ICC Champions Trophy, South Africa
Venues: Centurion and Johannesburg Dates: 22 September - 5 October
Coverage: Live text commentary on England matches, both semi-finals and the final on the BBC Sport website and mobiles; live scorecards and reports on all other games. Also live on Sky Sports
Shah's first half century in 10 innings was a welcome return to form
|
England will look to maintain their momentum against New Zealand on Wednesday, despite already qualifying for the Champions Trophy semi-finals.
Andrew Strauss's men sealed a place in the last four of the event with wins over Sri Lanka and South Africa.
And they may choose to keep faith with the side that beat the hosts on Monday, though wicketkeeper Steve Davies could be called in with Matt Prior still ill.
New Zealand know only a win will guarantee them a semi-final spot.
The Black Caps are bottom of Group B, having beaten Sri Lanka and lost to South Africa, but a victory will draw them alongside England on four points and see them into the semis.
A defeat will most likely see New Zealand crash out of the tournament and secure Sri Lanka's qualification, although a high-scoring narrow defeat might be enough to earn their progress even if England win.
They will have to do it without lead run-scorer Jesse Ryder, though, after the batsman was ruled out of a the tournament with a hamstring strain, while Jacob Oram has now returned home through injury, replaced by James Franklin.
Either way, Owais Shah, who scored 98 in the win over South Africa, insists England are not considering the match in Johannesburg a 'dead rubber'.
606: DEBATE
Orangputeh
|
England, alongside Pakistan, are the only country never to have lifted the Champions Trophy since its introduction 11 years ago, have been the revelation of the tournament.
They came into the series outside the top six in the world rankings and on the back of a 6-1 home series defeat by Australia, but Shah insists the confidence is now flowing in the dressing room.
"The team is confident right now," he said. "We are in the semi-final and one game away from the final.
"You always enter a competition to win it and the way we are playing at the moment I don't see why we can't go all the way. We have to make sure we beat New Zealand and keep that momentum going.
"We can't wait to see who we will play in the semis."
New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori, meanwhile, is just grateful to still be in with a chance of making the last four, saying: "At least we hold our fate in our own hands.
"We look at it and say 'If we defeat England we reach the semi-finals and if we lose we go home'. We are ready."
England (from): AJ Strauss (captain), JL Denly, RS Bopara, MJ Prior (wkt), PD Collingwood, EJG Morgan, OA Shah, LJ Wright, SCJ Broad, AU Rashid, TT Bresnan, GP Swann, RJ Sidebottom, JM Anderson, G Onions.
New Zealand (from): DL Vettori (captain), BB McCullum (wkt), MJ Guptill, LRPL Taylor, GD Elliott, NT Broom, JEC Franklin, KD Mills, DR Tuffey, SE Bond, IG Butler, JS Patel, BJ Diamanti, GJ Hopkins, AJ Redmond.
Umpires: DJ Harper (Aus) & Asad Rauf (Pak)
TV umpire: Aleem Dar (Pak)
Match referee: RS Mahanama (Sri)
- cheap isotretinoin - order isotretinoin online
- buy finasteride online - order generic propecia online
- viagra kaufen billig
- buy valium without prescription - buy valium
- cialis kaufen ohne rezept - viagra kaufen
No comments:
Post a Comment