Andrew Symonds at nets in St John’s on Saturday. (Reuters)

St John’s: Paul Collingwood believes England are on the brink of a “perfect” game even though they’re yet to beat a Test nation at the World Cup.

Defeat against world champions Australia at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium here on Sunday would leave England needing to win their remaining Super Eight games against Bangladesh, South Africa and the West Indies and hope results elsewhere went their way if they were to reach the semi-finals.

“We can take a lot of confidence from the last few times we’ve played against them,” said Collingwood, who scored a match-winning 120 not out in the first tri-series final against Australia in Melbourne, before making 70 in the second final in Sydney.

“Obviously, we’d have loved to have won that game the other day (against Sri Lanka), but it showed we bat a long way down.”

Australia have won all five of their games in the Caribbean as they aim for an unprecedented third straight World Cup title.

However, Collingwood said: “We’ve got a lot of belief. We are excited to go out there and put the Aussies under pressure.

“With our performances, we are not that far away. I think we are gradually getting closer to a perfect game.

“We just need to kick on as a batting unit and get those big scores like we did against Australia, get those hundreds. That changes the scores from 260s and 270s to a real match-winning 300. That’s what you need to do against these better sides.”

He added: “This will be the ultimate buzz. To play them in the World Cup in a must-win game, this is what cricket is all about.”

Australia captain Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, has insisted Glenn McGrath won’t be worried if Kevin Pietersen goes down the pitch against him on Sunday.

Pietersen repeatedly advanced against McGrath during England’s recent tour of Australia in a bid to hit the 37-year-old off his line.

However, McGrath had the last laugh when he broke Pietersen’s ribs in Melbourne during a one-dayer in January and cut short the South Africa-born batsman’s tour.

Asked if he would be happy with a similar result on Sunday, Ponting replied: “It would be nice,” before adding hastily: “No, look if we can have a result where he doesn’t make many runs in the game, I’d be happy with that.”

He added: “I think Kevin had a bit to say when he first arrived here about how he didn’t think Glenn was quick enough to even break his ribs. So Glenn will test him out again on Sunday.”

Ponting also said he understood the tactics of Pietersen, now rated as the world’s leading one-day batsman.

“As a batsman I know what he’s trying to do. He’s just trying to get down there and put the pressure back on the bowler. Any time any batsman starts moving around the crease before the bowler bowls, all he is trying to do is get the bowler to think differently about what he’s doing.

“It’s no secret that quite a few players have tried to do that against McGrath because of the immaculate line and length he’s bowled over the years. That’s the reason Kevin does it. At the same time I don’t mind seeing it because it changes up everything, the line and length and the pace the bowler is bowling at as well. If he tries to play big shots when he’s coming down the wicket, we’ve got a chance to get him out.

“He’s been their best player and most consistent run scorer for a couple of years now in one-day cricket… We’d like to keep him as quiet as we can. We just have to execute things well against him when he first comes to the crease.”

In Pietersen’s absence, England still managed to beat world champions Australia 2-0 in the ODI tri-series final in February.

But their form in the Caribbean has been mediocre.

Now, a reverse against an Australian side that have won all five of their matches at the tournament will further dent England’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals. However, Ponting insisted: “You don’t talk about revenge. England deserved to win the games they won back in Australia.”

TEAMS

Australia (likely): Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Brad Hodge, Andrew Symonds, Brad Hogg, Nathan Bracken, Glenn Mcgrath, Shaun Tait

England (from): Michael Vaughan (captain), Andrew Strauss, Ed Joyce, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood, Jamie Dalrymple, Andrew Flintoff, James Anderson, Sajid Mahmood, Paul Nixon, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen

Umpires: Billy Bowden, Rudi Koertzen. TV: Asad Rauf

Match Referee: Mike Procter

Match starts: 7 pm (IST)

(AFP)

HIGHS AND LOWS

Australia and England have met 92 times with the world champions enjoying a 51-37 advantage. Two matches have ended in a tie while two others produced no result. In World Cup, the arch-rivals have played on five previous occasions with the Aussies winning thrice and England twice. England, incidentally, have won the last three meetings.

Highest team total

For Aus: 318/6 in 50 ovs (Melbourne, Dec. 15, 2002)
For Eng: 320/8 in 55 ovs (Birmingham, Aug. 22, 1980)

Lowest team total

For Aus: 70 in 25.2 ovs (Birmingham, June 4, 1977)
For Eng: 86 in 32.4 ovs (Manchester, June 14, 2001)

Highest individual score

For Aus: 145 by DM Jones (Brisbane, Dec. 16, 1990)
For Eng: 167 n.o. by RA Smith (Birmingham, May 21, 1993)

Best bowling

For Aus: 7/20 by AJ Bichel (Port Elizabeth, March 2, 2003)
For Eng: 5/31 by M Hendrick (The Oval, Aug. 20, 1980)

Compiled by Mohandas Menon