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INDIA vs ENGLAND FULL HIGHLIGHTS

SACHIN PLAYS A UPAR CUT DURING HIS CENTURY
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NOT WORRIED ABOUT WEATHER: DHONI

As Bangalore gets ready for Sunday's India-England match, there are doubts if the rain clouds will stay away. Saturday remained overcast for the best part; several parts of the city saw drizzles and there's a thunderstorm forecast for tonight. Friday had seen heavy rains but the playing area at the Chinnaswamy Stadium had recovered sufficiently from it today.

A sunny Sunday has been forecast, but there's only one thing to be said about Bangalore's weather with certainty: it is fickle. After the transfer of this game from Kolkata and the uproar over availability of tickets, a weather disruption would upset the fans severely. From a cricket point of view, India captain MS Dhoni said it's not a situation he can prepare for.

"There were times (during the recent tour) in South Africa where there was an 80 percent chance of rain, and it didn't rain at all," Dhoni said today. "But it did on days when there was a 20 percent chance predicted."

"We will see the forecast for tomorrow and make up our mind about the team composition," he said referring to the scenario where India may need quick runs if Duckworth-Lewis equations come into play.

Nehra may sit out

Virender Sehwag had suffered to a blow to his ribs, but Dhoni said there were no fitness concerns barring Ashish Nehra, who had operated at "80 percent intensity" at the nets today. It means the off-colour pacer may have to sit out given that his fitness issues have dented his form in a big way.

In his last 10 ODIs, Nehra's economy rate is 6.07, and he averages 46.2 for his 10 wickets. Worse, he rarely tends to recover from a poor start. The problem for India now is that S Sreesanth too was in poor form against Bangladesh, where India played three seamers.

It is unlikely India will retain those three, but this would only be finalised after a look at the pitch which had turned square in the warm-up game between India and Australia. It's also interesting to note that teams like West Indies, Zimbabwe, South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh have opened the bowling with spin in the tournament. But the two teams with the strongest spin attack --- India and Sri Lanka --- are yet to resort to this tactic.

'Not a turning wicket'

Curator Narayan Raju said today the pitch would be different. "We have been working on the pitch and it will not spin as much as it during the warm-up game," he said. The wicket had patches of green on Saturday.

Dhoni said it was damp and being rolled regularly. It is expected to play true, this being an important game. "We will take a call on the team composition after seeing the pitch in the morning," when asked if he will play a spin-heavy attack.

England captain Andrew Strauss says he wouldn't mind a turner. "If it's going to turn like it did in that Australia warm-up game two spinners are going to be a very strong option for us," he said.

Pressure and expectations

Having made a strong start in the Bangladesh opener, Dhoni said playing at home against a top side like England like have its usual pressures. "We did a good job in Mirpur," he said. "But we are not celebrating yet. There's always pressure when we play in India and the England game would not be different."

Strauss explained what a win would mean to him. "Winning here would be a huge lift for us and would send out a pretty strong marker to other sides," he said. "We'd love to spoil an India party here in Bangalore."

The bigger picture? India will become a certainty for the quarterfinals with a win here. But let's hope the rain clouds stay away.

TERROR THREAT TO ICC WORLD CUP

INDIA V/S ENGLAND OVERVIEW

India and England have had their fair share of success at the Cricket World Cup. India won the competition way back in 1983 while England have been losing finalists on three earlier occasions (1979, 1987 and 1992). Both countries have played all nine editions of the World Cup amassing some significant stats along the way.  Here is a quick run through of the numbers that matter when the two sides square-off in Bengaluru on February 27:

Team Records: India at the World Cup

Mts	Won	Lost	NR	Tied
59	33	25	1	0

Highest Totals (Minimum 250 runs)

Total	Opposition	Venue	Year
413 for 5	v Bermuda	Port-of-Spain	2007
373 for 6	v Sri Lanka	Taunton	1999
370 for 4	v Bangladesh	Mirpur	2011
329 for 2	v Kenya	Bristol	1999
311 for 2	v Namibia	Pietermaritzburg	2003

Lowest Totals

Total	Opposition	Venue	Year
125	v Australia	Centurion	2003
132 for 3	v England	Lord's	1975
158	v Australia	Nottingham	1983

Team Records: England at the World Cup

Mts	Won	Lost	NR	Tied
60	37	22	1	0

Highest Totals (Minimum 250 runs)

Total	Opposition	Venue	Year
334 for 4	v India	Lord's	1975
333 for 9	v Sri Lanka	Taunton	1983
322 for 6	v New Zealand	The Oval	1983
301 for 9	v West Indies	Bridgetown	2007

Lowest totals

Total	Opposition	Venue	Year
93	v Australia	Leeds	1975
103	v South Africa	The Oval	1999
105	v Zimbabwe	Albury	1992

Head-to-head

	Mts	India Won	England Won	No Result
Overall	70	38	30	2
World Cup	6	3	3	0

Last meeting at the World Cup

February 26, 2003 - Venue –Durban

Brief scores: India 250 for 9 (50 overs) beat England 168 (45.3 overs) by 82 runs

ODI records at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru:

Team	Mts	Won	Lost	NR	Tied
India	16	11	4	1	0
England	3	2	1	0	0

At Bengaluru (All Matches)	All	Day	D/N
Average 1st inns score	255	231	254

At Bengaluru (all matches)	Matches	Won by side batting first	Won by side batting first second	No result
Day/Night matches	12	6	5	1
Day matches	6	2	3	1

Highest total at Bengaluru:

Australia 347 for 2 (50 overs) v India - November 12, 2003

Lowest total at Bengaluru:

India 168 (42.1 overs) v Pakistan - April 4, 1999