Cricket World Cup news: England pace aces Archer and Wood set to face Pakistan

Bangladesh stun South Africa and fans wear
fancy dress in dig at Smith and Warner

Daily Briefing

Wood sat out Thursday’s win against South Africa but The Times says he is fully recovered from the
ankle injury he picked up in a friendly against Australia.

Wood and Archer have spearheaded England’s one-day attack
on only one previous occasion – against Pakistan in last month’s
series. The venue was Trent Bridge and Wood sent Imam-ul-Haq to
hospital after hitting him on the left elbow.

“Yes, there is a chance,” said England skipper Eoin Morgan
when asked if Wood would be selected (probably for Liam
Plunkett).

“There will be no major tactical changes, but more being
sure you’re good at what you’re doing. If you are going to use the
short ball, make sure it’s in the right area.”

Bouncer barrage

Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood has told his side to
brace themselves for a barrage of bouncers.

West Indies crushed Pakistan in their World Cup opener at
Trent Bridge on Friday with the Caribbean quicks reducing their
opponents to 105 all out. And with England’s Archer clocking speeds
of more than 90mph, Mahmood is expecting his batsmen will have to
deal with more chin music at Trent Bridge.

“We didn’t handle the short ball really well [against the
Windies] and we practised a lot, and we know it will come,” said Mahmood. “All the teams will bowl short
against us so we are practising.”

Crash, Bang, Wallop

South Africa’s World Cup hopes suffered another blow with
a surprising 21-run defeat to Bangladesh at The Oval on
Sunday.

Batting first, Bangladesh posted their record one-day
total of 330-6 thanks to 78 from Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al
Hasan’s 75. Mahmudullah also made a telling contribution with an
unbeaten 46 off 33 balls.

That left South Africa, heavily beaten by England in their
opening match last Thursday, requiring the highest World Cup chase
in history.

The Proteas gave it their best shot with captain Faf du
Plessis top-scoring with 62 but in the end they ran out of overs,
finishing on 309-8.

Next up for South Africa is India at Southampton on
Wednesday, a game they can’t afford to lose if they wish to
progress from the ten-team group stage.

“[It] didn’t go according to plan,” admitted du Plessis. “The skills weren’t here but I
can promise there will be fight against India on Wednesday… we’re a
proud sporting nation.”

Fancy dress dig

It’s early days in the Cricket World Cup but already there
is a strong contender for the tournament’s best fancy dress
costume.

Two spectators at Bristol on Saturday were dressed as
sandpaper, a dig at the Australian pair Steve Smith and David
Warner.

They were banned last year for their part in the
ball-tampering scandal and the English fans have promised they
won’t let them forget it during the World Cup.

Not that Warner seemed bothered, with his unbeaten 89
easing the Aussies to a seven-wicket win against
Afghanistan.

This week’s Cricket World Cup
fixtures

All matches are live on Sky Sports.

• Monday 3 June: England vs. Pakistan
  (10.30am) 
• Tuesday 4 June: Afghanistan vs. Sri Lanka (10.30am) 
• Wednesday 5 June: South Africa vs. India (10.30am); Bangladesh
  vs. New Zealand (1.30pm) 
• Thursday 6 June: Australia vs. West Indies (10.30am) 
• Friday 7 June: Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka (10.30am) 
• Saturday 8 June: England vs. Bangladesh (10.30am); Afghanistan
  vs. New Zealand (1.30pm) 
• Sunday 9 June: India vs. Australia (10.30am)