lone warriors in both sides expect collective effort to stay alive

The group A, is not as wide open as group B but the remaining two matches have their own significance, that other than England, anyone can make into the semis in the upcoming week. Out of the two, first is between Bangladesh and New Zealand, where the winner stays for the result of the match the next day.

Coming to what's happened so far, for the both teams is, Bangladesh lost to England convincingly and they got out of jail against Australia with pinching one point. It is a result due to their in competitiveness with opposition standards and Tamim has been the lone warrior for the side with the bat, and no one stood still with the ball either.

New Zealand situation is not far away but slightly better than Bangladesh and not to their own standards. They lost a point to Australia as rain played spoilsport, where the dominance was evident. But it doesn't say the true story and with the combination against England will say it, as no one helped Williamson in a great deal to score runs.

The chase against England, is a picture perfect example of it, although, for the contest against Bangladesh, the Kiwis have the advantage of playing the match at the same Venue. The short straight boundaries meant, short balls combining Bangladesh way and it all boils out, how they gonna handle the challenge at Cardiff.

However, if the rain forecasted on Friday plays spoilsport, Bangladesh have the upper hand in terms of net run rate and it means anything less than a win for Kiwis is out of the way.

Time for Pakistan to turn the table on it's head to stay alive

Two contrasting sides, one flying high in confidence at the top of the rankings and the other slipping its standards by a long way, with a comparison to modern way, face each other to push the progression forward into the later stages of the tournament at Edgdaston.

The future seems blank for Pakistan in ODI Cricket, as they can't match the standards to the modern world. But more than that, the lack of intent to push forward the way back into the mix, doesn't show hope in nearby and the performance against India replicates to the exact point.

South Africa though, started the campaign on high against Sri Lanka but the scorecard doesn't show the pressure, they were under in defending the moderate total. However,  it came early in the tournament for good, as they unleashed their strength in pressure situation.

So that means, South Africa starts as clear favourites by all means and a win can take them close into semi's, for Pakistan, a loss will be the end of the road in the tournament. All Pakistan can do, is to draw inspiration from their win against Proteas in WC15, as at the same time they considered as pure underdogs.

Both teams gear up for a curical contest, as a win lay safe road into semi's

The rain seems to be, dictating the terms and conditions, once again in the Champions Trophy. With only 5 matches into the tournament, teams witnessed the second washout and making teams to be, right under their toes in the remaining fixtures.

Out of those two Washouts, New Zealand experienced one and it seemed costly for them, as the opposition captain mentioned, his team gotten away with one. The scenario pushed Kiwis into a position, where they face virtual Knockouts from now on and hope other results go in their favor.

England, on the other hand, eased into another 300+ chase with ease, as they chased like a daily walk in the evenings. But it is, a lot do with the opposition's lack of intent, that helped their way too and it unleashed the niggles and injuries, which will alter their combination later on.

While a win in this encounter on Tuesday will ease tension in the winning camp, as they near the semi's line. Although if the forecast interferes in the result, the permutations and combinations will change in a big manner for the whole group.

Team News

England

             Eoin Morgan is happy with the batting form, despite Roy's slump form. But with Woakes out of the competition, there is a need to alter the combination. That means, Finn makes straight away into the playing XI, while it's interesting to see, whether England continues with expensive Jake Ball or make a way for Rashid or Willey.

Playing XI

1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Liam Plunkett, 9 David Willey/Jake Ball/ Adil Rashid, 10 Steven Finn, 11 Mark Wood

New Zealand

              The promotion of Ronchi at the top of the order helped immensely for Kiwis against Australia and they will like to continue with it. But at the end, they failed to maximize the total at the death cost them for sure, as Broom’s role in the middle order has to be answered.

Playing XI

1 Martin Guptill, 2 Luke Ronchi (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Neil Broom, 6 James Neesham 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Adam Milne, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent Boult