Rampaging England to Take on Ireland at Bangalore

Bangalore: After snatching a thrilling tie against favourites India, a rampaging England will look to mow down minnows Ireland and pocket the crucial two points when they meet in a group B match of the cricket World Cup on Wednesday.

After an unconvincing victory against Holland in their opening match, England were in sniffing distance of a memorable win over India on Sunday but the English team almost threw the chance before holding on to an astonishing tie.

Having three points from two matches, England are placed just behind India in the table with the only thing separating them being the run-rate. Andrew Strauss' men would hope to notch up a huge win tomorrow to get to the top.

England's batting has fired in both their previous encounters where they chased down 292 against Holland and scored 338 against India and skipper Strauss would want another solid performance from his batters.

However, the bowling has been a bit lacklustre as they have been leaking runs galore. James Anderson produced the worst World Cup performance by and Englishman when he gave away 91 runs in 9.5 overs, while Stuart Broad's replacement Ajmal Shahzad bled 53 in eight overs against India.

Save for Tim Bresnan, who took 5-48, none of the other bowlers, including spinners have been very successful.

Ian Bell, however, defended the bowlers and said England team are now a genuine World Cup contender.

"I think the conditions have been very hard for the bowlers. The batting team has to score heavy to defend. It was a fantastic performance by Tim (Bresnan) on a surface like this. He is in incredible form," Bell said.

Ireland, on the other hand, didn't have much to take home from their match against Bangladesh, their first match of the World Cup.

Ireland's bowlers fared better than the batsmen as they dismissed Bangladesh for 205. But the team was let down by the batsmen as they failed to chase down the total and it would take a mammoth effort if they have to salvage any hope of an upset tomorrow.

"We have to bounce back. We can't let it (defeat against Bangladesh) bother us. We have to leave the batting here and move on to Bangalore," Skipper William Porterfield said.

Interestingly, Ireland will have the services of some of the regulars of English county circuit such as Ed Joyce, who was granted special dispensation by the ICC to play for the country of his birth at the last moment.

Joyce, who was dropped by England after the side's dismal showing at the 2007 World Cup, will be joined by Somerset spinner George Dockrell tomorrow.

Bell also reckoned there are some dangerous players in the Ireland side who can spoil their party.

"We know a fair bit (about Ireland). These days a lot of those guys are respected on the county circuit. They have earned respect in international one-day cricket and there is a lot of experience in their side from county cricket.

"It's a game we're looking forward to and will have to play well in. It is not a game we can turn up and just coast. There are some dangerous players in that Ireland side," he said.

Teams from

England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Michael Yardy, Ajmal Shahzad, James Tredwell, Luke Wright

Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Niall O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, John Mooney, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Gary Wilson, Andrew White, Ed Joyce

Pitch & conditions
Skipper Andrew Strauss believes the Chinnaswamy pitch was one of the flattest tracks England have played on. Typically having favoured teams batting first, both teams will be keen to set an imposing target to apply pressure on the opposition. However, England might re-consider their strategy given their recent successes chasing large totals.

Stats & trivia

• For Ireland, the all-round abilities of Andre Botha could be crucial to their team's success. He scored a 50 on his debut against England in 2006 and has been among the wickets already.
• England (TWLLL) have had an interesting recent past in World Cups. In three consecutive World Cup matches
• Ireland (LWLLW), unlike England, actually put in a very disciplined performance in the field against Bangladesh to restrict them to 205 but their batting let them down to allow Bangladesh a hard-earned victory.

Head to head

• Total played 3
• England won 3
• Ireland won 0
• First meeting: June 13, 2006, Dublin - England won by 38 runs
• Last meeting: August 27, 2009, Dublin - England won by 2 runs D/L method

Match facts
Wednesday March 2, 2011 (day/night)
Start time 14:30 local (09:00 GMT)