England move into hill country with a mountain to climb. Their transfer inland from Colombo to Kandy for the Super Eight stage of the World Twenty20 will be accompanied by habitual failings, most familiar of all their hopeless inadequacy against spin on Asian pitches.
The descent to a total of 80 all out in 14.4 overs, as India exposed skill, method and nerve, will have been watched and noted by every opposition coach.
Perhaps still more significantly it was seen from a few miles away by Kevin Pietersen, their absent star batsman.
Pietersen is at the tournament as a studio pundit for the host broadcaster, ESPN Star, and every forlorn, ill-advised cross-batted shot merely emphasised what England are missing.
Their top six in this competition may have talent and potential but there is not a single established batsmen among it. Boy, did it show last night.
Pietersen’s return to the dressing room is still not a cast iron certainty. But there are two reasons to suggest that it will happen soon. The first was the woeful exhibition against India, whose spinners took six wickets between them in eight overs in the second group match and ensured victory by 90 runs.
Fortunately for England they had already qualified for the next stage by virtue of their win over Afghanistan.
The second is the presence in Sri Lanka of two bigwigs from the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Indeed, David Collier, chief executive, and Hugh Morris, managing director of England cricket, are the biggest wigs.
If they are willing to travel 5,000 miles to continue talks with their errant batsmen it demonstrates their desire to resolve differences.
Trust is an important element in dressing rooms, of course, but so it is on the pitch and it is plain as Harbhajan Singh’s top spinner that England cannot trust their ability. That may be Pietersen’s ace.
