England, after winning the toss and elected to bat first in their group B world cup match against cricket kids Ireland today at Bangalore, set the minnows a hefty target of 328 runs for a victory.

England made 327 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the scheduled 50 overs and Jonathan Trott remained highest scorer for England with a swashbuckling 92 while the captain Strauss chipped in with 34. Other notable contributions included 81 by Ian Bell and 59 by Kevin Pietersen.

Pacer Stuart Broad is back in the English team as he recovered from illness.  In the Irish team, Gary Wilson replaced Andre Botha.

Pak trying to avoid playing in India

Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi today appealed to his team mates to give their best in the coming matches so that they can reach the top spot of the Group A enabling them to play the knock-out matches before the finals either in Sri Lanka or in Bangladesh.

“We have to avoid playing before the intimidating crowds in India for the quarter-finals and semi finals of the world cup and for that we must be on top of group A table. The top spot will enable us play in Lanka or in Dhaka,” he told his team mates.