The first game of the Super Eights will see England play Pakistan at Bridgetown in Barbados. England have almost struggled to get to the second round, after they were beaten by the West Indies in the first game of the group stage and then were almost held out to dry by Ireland, before the rain came and spoilt Ireland's chances.

Pakistan, on the other hand, had started off quite well, after beating Bangladesh in the first game, but lost badly to Australia. This meant that if Bangladesh would have beaten Australia in the third game of the group, with one over to spare or more, then Bangladesh would have been through at the expense of Pakistan. The Pakistanis would have been chewing their nails when the Aussies were 65/6 but they recovered and the side came through to the next round.

In this game, what the Pakistanis will need to be aware of is that despite England aversion spin bowling, the track at Barbados has shown yesterday that it will have a lot of pace in it. This will also mean that the Pakistanis may want to experiment by getting in another pace bowler in their ranks; a Mohammad Asif, if possible. That will help the Pakistanis in making the bowling more penetrating than it currently is.

Having said that, England will also need to look into their batting department. It is three matches in a row now, including one warm-up game against South Africa, that Eoin Morgan has rescued them from a position of almost hopelessness to take them closer to something more meaningful. And while he has done it thrice, he cannot be expected to repeat it again, game after game. Instead, the big guns like the Kevin Pietersen and even the captain Paul Collingwood of the world need to get going with the bat for the sake of their side.

The English bowling will relish these conditions and one cannot see any changes to the bowling attack, given that the side hasn't had the opportunity to bowl anything in the two games. This will mean that there is a chance that the side may go into the game a tad rusty and with a chance of the Pakistani batsmen going hard at them.

Of course, it will also depend on how the Pakistani team arrange their batting order, given that there seems to be some confusion in the ranks. Both teams look to be evenly poised and the side that holds its nerves better should be able to come out winners.

Tag :- England   Eoin Morgan   Kevin Pietersen   Mohammad Asif   Pakistan   Paul Collingwood