England gamble on Pietersen to make early impact

AHMEDABAD, (Reuters) – Kevin Pietersen will be ready  to unleash his destructive brand of cricket from the off when  England face the Netherlands in their opening World Cup Group B  match tomorrow.

Realising the importance of attacking during the first 20  overs on the placid subcontinental pitches, England have  promoted their most explosive batsman to the top of the order  and hope Pietersen will produce the fireworks he is capable of.

In recent months, the South African-born batsman has  floundered in the middle order and may find that life on the top  is more to his liking, especially as it is often easier to hit  the new hard ball than the old soft one.

The promotion of Pietersen to partner captain Andrew Strauss  also seems to have settled some nerves.

England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, relieved of his opening  duties, will now anchor the middle order in the absence of Eoin  Morgan, who was ruled out with a broken finger before the start.

“The thing I am excited about it is the mentality of going  into it and the way I have been asked to play,” Prior told  reporters in Nagpur.

“It is actually a very positive move for me. The middle  overs will be very important, playing spin and also the seam  bowlers who bowl cutters and slower balls,” Prior said.

“To try and manipulate the ball around the field is going to  be an important part of playing in the sub-continent, something  I am pretty confident about doing.”

Prior, who was a surprise inclusion ahead of Steve Davies as  the lone wicketkeeper, is enjoying his new responsibility.

“The moment anyone says the word ‘finisher’ you panic a  little bit because it carries a lot of responsibility,” he  added.

“But I love being part of the team. You want to be covering  the wheel, you want to be one of those members who wins games or  helps set up wins.”

England arrived in the subcontinent after a 6-1 thrashing by  Australia in last month’s one-day series but victories in the  two practice matches in India will have gone some way towards  boosting their morale.

The return of paceman Stuart Broad, who scripted the wins  against Canada and Pakistan, will also bode well as they look to  add the 50-over World Cup title to their triumph in the Twenty20  competition.

However, before England face any of their main rivals such  as India and South Africa in Group B, they will want to settle  scores with Netherlands.

In 2009, Netherlands stunned then hosts England with a last  ball win at the Twenty20 World Cup in the tournament’s opening  game.

The Dutch will look to claim another upset to prove the  game’s governing body (ICC) wrong.

The ICC has decided to cut the number of teams at the 2015  World Cup from 14 to 10, making it virtually impossible for rank  outsiders such as Netherlands to make the cut for the next  50-over World Cup.