Michael Vaughan feels England can make semis

/ Editor / 05 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

Michael Vaughan remains upbeat about England's chances of reaching the World Cup semi-finals, despite defeat to Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

The England skipper saw his side slip to a two run defeat against one of the tournament favourites, a result that leaves Vaughan's side struggling to reach the last four.

Many feel England will have to win at least three for their last four Super 8 games - with fixtures left against Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh and West Indies.

But Vaughan believes his side are good enough to reach the latter stages and still feels confident of making it to the next round.
The skipper insisted: "I think we can (reach the last four). It was gutting to lose but there are a lot of positives to take from the game.

"Not many people gave us any chance of turning up and producing a performance, but we were outstanding in the field and there were just a couple of areas in the batting we need to look at."

Vaughan added: "We will work on the areas that weren't so good, but there were a lot more positives to take from this ground than there have been from the rest of the World Cup.

"Sunday is a big game (against Australia) and they are playing very good cricket, but not many people gave us much chance of turning up and putting Sri Lanka under pressure, so we'll try and do the same on Sunday but hopefully get the two points."

In Betfair's 'England Team Specials', 1.08 is available for Vaughan's men to be eliminated from the tournament at the Super 8 stage. Semi-final elimination is available at 7.

Meanwhile, Ravi Bopara can be backed at 10.5 to finish the tournament as England's top batsman - a market headed by Kevin Pietersen (1.6.)