CHENNAI: Somehow, England is still alive in the World Cup, but the drama may not be over yet.

England ended its Group B campaign with a now customary late scramble to remain in contention with an 18-run win over West Indies on Thursday.

Andrew Strauss's team hopes the upset losses which have complicated its progression — and left its fate still hanging — don't strike the likes of South Africa and India.

If an under-strength South Africa loses to Bangladesh on Saturday in Dhaka and an under-pressure India falls to West Indies on Sunday in Chennai, England will almost certainly be sent home from the World Cup and all the great escapes will have been for nothing.

Only a heavy defeat for India in that scenario would save England on run rate — and send the co-host packing instead.

It's finally out of England's nervous hands after a hair-raising run where the team lost games it should have won and somehow saved games seemingly beyond them to finish the group stage with three wins, two losses and a tie.

"We have obviously got to rely on the other results going our way and if we do progress in this tournament we have got to be a lot better than we have been," captain Strauss said. "We are not going to hide behind the fact that we won (vs. West Indies).

"We have got to be a lot better, we have got to be more consistent but it's one of those situations where you have got to be in it to win it."

And England are still in it, with only an unlikely slip by both the Proteas and pre-tournament favorite India enough to bring the rollercoaster ride to a sudden, shuddering halt.

England has had a testing time off the field, with Kevin Pietersen, Stuart Broad and Ajmal Shahzad ruled out the World Cup with injury — Shahzad on the morning of the crucial West Indies match.

Strauss and key spinner Graeme Swann have both struggled with illness, stalwarts James Anderson and Paul Collingwood have lost form badly and were dropped, and the squad is feeling the draining effects of a long, long time on tour. England has been playing near-constant cricket since its buildup to the Ashes in Australia began five months ago.

But those struggles have been nothing compared with the trials on the pitch.

England had a huge scare in its first World Cup game against Netherlands, rallied from a seemingly no-win position for a tie with India, lost from a near-unbeatable position to Ireland, squeezed home with little to spare after a batting collapse against South Africa and then self-destructed in Bangladesh.

On Thursday, with elimination so close when the West Indies needed just 22 with wickets and overs in hand — England lifted itself again and suddenly rattled off the final four wickets in another nerve-jangling end.

"I'd given that one up for dead," Swann said. "I just thought 'well we've had that many close games, it just hasn't been our World Cup.' Then all of a sudden, we're still here ... we've got to be hot favorites now.

"We've dug ourselves our own hole and slowly but surely we're trying to climb out of it."

Tougher for all those tense finishes, maybe, England's players feel they can deal with anything that's thrown at them at the World Cup now. Strauss said it was the team's "togetherness" that got them home against West Indies.

"If they (England) get through, of course they can get all the way," West Indies coach Ottis Gibson said. "England has been a resilient side for a long time. They are scrappers. They don't always play their best game but somebody stands up, somebody puts their hand up.

"They have got the sort of resilience that we are looking for."

Before plans are made for the knockouts, though, England will glance nervously toward Bangladesh and then back to Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium — hoping desperately against two upsets.

Already qualified, South Africa is set to rest at least three of its best players against a desperate Bangladesh team which has to win to make the quarterfinals and won't want to fail in front of its own supporters.

Leading batsman AB de Villiers, frontline fast bowler Dale Steyn and top wicket-taker Imran Tahir are still not 100 percent fit for the Proteas and are likely to sit out, raising Bangladeshi hopes and England concerns.

The day after, a nervy India team which has sealed itself off from the media and the outside world — and the enormous expectations of its home supporters — plays West Indies in another must-win for both countries to ensure their survival.

England just has to hope there's no more room for any more drama.


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