England go in to their remaining IT20 Tri-Series group match against New Zealand in Hamilton with a place in the final still up for grabs.
With three defeats so far, captain Eoin Morgan knows his side need to win by likely around 20 runs or successfully chase a target with two to three overs to spare in order to overtake the currently second-placed co-hosts on net run rate.
Australia have already qualified for the final in Auckland on 21 February having won all four of their group games.
Knockout cricket
The skipper is looking forward to the challenge: “It is [real knockout cricket], if you like. It’s one of the reasons I like playing Tri-Series.
“You go into different games with different objectives and there are different challenges along the way.
“The ultimate goal is making the final and the opportunity is still there to make the final based on tomorrow’s performance.
“Looking back at the series so far we haven’t performed well enough to win a game. We haven’t been good enough.
“In Wellington, we came close but we were still way off the mark of our best so first and foremost tomorrow’s game is going to be about performing well enough to earn the right to look at the run rate and then maybe looking at the rest of it.
Depending on whether we bat or bowl first different things might crop up, different situations, and it’s going to be a matter of adapting particularly to the pitch and how it reacts as the ball gets older and the game unfolds.
“There is a lot riding on tomorrow, which makes it a really crunch game.”
Progress with the bat
England fell just short in their first game against the Black Caps, losing by 12 runs, an experience Morgan believes will help the team's preparation for this second meeting.
“In Australia we were very poor with the bat – nobody really got a score or at least a significant score to take us over the line.
“And it was the same when we looked to build partnerships – we didn’t have the basics of our game there to build a significant partnership – but at Wellington we did. We got off to a reasonable start.
“Dawid Malan and Alex Hales created a good partnership and from there we stuttered a little bit, and showed some promise but not enough.
“We still pushed New Zealand close but certainly didn’t play anywhere near as good as we can, which is disappointing but from where we were in Australia to where we are now is a better place.”
England are aware of the depth of opposition talent but Morgan believes if they perform to their own potential, England could claim that remaining spot in the final.
”They obviously have some fantastic players but certainly a mistake can be focusing on one player and allowing another player actually to catch you off guard on the day.
”Our focus is going to be primarily on getting the most out of ourselves tomorrow.”