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\\\'England to play must-win WC clash against B\\\'desh\\\'

Monday, 9 March 2015


ADELAIDE, Mar 8 (AFP): England coach Peter Moores is confident his beleaguered team will rise to the occasion in Monday's must-win World Cup clash against Bangladesh, saying the players were "excited" by the challenge ahead.
Eoin Morgan's side, with just one win in four matches, must beat both Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval and Afghanistan in Sydney on March 13 to stay in contention for the last eight.
Even that may not be enough if Bangladesh, who have five points to England's two, upset co-hosts New Zealand in Hamilton on March 13 to squeak through to the quarter-finals from Pool A.
Moores admitted it was a pressure game which his team was ready to handle and prove critics wrong by making their way to the quarter-finals.
"There is certainly pressure on us as a team because we have not played as well as we would have liked to have done," Moores said Sunday.
"We know we've got to win the game.
"The ability to be able to handle pressure and play under pressure is part of the job of being an international player. So that will be the challenge for the players tomorrow," the under-pressure coach added.
"We're very aware of it, and I think we are up for that challenge."
Moores said the World Cup campaign had been a good learning experience for the younger players, who now had to prove they belong at the highest level of the game.
"International cricket is played by tough men," he said. "There is no compromising that. We've got senior players whose responsibility is to help the others.