England needs win to survive, Australia to seal semifinal berth

St Peter's (Antigua), Apr 7 (UNI) An intriguing but engrossing battle is on the cards as defending champion Australia takes on arch rivals England in their Super Eight World Cup and is crucial for both the teams.

England desperately needs a win to stay put in contention for the last four berth while a win for Australia will assure them a place in the semis.

A defeat will mean the end of the road for England while a loss is not going to make much of a difference to the fortunes of Australia.

The defending champions have an all-win record at this World Cup, and are one victory away from sealing a place in the semi-finals.

But for the Aussies it is more than that, they are itching for revenge, having suffered three humiliating defeats on home soil, earlier this year against England.

England came into the Super 8s as the second placed team from their group behind New Zealand, and with zero bonus points. A lone win - over lowly Ireland - and a defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka here on Wednesday means that they simply have to beat Australia to stay alive in the World Cup.

Australians have adopted well calculated psychological media war against England. Coach John Buchanan and World Cup record holder Glenn McGrath have been more ballistic in their approach as they have harped on just one point that beating England is high on their agenda.

McGrath, is keen to erase the humiliation heaped on Australia by the old enemy and launched the ''mental disintegration'' process by forecasting that they would wipe England out of the showpiece event, come Sunday.

The defending champion are confident of going all the way at this tournament, but they just don't want to let go England lightly.

Ricky Ponting has just the one worry - who is to play in for the injured Shane Watson. At nets, Andrew Symonds bowled seam-up in addition to his more usual off-spin, which gives the skipper and coach Buchanan the option of fielding Brad Hodge instead of having to bring in the comparatively raw pace of Mitchell Johnson.

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