The head coach Andy Flower speaks with the England batsmen, who had a poor game against India, in Colombo today. Gareth Copley / Getty Images
The head coach Andy Flower speaks with the England batsmen, who had a poor game against India, in Colombo today. Gareth Copley / Getty Images
The head coach Andy Flower speaks with the England batsmen, who had a poor game against India, in Colombo today. Gareth Copley / Getty Images
The head coach Andy Flower speaks with the England batsmen, who had a poor game against India, in Colombo today. Gareth Copley / Getty Images

Steven Finn looks past defeat to India


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England's grand plan for the defence of their ICC World Twenty20 crown will go on despite their record defeat against India.

Stuart Broad's team are refusing to panic, or give up on the principles worked out over many hours in the nets on how to play spin, after just one setback.

Many have interpreted their 90-run loss at the R Premadasa Stadium – in which they were bowled out for their worst Twenty20 score of just 80 in under 15 overs – as an ominous blow to their aspirations as defending champions here.

But inside the camp, as they move from their Group A campaign in Colombo on to three Super Eights matches at Pallekele, a steely resolve remains to press on with their original plan.

The consolation of Sunday's defeat, and England's hapless batting against Harbhajan Singh, in particular, was that it came in a fixture which had no direct consequence, between two teams who had already qualified for the next stage.

Their first match at Pallekele will be against the West Indies on Friday. As England prepared for today's four-hour trip to Kandy, Steven Finn, the fast bowler, made it clear nothing will change.

"We don't have to do anything different than we've done," he said. "We've had one bad game, we know that, but we move on from it.

"We brush it under the carpet; we learn from our mistakes, and we get better from it."

West Indies were confirmed as England's first Super Eights opponents, after a rainy no-result in Colombo which spelled the end of Ireland's unlucky tour.

The Windies have yet to win a match, having come off worst against Australia in their Group B opener but recorded a superior run rate to Ireland's.

Darren Sammy, their captain, spent much of last summer losing to England in all formats, but he is optimistic of gaining revenge. "We have a strong belief in ourselves," he said.

"The first hurdle is overcome – then the real business starts.

"We've got England in our first game and we're looking to start off very well. We've played them a few times in the last few months and we believe we can go out and beat them' we have a good Twenty20 record against them."

The Windies lost a one-off match at Trent Bridge in June against England in the sprint format, but a year ago drew 1-1 in a short series at The Oval.

Previously, they had to watch while England claimed their first ICC global trophy, winning the 2010 World Twenty20 title by beating Australia in the final in Barbados. "England are defending champions, and we will not underestimate anybody," Sammy said.

"They won a tournament in the Caribbean when the wickets were also assisting spinners.

"So we have to go out there and bowl properly. We hope our spinners can play a big part."

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka hope spinner Ajantha Mendis can be fit for their Super Eights match with New Zealand on Thursday after he returned to the nets following a side strain. He suffered the injury during the hosts' opening win against Zimbabwe last week and was left out of the rain-curtailed group defeat against South Africa on Saturday.

“We took an MRI scan on his left side and it showed a slight tear,” Sri Lanka manager Charith Senanayake told reporters. “Mendis bowled a few overs at the nets today, but we will monitor him carefully.”

Mendis returned a Twenty20 record of six for eight against Zimbabwe before going off the field.

sports@thenational.ae

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