“Massive week” for England

England’s star batsman Kevin Pietersen has spoken of the importance that they win at least one of their matches this week.

England take on Sri Lanka and Australia, two sides looking currently destined for the semi-finals. They currently have two points in the Super Eight, from their victory over Ireland, and will be looking for victories in their remaining games to take them to the next stage.

“It’s a massive week for us. We cannot finish on Sunday with no points from these two games. We cannot leave Antigua on Monday with just the two points we have because that will make it really hard for us. I know there is a small mathematical chance of going through if we win the last three games, but we’ve got to get at least another two points out of this week and the guys are upbeat about it.”

Pietersen also added: “It’s clear how hard we’re all training. There is no laughing, no joking out there. There is still enjoyment at what we’re doing but there is a lot of hard work going in. It is the World Cup and anything can happen in the World Cup on your day. We just have to make sure we give ourselves the chance to get to the semi-finals.”

He also spoke of an apparent lack of “intensity” in England’s performances so far, particularly Friday’s encounter with Ireland: “The other day against Ireland we got six wickets and then the last few batters scored a load of runs. The intensity dropped off a bit, but that is natural. The boys have spoken about it and the boys know we have to keep our intensity up throughout. Against Sri Lanka or Australia you cannot slip up for five or 10 overs in the one-day game, you’ve got to nail the full 100 overs.”

England face Sri Lanka on Wednesday in Antigua, while Australia await them at the same ground on Sunday. After that, they move to Barbados to take on Bangladesh, South Africa and West Indies.