ICC World Twenty20, 30 April-16 MayVenues: Guyana, St Lucia and BarbadosCoverage:plus live text commentary and reports on all matches on the BBC Sport website & mobiles
England coach Andy Flower is confident his side have the talent to overcome Pakistan in their ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight showdown on Thursday.
Despite recent off-field problems, reigning champions Pakistan remain a force under captain Shahid Afridi.
But after securing progress from Group D via a no result against Ireland on Tuesday, England are ready to kick on.
"Pakistan are a very dangerous side," admitted Flower. "But I think we are pretty dangerous as well."
The 42-year-old added: "Pakistan would be a scalp. They have lots of talent, and a lot of variety in their attack.
"But our guys have shown attacking intent, quite a lot of power and the nous to time the innings properly.
"I thought the guys showed a lot of understanding of the ebbs and flows of the game against West Indies in Monday’s Group D defeat in Guyana."
Anyone who can hit the ball as cleanly as he (Eoin Morgan) does, and hit some of the shots he does, obviously has a great combination
Having succumbed to an the eight-wicket Duckworth Lewis defeat to the West Indies, England narrowly secured their place in the Super Eights via a superior run-rate after Tuesday’s game with Ireland in Guyana was rained off, ending in a no result.
"It’s been a funny couple of days, so disjointed," said Flower. "We were nine balls from another Duckworth-Lewis result, so it’s nice to get through."
Having reached this far, Flower is confident that the make-up of the side is the right one to ensure further progress, citing the inclusion of Michael Yardy as an example.
"I think bringing in the left-arm spinning all-rounder helps balance our side – and we’ve got a good variety of type of player," stated Flower.
"That does ask a lot of questions of the opposition attacks. We’re very excited about the potential – but we’ll see how we go."
Flower also praised batsman Eoin Morgan, who followed up a score of 55 against the West Indies with a knock of 45 against his native Ireland.
"He’s got a good brain on him and he’s very talented," admitted Flower.
"Anyone who can hit the ball as cleanly as he does, and hit some of the shots he does, obviously has a great combination.
Should make for interesting viewing!
"He has freedom to express himself, and we don’t want to rein that in. We want him to be free to make his own decisions.
"We’re very thankful to have him."
In contrast, Pakistan have had anything but a settled side of late.
In March, the Pakistan Cricket Board banned Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan indefinitely from representing their country, while Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik were each given one-year bans and big fines, as a result of "infighting which… brought down the whole team".
Current Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal were also given heavy fines and warned that their conduct will be strictly monitored during a six-month probationary period.
However, they put such problems behind them in their opening game to seal a 21-run victory over Bangladesh in St Lucia on Saturday , and despite a 34-run loss to Australia on Sunday they remain in the hunt to defend their crown.
England and Pakistan have already faced each other twice in Twenty20 this year – drawing a two-match series in the United Arab Emirates almost three months ago.
A stand of 112 between Morgan and Kevin Pietersen saw England take the first match by seven wickets, before a stunning 46 from 18 balls – including five sixes – from Abdul Razzaq saw Pakistan to a four wicket win.
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