Twenty20 World Championship 2009

ICC T20 WC Super 8: India v England Preview

India will take on England in a do or die game on Sunday in the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup. This is a must win game for both the teams if they are to have any hopes of reaching the semi final stage.

England have had a mixed run upto now. They lost against lowly Netherlands and then stunned Pakistan in an intense display of all round cricket. Their next opponents proved a bit too strong for them as South Africa were easy winners in their first Super 8 game two days ago. Now they face India in a must win situation and will have to come up with another intensive performance to get on top of the defending champions.

India too are on the back foot. They had easy games in the group stage and then against the West Indies, in what was their first true test, they fell short as they lost from a winning position. They are too heavily dependent on their top order and will have to make sure that they post a good total if they bat first. Yuvraj Singh will be the key yet again as he will look to shore up the batting as Dhoni is woefully out of touch. This is exactly the kind of game where the Indian team will miss some one like Virender Sehwag who is a proven matchwinner.

Even then they possess the firepower to win this game as they have quality batsmen and bowlers available to them. It is just that they have to get their act together and concentrate for the length of the whole game and not lose their way after getting crucial wickets or some quick runs. This is a vital game for if they lose they will in all probability be knocked out of the world cup and will lose their crown of world champions.

The match begins at 10 pm IST.

Tags: england, India, t20 world cup