England to bounce back at the World Cup, – Swann

England are confident they can still win the World Cup, despite succumbing to Kevin O’Brien’s brilliance as Ireland inflicted one of the biggest shock defeats in the tournament’s history.

Andrew Strauss’s team suffered a demoralising setback against the Irish and will surely need to show dramatic improvement if they are to be competitive in their next Group B match against table-toppers South Africa on Sunday.

Yet Graeme Swann insists he and his team-mates, already Ashes winners this winter, are made of stern enough stuff to turn their campaign around in pursuit of England’s maiden success in this 36-year-old competition.

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The off-spinner’s 3-47 at Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium were conspicuously the most respectable figures, by the time O’Brien had plundered the tournament’s fastest hundred on the way to its biggest successful run chase.

“If we are going to win this World Cup – which we truly believe we can – we’ve got to go out and prove it, and we do that first and foremost in the field,” said Swann, rightly identifying dropped chances as one of England’s most worrying problems.

Asked if he thinks Ireland might have dealt a telling blow to England’s prospects, he replied: “I don’t think so.

“Four or five days ago, the whole world was saying ‘Oh my God, England can win this’ – because we didn’t get destroyed by that invincible Indian team.”

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England defied the expectations of millions of home fans by tieing a remarkable match against the co-hosts and cup favourites last weekend.

“We know the fickle nature of the world, and we’re going to ignore that and just carry on and play the best cricket we can,” added Swann.

“I don’t think it’s a massive challenge now – it’s one game and it’s done and dusted.

“A couple of catches that went down cost us the game, coupled with something you could describe as wayward bowling.”

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England failed collectively to tame not just O’Brien but lower-order partners Alex Cusack and John Mooney as Ireland’s unlikely recovery carried them from 111-5 to 329-7 with five balls to spare.

“It’s annoying in the extreme, but I’m not taking anything away from Kevin O’Brien and the performance of his life,” said Swann.

“It’s the best knock I’ve seen in a long time.”

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