England cannot afford to lose

With three matches to go, things get pretty simple for England from now on. Beat Bangladesh on Wednesday and they still have a chance to reach the semi-finals. Lose again and they may as well pack their bags for home.

England have played some good cricket in most of their matches but have been unable to finish the job, something that happened against Australia last time out.

Michael Vaughan needs runs at the top of the order, as does his fellow opener - whether it be Andrew Strauss or Ed Joyce. Perhaps they would be better served by putting Andrew Flintoff, whose batting has been poor at six, at the top of the order and just tell him to smack it as hard as he can and see what happens.

Bangladesh have impressed in this tournament, beating South Africa last time being their absolute highlight. However, England should still be too strong, and bet365 make them 1/5 (1.20) to win, with Bangladesh, who could also still qualify for the semi-finals, 7/2 (4.50).

But who's going to get the runs for England. Bet365 make Kevin Pietersen, centurion against Australia, the obvious favourite at 5/2, with Ian Bell, who is also in form, just behind at 3/1.

Joyce is 4/1, with Strauss and Vaughan 9/2. Paul Collingwood, the only other batsman to have played well in the World Cup, is 11/2 while Flintoff''s woes are shown by his price of 10/1.

For Bangladesh, Mohammad Ashraful, hero against South Africa, and Aftab Ahmed, share favouritism at 4/1, Tamim Iqbal is 9/2, and Shahriar Nafees 5/1.

Javed Omar and Saqibul Hasan are each 11/2, with Habibul Bashar 6/1.

England do not score quickly enough at the top, and Bangladesh are a tempting bet at 13/8 to make the better score after 10 overs, especially as England will be concentrating on winning, and that alone.