Narrow WCup win shows work to be done for England

NAGPUR, India (AP) — If nothing else, England's opening performance of the World Cup should prevent any kind of complacency creeping into the squad as it heads to Bangalore to face India at the weekend.

Captain Andrew Strauss said his century stand with Kevin Pietersen and the successful return of spinner Graeme Swann against the Netherlands provided some bright spots, but was still able to highlight the pace bowling, shambolic fielding and use of the powerplay as areas that need improving fast.

A conservative run chase also left the result open to doubt until the penultimate over, when Ravi Bopara cut loose with 16 off four deliveries to clinch a six-wicket win with eight balls remaining.

But Strauss praised his batsmen for keeping cool, preferring to look upon the slow but smooth progress toward the Netherlands' 292-6 as controlled.

"It was probably a bit tighter at the end there than we would have liked and we probably didn't use the powerplay as well as we would have liked," Strauss said after Tuesday's match. "But I think we always had the batting under control.

"We can take some confidence from that but the first half of the game was not as good as we wanted it to be."

That's an understatement.

Miscommunications in the field cost England two clear wickets, while over-reliance on bounce on a good batting track helped Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate rack up 119 from 110 balls in the second highest total ever against England at a World Cup.

Ten Doeschate had a real let off while on 47 when James Anderson raced in from long on and Pietersen did the same from long off only for both to halt and leave an easy catch to each other — letting the ball drop safely between them.

Netherlands captain Peter Borren, who made an unbeaten 35 from 24 balls despite worrying about friends and family following the earthquake in his native Christchurch, was then bowled by Stuart Broad in the final over only to be recalled from the rope when it was shown England had only three fielders inside the circle.

Strauss said the latter was simply an unfortunate mistake after he pointed while asking Broad if he wanted a fielder stationed deep.

"Paul Collingwood thought I was saying, 'go out there,'" Strauss explained. "It doesn't happen often and needless to say when things are going against you, you happen to take a wicket off that ball."

England plays co-host and tournament favorite India on Sunday, so quick action is needed.

The fielding errors should not be too difficult to address, with England arguably the sharpest fielding side in the world over the past couple of years.

"In Australia, they were phenomenal, particularly in the Ashes," Ten Doeschate said. "For England to come and play against us in a stadium with just 5,000 people, maybe it's a little bit of a come down for them."

Similarly, the ability to pick an attack tailored to conditions has also been a prominent feature of England's game, so coach Andy Flower will not hesitate to change things if he feels the pacemen's approach is inappropriate for the subcontinent's wickets.

England could bring in Michael Yardy as a second spinner in an effort to frustrate the free-scoring Indians.

"It's certainly an option for us," Strauss said. "It didn't turn very much but the slower bowlers were harder to get away than the quicker bowlers."

But at least England's batting gives it something to work with.

Pietersen's promotion to opener worked, although Strauss surprisingly scored quicker than his partner with an 83-ball 88 — equaling the highest World Cup total by an England captain.

"He got us off to a good start," Strauss said. "He hit the fielders quite a lot today. I think the short extra cover will have pretty sore hands. I think we'll maybe see him at his best against the quicker bowlers.

"We put on a century, which is something you always want to do as an opening partnership."