ICC Champions Trophy 2013: England vs Sri Lanka - England preview

In spite of one-day cricket being played in England professionally for about 50 years, their record in big-ticket ICC one-day tournaments make for a disappointing reading. They haven’t won an ICC one-day tournament even once. But going into the Champions trophy, they must have fancied their chances of winning the prestigious tournament, especially considering that fact that it is being played in their own country. In their first game against Australia, they proved their mettle by thrashing their old rivals. Today, they would look to continue their winning momentum with a victory against the men from Emerald Isles.

Pitch and conditions

The track at The Oval has been historically known as a good pitch for batting. It has even bounce on offer, and with a fast outfield on view, batsmen can’t complain. One usually finds a tinge of grass at Oval, and that may help seamers to extract a bit of movement off the pitch early on.

Key players

Stuart Broad - As cricket enthusiasts, we talk so much about England’s spearhead, James Anderson, but always forget about his partner-in-crime, Stuart Broad. When Broad is bowling with good rhythm, he can be a major threat too. The tall pacer can extract bounce from even the most placid surface. But his strength lies in keeping the batsmen on tenterhooks with his variations. He can bowl the slower bouncer, change-up cross seam delivery, extract movement off the pitch, and swing the new as well as old ball. Broad is usually England’s go-to man in the death overs too.

Eoin Morgan - England’s blueprint for success has been for the top-order to erect a solid platform, and for power-hitters in the side to go hammer and tongs at opposition’s bowlers in the end overs. In the absence of swashbuckling middle-order batsman Kevin Pietersen, England will look to Morgan to do the trick.

In England’s first game against Australia, Morgan couldn’t fire on all cylinders. But make no mistake, he will be itching to come good against the Sri Lankans. It should be a mouth-watering contest when Malinga bowls to a batsman who can play shots in a 360 degree-arc.

X-factor

Uncanny ability of England’s pacers to generate reverse swing - Led by their spearhead, Jimmy Anderson, England’s seamers have shown that they can make the old ball talk. Even Broad and Bresnan were able to get appreciable movement with the old ball at Edgbaston. There was an inkling that the plan at Edgbaston was to bowl cross-seam in the early overs to get the ball roughed up. Whatever their strategy was, Anderson and company have hit the headlines for making batsmen dance to their tunes with the old ball in hand. It would be interesting to see whether they can generate some reverse swing at The Oval too.

England’s chances

On paper, England is the stronger side, but Sri Lanka will look to exploit their Achilles Heel in the middle overs by unleashing their spinners on England’s batsmen. England’s think-tank would also be worried about the prospect of playing the deadly Malinga in the final overs. However, England still should fancy their chances against Sri Lanka.

Possible line-up

With Swann being declared fit, he may take the place of Tredwell in the line-up. It is slightly harsh on Tredwell, as he has been in impressive form in one-day cricket, but it is hard to replace a bowler of Swann’s class in the side.

Alastair Cook (capt), Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler (wk), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson