/ Editor / 07 March 2007 /

On paper England and New Zealand face a relatively easy task in reaching the Super Eight phase of the World Cup from Group C when it begins in St Lucia later this month, but they would do well not to underestimate at least one of their 'minnow' rivals.

The two sides know each other well from recent matches, having played four times in the recent Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia which England went on to win after twice beating the Kiwis during the group stage.

They were evenly matched for most of those games and although England have apparently improved in the last month or so, since finally ending their run of defeats against Australia. England are unlikely to be strong favourites when they meet Stephen Fleming's side in their first game of the tournament on March 16.

But in a way both sides have been somewhat unlucky to come up against Kenya in this group, with Steven Tikolo's side probably as strong as both Zimbabwe and Bangladesh at the moment, despite their lack of Test-playing status.

However, it could be just that which helped the Kenyans into their position as leading 'minnow' in the tournament when they won the recent World Cricket League against the likes of Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands, also earning themselves a shot at the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship later this year.

Despite Kenya's improvement, the clash between England and New Zealand is likely to be the one that most people are interested in when looking at this group, and after events in Australia, it is doubtful that anyone would predict anything but a close encounter even in the wake of the Kiwis' shock warm-up defeat by Bangladesh.

The first game between the sides showed just how closely matched they are, as England finally won their first game of the winter by three wickets with just a ball of the 50 overs to spare.

New Zealand then defended totals fairly easily before succumbing in the most vital game of the quartet in Brisbane, when even a century from Fleming was not enough to help them chase down 270 and they came up 14 runs short.

But since then they have soundly thrashed a below-par Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee series at home and look to have a very solid all-round team, if two of their key players remain available.

Key to their bowling hopes is paceman Shane Bond, probably the fastest bowler remaining in the tournament in the absence of both Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee, but frustratingly injury-prone and inconsistent.

With the winner of this game (assuming both qualify) taking the points into the second stage - where they will play all of the other six qualifiers from the remaining three groups - it would be highly unlikely to imagine either side resting a single player. Bond missed a couple of games over the winter to rest his troublesome back.

The big factor that could swing this game in England's favour is the possibility that all-rounder Jacob Oram could miss the game as he continues to try and recover from a broken finger - stories last week that he is considering amputating the offending digit in order to make the World Cup do smack somewhat of desperation.

Fortunately for him it appears the addition of a fibre-glass sheath inside his glove is going to be enough to ease the pain, and he was the lone bright spot for them in the defeat by Bangladesh with a typically swash-buckling innings.

England will also be strengthened in the Caribbean by the return of the exciting presence of Kevin Pietersen at No 4 in their batting line-up, most likely at the expense of Andrew Strauss if they opt to partner Ed Joyce with skipper Michael Vaughan at the top of the order.

But their future in the competition is likely to come down to the success their seam attack can find on Caribbean pitches. Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood seemed most likely to back-up Andrew Flintoff, but with the amount spin available in doubt, there is a chance either Jimmy Anderson or Jon Lewis could also find a place in the team at Monty Panesar's expense.

Whichever side should happen to lose the game (unless of course there is a tie), will come under pressure to beat both Kenya and second minnow Canada to progress to the Super Eight stage, and in Kenya they will face a tough foe.

They start their campaign against Canada and now that their past political problems are behind them, they have excelled in 'second division' play and should be counted as a decent match for the likes of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh as well - their narrow warm-up defeat by the West Indies will also have added to their confidence.

As well as Tikolo, who averages around 30 in one-day internationals, they can also rely on the experience of Ravi Shah, David Obuya and Thomas Odoyo. But in essence this is a much younger side than they have ever taken to a World Cup, lacking the disgraced Maurice Odumbe as well as Kennedy Otieno and injured bowler Martin Suji.

That could be where they benefit, with some hungry players who are keen to impress on their first chance in the spotlight. Chief among those is batsman Tanmay Mishra, who has shown experience beyond his years so far and averages a handy 33 with the bat.

The bowling is probably not as solid (evidenced by the West Indies setting them 271 in Jamaica in the warm-up match), although Thomas Odoyo is handy with the new ball and able to get swing. Youngster Hiren Varaiya is likely to cause some trouble with his left-arm spin if pitches are turning.

Other than that it may well turn into a series of medium pacers trying to take the pace off the ball and stop better teams setting massive targets, but against Canada they will expect to get their tournament off to a flyer.

Canada are not in the same class as Kenya but they showed at times against the West Indies in 2003 they have a lot of pride, however they could face some long hours in the field during this effort at the World Cup.

Maintaining respectability will be the aim for John Davison and the rest of his side, and Davison was the star of the show in 2003 when he slogged a quick century against the West Indies and gave them a chance for a shock victory before being badly let down by his bowlers, who could not defend a 202 target and lost inside 21 overs.

Davison will be the rock again this time around, with support from Qaiser Ali and Ashish Bagai, a very talented wicket-keeper batsman who hit a pair of centuries during the World Cricket League in February and was named player of the tournament.

The bowling though, does not make for good reading and there would have to be concerns that totals could get embarrassing if either England or New Zealand have a good day. Just knowing that Dutchman Ryan ten Doeschate plundered them for 259 in a previous Intercontinental Cup game (not one-day cricket though), would fill anyone predicting a Canadian shock with a deal of dread.

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