Cricket World Cup: Warning Bells for the rivals

Ian Bell, on Monday, expressed that the English team’s exhilarating performance against World Cup favourites India has set the pace to their campaign in the subcontinent.

Their 338-run case on Sunday, that included an inspired innings by team captain Andrew Strauss (158 off 145 balls), has convinced Ian Bell that they are the side to beat in this edition of the tournament. “Chasing 338 is something that we haven’t done recently,” exclaimed Bell.

“We can take a hell lot of things from it. I don’t think too many England teams have done that here, chasing 338. For me it’s a way forward as a team. The game went both ways and both the teams had their opportunities. Indian batting was incredible to watch at times and it made very hard for our bowlers to bowl.”

The Warwickshire batsman played a valuable role in a third-wicket stand of 170 with Strauss and he feels there are positives for England to take from the tied game. However, Bell still feels that the team needs to get their act together and click as a team to be the world beaters.

“If our bowling and fielding becomes 100 per cent right, then we are going to be a good team in the competition. When we start playing collectively as a group, we are a team that can match anyone,” he added.

Bell, on 17, gleefully survived a scare in the 25th over of England’s innings when left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh trapped the English batsman in front. Though the umpire turned down the appeal, Indian captain MS Dhoni had asked for Umpire Decision Review (UDR). Replays clearly showed that the ball had caught Bell plumb, but because he had stretched forward by 2.5 metres (from the stumps), the decision went against India. Bell went on to score 69 off 71 balls for his side.

“When a decision gets reviewed, you can see everything unfold on the big screen. Obviously, when I saw it pitching in line and hitting the stumps, I thought I was pretty much out,” admitted the right-hand batter. “I wasn’t aware of the rule of how far you have to be down the wicket,” he said.

According to Bell, apart from Strauss’s inspired knock, Tim Bresnan’s 5-48 was a stand-out performance.

“Strauss’ was a remarkable and arguably the best knock I’ve seen in a long, long time. It felt as if it was very hard to bowl at him.

“But Bresnan’s 5-48, to me, is the stand-out performance on the day on that kind of surface. The wicket was very hard to bowl on,” he said.