England have a tough task against Sri Lanka

Still licking the wounds of their recent thrashing at the hands of Australia, a jittery England have a tough task to stop a confident Sri Lanka when they open their ICC Champions Trophy campaign at the New Wanderers here tomorrow.

After the Ashes euphoria, England were drubbed 6-1 by Australia in the following One-day series and will have to quickly pull up their socks to make an impact in the tournament.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have already beaten hosts and favourite South Africa in their opening match and will be keen to keep the momentum going. England must find a way to get rid of Tillakaratne Dilshan, who is in red hot form these days, early.

If he gets his way along with equally explosive Sanatah Jayasuriya, England bowlers are in for a severe punishment. Not only the batsmen but dealing with spin-twin of Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan plus unorthodox Lasith Malinga is another stiff challenge awaiting Andrew Strauss and his men in tomorrow's clash.

Mendis has shown his form in the rain-marred match against South Africa when he scalped three wickets. Strauss himself admitted that tackling Mendis would be a task for his players.

"We have not played Mendis and some of their seam bowlers before. You can look at footage of him but it is only in the middle that you can be really sure of how he bowls and what his variations are", he said.