Zimbabwe’s thrilling victory over Australia has thrown Group B wideopen and England will now be well aware they can’t take their firstmatch in the tournament lightly

Andrew McGlashan at Newlands12-Sep-2007

Andrew Flintoff: will he play? © Getty Images
Zimbabwe’s thrilling victory over Australia has thrown Group B wideopen and England will now be well aware they can’t take their firstmatch in the tournament lightly. You wouldn’t blame Zimbabwe if theyrolled into the game on the back of an all-night party – it isn’tevery day the world champions are beaten – but if they can holdthemselves together for another 24 hours, who knows what they canachieve.The English game has embraced Twenty20 with vigour and nowthe national side gets the chance to show if domestic experience cantranslate to the international stage. They have brought with themfive specialists, helping to counter the lack of Twenty20 played bythe leading names, but whoever takes the field will be well aware ofthe challenge.Bat play
England managed to put big runs on the board in the one-day seriesagainst India and have the fire-power to do the same in Twenty20. LukeWright, who has earned his call-up after success in the top three forSussex, is likely to go in high up the order while Kevin Pietersenneeds to be given as much time as possible to build his innings. Dimitri Mascarenhas, after his five sixes in five balls against India, could be as low as No. 9meaning England can go hard throughout their 20 overs.Zimbabwe’s line-up will have gained huge confidence from theirsuccessful run-chase and showed no fear against Australia’s quick men.A similar outlook will serve them well against England and they havethe advantage of having played on the surface and being able to judgewhat is a decent total.Wrecking BallMedium-pace swing is Zimbabwe’s key weapon and if conditions remain ashelpful as they were against Australia then Gary Brent and Co. canagain prove a handful. Elton Chigumbura’s elevation to the new-ballrole was an inspired move, but the experiment with Tatenda Taibu couldbe short-lived.The most impressive part of England’s recent one-day displays was theperformance of their new-ball pairing, James Anderson and Stuart Broad.Their consistent efforts produced early in-roads and restricted thescoring. Quick wickets in Twenty20 cricket put teams onto the backfoot and they are a potent pair. Mascarenhas’ nibbling medium-pacecould be hard to score off on a sluggish Newlands pitch, then there isAndrew Flintoff. If he is fit.Key your eyes on
Zimbabwe’s fielding. It was electric against Australia and was a keypart of them winning the match. They dived for everything, held theircatches, and Taylor’s glovework was also impressive.Shop talk
“Once we’ve won again then they can have a full go,” said Zimbabwe’s coach Robin Brown, whose main concern is ensuring his team arefocussed again for the morning. That might be easier said than done.Most of England’s focus has been on Flintoff. He batted and bowled inthe training session on Tuesday, hitting four sixes in four balls inthe process, but a decision won’t be taken until just before the game.Paul Collingwood said: “We are going to have to judge him in themorning and see if he pulls up stiff or sore and then take it fromthere.”Pitching it right
The Newlands surface was sluggish and tough for scoring as expectedand much the same is expected for the second match. The forecast isslightly better, although the odd shower can’t be ruled out.TeamsEngland (possible) Matt Prior (wk), Luke Wright, KevinPietersen, Paul Collingwood (capt), Andrew Flintoff, Owais Shah, ChrisSchofield, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, JamesKirtleyZimbabwe (probable) Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza, ChamuChibhabha, Brendon Taylor (wk), Elton Chigumbura, Stuart Matsikenyeri,Keith Dabengwa, Prosper Utseya (capt), Gary Brent, Tawanda Mupariwa