Injury-ravaged but battle-hardened after playing a string of humdingers, England will aim for another upset when they take on strong contenders and co-hosts Sri Lanka in the last quarterfinal match of the World Cup on Saturday.
England endured a tumultous campaign in the league stage besides dealing with one injury crisis after another but they have proved themselves a resurgent team and would look to carry forward that spirit against the title-favourites.
Sri Lanka, in contrast, have had a smooth ride into the quarters and would be contemplating whether to reverse back to a three-strong spin attack for the match at R Premadasa Stadium.
The Sri Lankans tried that formula against Australia in a Group 'A' match, but couldn't see how successful it would be as the game was abandoned halfway through due to rain.
The ploy could return when they take on England but leaving out seam bowler Nuwan Kulasekara would prove to be a tough decision.
But for England, it would be about keeping their minds focussed given the tough road to the last-eight stage.
Before arriving in Sri Lanka they had three players, Kevin Pietersen, Ajmal Shahzad and Stuart Broad withdrawn due to injury while on Thursday, all-rounder Michael Yardy returned to the UK due to depression.
"It's not by choice that we've had a few injuries. Broad and KP would always be in your first XI. But Tredders has come straight in having not played for a long time and got man of the match. Myself against South Africa coming in and getting Man of the Match," England all-rounder Ravi Bopara told reporters.
England have had a roller-coaster first round. While they tied a high scoring game against co-hosts India, they were stunned by Ireland a few days later.
They recovered with another tight win against South Africa, but lost to Bangladesh in the penultimate Group 'B' game.
Sri Lanka vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene, said the fact that England have done well against stronger teams in this competition made them intimidating.
"They have had a very tough World Cup. All their games have been very close. If you analyse properly; the two games they lost were against minnows and they beat some of the top teams and that means they do turn up for the big game," Jayawardene said.
Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who was nursing a hamstring injury that he sustained during Sri Lanka's last group game against New Zealand in Mumbai, has recovered and is expected to play on Saturday.
While Sri Lanka's top four batsmen have scored hundreds in the competition, there has been some worry about the team's middle order batting.
For England, the batting will revolve around in-form skipper Andrew Strauss, Ravi Bopara and Paul Collingwood but with strike pacer James Anderson struggling for form, the bowling looks a bit suspect especially in crunch situations.
But given that England have proved many a naysayers wrong this World Cup, they are capable of springing another surprise against the Lankans.
