Road to nowhere

Luck, perhaps, has not smiled on England during the course of this World Cup. They have not really deserved much, truth be told, but the little things which can have such significance on one-day cricket have seemed to be piling up against them. Yet in the field today, a few things started to go England's way: Michael Vaughan's horror show of a dropped catch somehow turned into a run-out, while Paul Nixon's drop fell not to ground but into the hands of Strauss at slip. The general performance in the field was slack, with none of the teeming enthusiasm displayed against Sri Lanka, and it was only thanks to a fast bouncy Kensington Oval pitch that they managed to unsettle the Bangladeshi batsmen, who have thus far found little success away from the low, slow decks similar to those they have at home.

From 65-6, they should really have finished the job and knocked over the rest for under 100. But instead of bowling the common-sense line and length which had brought early success, Flintoff was forced to pursue a short and wide angle of attack against stand-out batsman Saqibul Hasan, after Vaughan employed an 8:1 field. This is one of his weaknesses as a captain; as much as pre-conceived plans can be useful, he sometimes struggles to see the wood from the trees and ploughs on regardless of situation. There was some merit in the idea that short-pitched bowling might unsettle the Bangladeshis, with their inexperience playing the bouncing ball. Here, however, it should have been obvious after a few lacing back-cuts that this was a line of attack the batsman relished and that the sensible option would be to post a normal field and tell Flintoff to bowl straight. Nevertheless, Saqibul was allowed to continue on his merry way to an unbeaten half-century, with his tail-end partners succumbing only to a few flighted deliveries from Panesar.

Masharafe Mortaza is often cited as Bangladesh's only pace bowler of international class and his threat is underestimated by few. However all this attention has allowed less glamorous partner Syed Rasel to slip in under the radar and bag the greater hauls, as he did today, finding Ian Bell's edge and pinning Andrew Strauss to the crease. Bell's dismissal, attempting to force the pace after a slow start was partially explainable, but for Strauss to give it away after he had looked good and got himself in was poor. Worse were the dismissals of Pietersen and Vaughan, both misjudging leg-side heaves. By the fall of the fourth wicket, with Pietersen continuing his journey down the pitch to Razzak all the way back to the pavilion, all thoughts of boosting net-run rate had gone with him, the outcome of the game suddenly in doubt again. Flintoff did his best to settle it with a few lusty blows before he was deceived by Rafique's cunning arm ball, his wicket falling in the same over as Bopara's and opening the game up as a contest when he had been on the verge of sealing it. Collingwood and Nixon limped over the line, in the same fashion one might be expected to complete a three-legged race, but once again Bangladesh gave an excellent account of themselves in defence of what had seemed a terminally insufficient score.

As for England, a win is what they can claim, but a sloppy fielding display and a batting performance for which the word pathetic only begins to do justice, is what they must account for. South Africa are next up, the first of two knockout matches, and a team bristling in new-found confidence following their slaughter of the West Indies on Tuesday. They laid down their marker in emphatic style, challenging England to do the same. After they had bowled Bangladesh out for 143, there was a good opportunitu to storm to victory, boosting the net run rate as well as their own confidence at the same time as re-opening the still fresh wounds of South Africa's humiliating loss to the same team. In time-honoured style, England seized on an opportunity as a chance to fail miserably and are still to convince. Rational England fans have now given up hope they ever will in this tournament.

Two games remain for England in the Super 8 stage of the tournament. We know the line-up, the opposition and what is required. Sadly for England , we think we know the outcome as well.