Cricket World Cup: England exorcising demons

English seamer Chris Woakes is confident his side can put the defeat to the Black Caps behind them ahead of their Cricket World clash against Sri Lanka today. Photo / Getty

Nine days on, England will return to the scene of the massacre.

If their Cricket World Cup campaign fizzles, they can look back on their eight-wicket mauling at the hands of New Zealand at Wellington Regional Stadium on February 20 as the place it began to unravel after losing their opening game to Australia by 111 runs.

First, it was Black Caps seamer Tim Southee who tore their heart out with seven wickets then skipper Brendon McCullum feasted on the carcass as he plundered England's shell-shocked bowling attack to all corners of the Cake Tin as he made a rapid 77.

The English, who have prepared for this tournament like no other, gained some confidence from their 119-run win over Scotland in Christchurch on Monday but Sri Lanka represent a much stiffer Pool A challenge in the capital today.

Returning to the surrounds of such a beating could be jarring but English seamer Chris Woakes welcomed the chance to push the demons aside.

"I think we've got a good opportunity to turn things around, really," Woakes said. "Obviously last time we were there it didn't exactly go to plan. It's hard to read too much into that game, I suppose. We were pretty poor. We obviously didn't get a total on the board, and Tim Southee bowled exceptionally well.

"Hopefully we're past that now and can put that behind us, but it would be good to get back there and show people what we can do."

Woakes, who turns 26 tomorrow, took England's only wickets during their heavy defeat to New Zealand and has five scalps at the World Cup.

With a wide support base and colourful media contingent watching their every move, England's fortunes are always closely scrutinised. Rightly or wrongly, they're also a team people take great joy from seeing lose.

Sri Lanka will enter today's contest in great shape having beaten Bangladesh by 92 runs in Melbourne on Thursday as Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed an unbeaten 161 and Kumar Sangakkara made 105 not out.

"It's important we do show up against the big teams," Woakes said. "Obviously this is a big game, having already lost two. Sri Lanka are a good side, so we know we've got to be on our game. We want to get through to the quarter-finals and you're going to have to beat big teams on the way."

Fatigue may work against Sri Lanka, given the transtasman travel and the short turnaround. They kept things light yesterday and didn't train as they looked to recharge their batteries.

"We know in World Cups every game is important, and peaking at the right time is the most important thing," Sri Lankan coach Marvan Atapattu said.

"The format is such that we've got to guard against being complacent. We've just got to play the best cricket we can on the day.

"[England] are a balanced side. It is just that I don't think they can be very happy about how things have unrolled for them."

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