Colombo-The 2010 World Twenty20 passed without a significant upset in the group stage and this tournament has also gone to form so far. In the Caribbean, however, England only scraped through to the group stage on run rate, with the rain denying Ireland a chance to chase 121 for a victory that would have eliminated the eventual winners. In Colombo, against an Afghanistan side that soaks up goodwill with every impudent swat for six, there is fresh potential for England to add to a head-scratching collection of recent snafus that includes losing to the Netherlands at the 2009 World Twenty20 at Lord's and Ireland and Bangladesh at last year's World Cup.
While Afghanistan, like Ireland, no longer benefit from the element of surprise-England will have watched their defeat to India, in addition to the hours of video analysis-the brio and verve that infuses their cricket still manages to act like an adrenaline shot. Afghanistan's effervescent rise in world cricket has not yet brought the scalp of a full member but the margins of defeat are getting smaller and a particularly poor display in the field, when they dropped four catches, was the main difference against India. That is an area Afghanistan must address but there is a sense that heroic near-misses will only suit them for so long. For England, a win will produce no fanfare but would secure progression from Group A.
Their status as both the No 1 team and the defending champions sits uneasily with a young squad playing in unfamiliar conditions but two contrasting victories in tight warm-up matches suggest they have taken their preparations seriously. England have had a settled line-up in T20 cricket this year and they may decide that now is not the time to start experimenting. This will be the third match of the competition to be played at the R Premadasa stadium but it is unlikely the pitch will have become too worn yet. Australia's quicks showed how to bowl on the surface, though Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan suffered against Afghanistan. If a forecast rain shower appears in the morning, that may liven things up even further.
