England146;s last-ditch tie

Australia are cruising at the top of the competition standings and their main concern is to maintain momentum and make sure England can8217;t upset it later on.

Having lost a thrilling game to Sri Lanka by two runs on Wednesday, England head into the match at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground knowing another loss would leave them reliant on other results to qualify.

England did well after a poor start to their innings to get close to one of the world8217;s specialist one-day teams, with an 87-run stand between Paul Nixon and Ravi Bopara almost getting them home.

Captain Michael Vaughan knows the rest of his batsmen have to follow the pair8217;s example if his team are to challenge an Australia team seemingly on course for a third straight title.

8220;We have taken a lot of positives from the way we played against Sri Lanka, but we did not get the two points so it counts for nothing if we do not relive that performance again on Sunday,8221; Vaughan said on Friday. 8220;The Australians are the form team of the World Cup, dominating every game.8221;

Australia have bossed each game so far, disposing of Scotland, Netherlands, South Africa, West Indies and Bangladesh by huge margins.

However, the last time they were apparently on their way to an easy tournament win in February, a seemingly down-and-out England rallied to reach the three-game finals. Once there, England needed just two games to clinch their first overseas one-day title.

Australia coach John Buchanan is therefore looking at the game as a way of making sure the same thing can8217;t happen again.

8220;If we manage to come out on top of that well, we virtually eliminate another side out of the tournament and that8217;s pretty important for us,8221; Buchanan said.