Sports

160 million Bangladeshi fans to support England today

No fewer than 160 million Bangladeshi fans will be fervently throwing their support behind England when they take on Australia in tonight`s final Group A Champions Trophy match in Birmingham.

The Tigers achieved an incredible come-from-behind victory over New Zealand overnight and must now hope the tournament hosts and favourites can beat the Aussies to allow Bangladesh to sneak through to the final four.

In what will be music to the ears of Bangladeshi fans, England`s players have dismissed the notion they have nothing to play for against Australia (they are already guaranteed top spot in the group), suggesting that any match against their Ashes rivals holds special significance.

"We will have a very serious attitude. I think if we`re truly going to be contenders for this tournament, we need to beat the best teams," captain Eoin Morgan said.

"And Australia are one of the best teams. They always are going into a white-ball tournament.

"They seem to produce limited-overs cricketers at will.

"So to go into a game like that with no other attitude than winning is very important to us."