The last chance saloon beckons

London: Bangladesh's victory against Holland on Monday has left England with only one option this week. They have to beat the West Indies tomorrow to have any hope of remaining in the World Cup and even victory may not be enough to avoid an early flight home.

Beating the West Indies would leave England with seven points from their six group matches. But Bangladesh, South Africa and the West Indies will all still have matches to play and could move beyond England's points tally.

South Africa face Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday, the match which will be key to England's future. Defeat to England would leave the West Indies with one final chance of reaching the last eight with victory in their last game against India on Sunday.

Holding camp

England will be the first team in their group to complete their games which is why the organisers have arranged for the squad to stay in Delhi after the West Indies match, where they will remain in a holding camp until their future is clear.

England will at least be buoyed by the fact they are playing the West Indies in Chennai, where their bowlers found conditions most suited to their skills when they beat South Africa in a thriller on March 6. It is a slow, dusty surface, which will be perfect for Graeme Swann but will also have the West Indies slow bowlers, Sulieman Benn, Nikita Miller and Chris Gayle — if he recovers from an abdominal strain — licking their lips.

Another blow for England is that Stuart Broad, who took four for 15 as England bowled out South Africa for 165, has already been ruled out of the tournament.

"I don't think you could accuse this England team of over-thinking about anything but we play our best cricket when we've got our backs against the wall," said Swann.

"We've proven that over the last couple of years. "When we go one up in a Test series we tend to have a stinker before pulling out all the stops to play our best cricket. It's been the same in one-day cricket and it's something we have to do now otherwise we're going back home."

Stomach bug: illness strikes

England skipper Andrew Strauss and spinner Graeme Swann missed Tuesday's practice with a stomach bug but both are likely to feature in tomorrow's must-win Group B match against West Indies.

"They both missed practice today with a stomach virus. (We) will assess them tomorrow but certainly (it is) nothing serious," the team spokesman said in a text message.

"I'm pretty confident they will be alright," batsman Jonathan Trott, who is suffering from fever, told reporters.

"These things usually (last) 24-48 hours, so I'm glad it's happened now and not tomorrow... they should be ready for the game."

On his own fitness, Trott said: "Two days of fever and I'm not quite sure what it was... personally I think Chennai is hot and humid."

— Reuters