do lot of damage in opposition batting. Sulieman Ben bowled well for them and he holds the key on rank turner of Chennai. So far West Indies has won against minnows in this tournament and they lost to giant South Africa, so it will be interesting to see how well they compete against England. West Indies will be under no pressure today because even if they lose today they still get one more game against India, so they have to play freely and have to take full advantage of opposition's weakness and that is pressure because England will be under tremendous pressure going into this game and West Indies have to just take advantage of that.

Today good contest in offering at Chepauk and its a must win game for England. If England lose today the fate will be sealed and for West Indies nothing to lose today as they will still in hunt with game under their belt.

Pakistan thrash Kenya, African lions take on Calypso Kings today

As expected Pakistan thrash Kenya comprehensively at Hambantota. This match was very important for Pakistan to get into the groove of World Cup and they succeeded in this. Their middle-order got good opportunity of getting among some runs which they grabbed with both hands. Bowlers also had good work-out and Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi stood out with the ball as he claimed five-for. However worry for Pakistan is the way their openers  approached the game and failed miserably in the process can be a warning for Pakistan team. Kenya lost its second match in a row. 

They started brilliantly but failed to continue with the early over momentum. Kenyan bowlers torn apart by the Pakistani middle-order. Pakistani batsmen forced them to bowl wrong lines and which resulted into 47 extra runs. Overall bad match for Kenya and here on their hopes of doing well in the tournament also finishes. It was completely one-sided affair and Pakistani won it convincingly and started their World Cup journey on a high-note.

Big match coming-up later in the day where African Lions will take on Calypso Kings at Ferozeshah Kotla,Delhi. This is first international match to be played on the Kotla ground after pitch fiasco in 2009 so it will be interesting to see how pitch behaves. Apart from the pitch, focus will be on two teams in South Africa and West Indies. South Africa is coming in this tournament after beating India at home 3-2 in ODI series but that result does not indicate how close that series was as India fought very well. As far as West Indies is concerned they lost the ODI series to Sri Lanka before the World Cup but good thing for West Indies is that they played their last series in Sri Lanka and they are more acclimatised to the sub-continent conditions and that can help them in this key match. Both the teams  will start their World Cup campaign with this match and whoever win this contest carry big  advantage in coming matches. 

If we look at South African squad it looks very balanced and with the return of star all-rounder Kallis this team looks pretty formidable. If we talk about strength of the Proteas then it is their bowling which stands out. They have two fearsome opening bowlers in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel who can run through any side on any ground and pitch. Both have great pace with good accuracy. However, Proteas lack a bit in spin department where they have only Johan Botha who is experienced but not a kind of bowler who can make much impression. South Africa is banking highly on leg-spinner Imran Tahir who is Pakistan origin player and rated very highly in South africa but he is inexperienced and that can prove costly for Proteas. As far as batting is concerned Proteas are also having advantage as they have in-form opening pair in Hashim Amla and Greame Smith. Amla loves playing on sub-continent pitches and prolific scorer for proteas in last two years. Form of AB DeVilliers is a big concern for South Africa as he failed to score against India in home-series but he is class player and can hit the form anytime.

As far as West Indies is concerned they are not the formidable side now but they still have very good players in their ranks. Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Keiron Pollard and Shivnarine Chanderpaul can win matches single-handedly. West Indan bowling is not that great but they still rely heavily on the pace but they don't have any impact pace bowler in their ranks. Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor,etc. can bowl one or two great spell here and there but lacks consistency and remember they are plying in sub-continent where pitches don't help fast bowlers  too much so this is huge disadvantage for them. They have one spinner in Sulieman Benn who is not that dangerous and will do containing job rather than picking up wickets. I believe West Indies are not favourite to win today's encounter against Proteas but as they say cricket is a game of high unpredictability and whoever play well will emerge as winner.

So great contest in offering after few dull matches and hoping to see lot of sixes and fours from the big bats of Gayle and Pollard.

Squads:

Greame Smith(Captain), Hashim Amla, Jacque Kallis, AB DeVilliers(WK), Morne Van Wyk(WK), Jean-Paul Duminy, Collin Ingram, Faf DuPlessis, Johan Botha, Robin Peterson, Imran Tahir, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell. Corrie Van Zyl(Coach)

Darren Sammy(Captain), Carlton Baugh(WK), Adrian Barath, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo,  Keiron Pollard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ravi Rampaul, Nikita Miller, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Sulieman Benn, Devon Smith. Ottis Gibson(Coach)