Cricket World Cup 2011: bowling attack holds the key to winning the World Cup, says Kevin Pietersen

England’s improved bowling attack was a critical factor in winning the Ashes and now Kevin Pietersen believes the unit holds the key to ending the country’s World Cup drought and securing a triple crown of major trophies.

 

 

With the Ashes urn sitting alongside the World Twenty20 prize, Pietersen’s next wish is to reach the pinnacle of the 50-over format in Mumbai in April.

While England’s form has been patchy in the one-day series against Australia, Pietersen expects that to change when the first-choice bowling line-up of James Anderson, Stuart Broad (stomach injury), Tim Bresnan (calf) and Graeme Swann (knee and back) reunites for the World Cup. The squad’s rise over the year has convinced Pietersen that England are capable of winning the event for the first time.

“The batsmen have improved, the fielding is top notch, our catching is incredible and our bowling is so skilful,” Pietersen said in Brisbane. “We’ve shown Australia up in a huge way, with the difference in our bowling attack to their bowling attack this summer, with reverse swing and the skill at which we’ve gone about our business. Our skill levels are really, really good.”

England have reached the finals of three World Cups but the closest they came to winning was in 1987, when Australia beat them by seven runs at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. However, this outfit is conditioned to breaking down barriers, having collected the Twenty20 trophy in the West Indies last year and then raised the urn in Australia for the first time in 24 years.

“The team has been amazing through the last 12 months, winning in the Caribbean, winning the Ashes, winning on Australia Day [in Adelaide] the other day was magnificent for us,” Pietersen said. “To cap off the 12 months with a 50-over World Cup would be pretty surreal. The boys are absolutely buzzing for it.”