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BRISBANE: England are now playing knockout cricket after a weather-disrupted campaign, assistant coach Paul Collingwood declared on Monday, and are aiming for four wins to lift the T20 World Cup, starting with New Zealand in Brisbane.
England suffered a shock defeat against Ireland on the DLS method after a rain-interrupted match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last week, then saw their much-anticipated Ashes clash against Australia washed out at the same venue.
That leaves Group 1 wide open and they now face leaders New Zealand on Tuesday, knowing that wins in their final two group games will almost certainly see them into the semi-finals as one of the top two teams.
“There’s a lot of excitement around us because we know if we get it right in the next four games we have an opportunity to win a World Cup,” Collingwood said.
“We are now almost in the knockout phase with how we have to go about our cricket with must-win games and that is why we play the game.”
Anything short of a win against New Zealand will leave England dependent on beating Sri Lanka in their final group game in Sydney on Saturday and hoping other results go their way.
“It’s a position you want to be in with an opportunity to win the World Cup and tomorrow hopefully starts our momentum and our campaign,” said Collingwood
“We put in a good performance tomorrow and that will give us a lot of confidence for the last three games.”
England beat New Zealand by a draw, an even super over and a higher number of boundaries to win the 2019 World Cup 50-over final, and Collingwood expected Tuesday’s clash with the Group 1 leaders, who have won two games and seen one rained out, to be close again.
“Playing a game against the history of New Zealand shows you it’s always been a battle,” said Collingwood, a former England all-rounder.
“The bowlers are fresh, they’re raring to go, and the batsmen have been able to do some very specific confidence work in the nets and understand how they can go about the task tomorrow night in what is usually a very good Brisbane wicket. .”
He defended the Test captain under fire Ben Stokeswho has never managed to fire in Twenty20 cricket, backing the all-rounder to come good when it matters.
“The one person you want in your team when the pressure is on is Ben Stokes,” Collingwood said.
“We all know what he’s capable of, not just match-winning innings, but match-winning innings under serious amounts of pressure.
“When it comes to the crunch, you want a man like Ben Stokes to step out.
“I’m pretty confident there’s a turn just around the corner.”
England suffered a shock defeat against Ireland on the DLS method after a rain-interrupted match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last week, then saw their much-anticipated Ashes clash against Australia washed out at the same venue.
That leaves Group 1 wide open and they now face leaders New Zealand on Tuesday, knowing that wins in their final two group games will almost certainly see them into the semi-finals as one of the top two teams.
“There’s a lot of excitement around us because we know if we get it right in the next four games we have an opportunity to win a World Cup,” Collingwood said.
“We are now almost in the knockout phase with how we have to go about our cricket with must-win games and that is why we play the game.”
Anything short of a win against New Zealand will leave England dependent on beating Sri Lanka in their final group game in Sydney on Saturday and hoping other results go their way.
“It’s a position you want to be in with an opportunity to win the World Cup and tomorrow hopefully starts our momentum and our campaign,” said Collingwood
“We put in a good performance tomorrow and that will give us a lot of confidence for the last three games.”
England beat New Zealand by a draw, an even super over and a higher number of boundaries to win the 2019 World Cup 50-over final, and Collingwood expected Tuesday’s clash with the Group 1 leaders, who have won two games and seen one rained out, to be close again.
“Playing a game against the history of New Zealand shows you it’s always been a battle,” said Collingwood, a former England all-rounder.
“The bowlers are fresh, they’re raring to go, and the batsmen have been able to do some very specific confidence work in the nets and understand how they can go about the task tomorrow night in what is usually a very good Brisbane wicket. .”
He defended the Test captain under fire Ben Stokeswho has never managed to fire in Twenty20 cricket, backing the all-rounder to come good when it matters.
“The one person you want in your team when the pressure is on is Ben Stokes,” Collingwood said.
“We all know what he’s capable of, not just match-winning innings, but match-winning innings under serious amounts of pressure.
“When it comes to the crunch, you want a man like Ben Stokes to step out.
“I’m pretty confident there’s a turn just around the corner.”
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