England upbeat despite unfamilar conditions

Although England lost a warm-up match against India, their opening bowlers - Steven Finn and James Harris - are confident of causing an upset as they prepare for a rematch on Sunday, the first day of the quarter-finals. Finn and Harris had India at 7 for 3, before Tanmay Srivastava and Saurabh Tiwary shared a 134-run stand to lead their side to victory.

"We really shook them and I know they will be worried," Finn, the 6'8" Middlesex fast bowler, told Cricinfo. "As a bowling unit, we've got to take each batsman as they come. They're a very confident team but we've got enough in the bowling and batting to beat them tomorrow."

The difference between then and now is that India haven't been opening with Abhinav Mukund - they have Turuwar Kohli, who's the fourth highest run-scorer in the tournament, partnering wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami at the top.

India haven't lost more than five wickets in any of their matches so far in the tournament; however that is not worrying Harris, the Glamorgan fast bowler, Harris, nor are the unfamiliar conditions at the Kinrara Oval. This will be England's first game here, a venue where India have played all their games. Harris has good reason to be confident because he's the tournament's joint-highest wicket-taker - 10 wickets in three games - and is coming off a five-wicket haul in the game against Bangladesh.

"The conditions are a lot tougher [than in England] but our preparation in Sri Lanka - to get used to the heat - has been excellent," Harris said. "We struggled a bit in Sri Lanka before we got to Malaysia but it's got better and better as the tour has gone on. Generally the pitches have had assistance, more than that was expected, so we're very happy."

Finn missed the Bangladesh match because of tonsillitis but he's available for Sunday's game. He echoed his team-mate's sentiments on the conditions. "The pitches seam around here [in Malaysia], and aren't too different compared to the early part of the season in England," he said. "If we can hit our length and bowl aggressively, we can exploit the pitches the same way we do back home."

Finn was part of the England Under-19 team that lost a home series to India in 2006, 3-0 in the one-dayers and 1-0 in the Youth Tests. "We lost convincingly in every game but we've come on in leaps and bounds. We've got a lot of lads now that played then and we've got better as a whole. This year we've beaten Pakistan, the [defending U-19] champions, twice."

Pakistan may await them later in the tournament but England's immediate challenge is to quell India and how their new-ball attack fares will play a crucial role in the outcome.