The most anticipated match of the tournament is the clash between India and Pakistan at Edgbaston on Sunday September 19, which was sold out within hours of tickets going on sale.

Pakistan will be favourites to triumph in the latest chapter of cricket's most passionate rivalry because India will be without their best batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, and have had a lacklustre year in ODIs.

The feeling in the NatWest Challenge was that India were a team desperately searching for the right one-day formula, changing their batting line-up around, experimenting with different combinations of opening bowlers, and dropping players only to bring them straight back in.

A look at their illustrious batting line-up, even without Tendulkar, sends shivers down the spine, but in reality there is dissent in the camp about the batting order and several of the top players are not at their best.

Both VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid struggled for their imperious touch against England and an even bigger worry was the continuing strife of opener Virender Sehwag.

Sehwag hardly scored a run and had to be dropped down the order, his low scores as much a mystery as those of Michael Vaughan for England.

It was left to captain Sourav Ganguly to salvage some pride with a fine innings of 90 to win the third match at Lord's.

There were signs in that game, however, that India's bowling was finally coming together.

Harbhajan Singh bowled with mesmerising control of flight and spin, and India at last seemed to have settled on the best combination of opening seamers, with Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra running through the England top order.

But a richly talented Pakistan side will fancy their chances of defeating a somewhat out-of-sorts India in what will be something of a decider as the two have won five apiece in their last 10 one-day encounters.

Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was dropped for his poor form a year ago but came roaring back earlier this year with two centuries against India at home, and the Pakistan side can also boast another one of the world's finest ODI batsmen in Yousuf Youhana.

Both men made big scores in the middle order when Pakistan came close to beating Australia in the warm-up game at Lord's and will need to be at their best for Pakistan to prosper in the tournament.

As ever the problem for Pakistan is not depth of talent, but the mercurial nature of their cricket, something Inzamam has been trying to stamp out by imposing more discipline.

His calls for more commitment have resulted in the occasional bust-up with his most potent weapon, Shoaib Akhtar, but if it fires him up before his duels with the Indian batsmen the spectacle will be worth the entrance fee alone.

Kenya surprised everyone, except perhaps a few bookmakers, by reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup by beating three Test teams in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

But their chances of a repeat showing have been diminished by the betting scandal which has engulfed their best player, all-rounder Maurice Odumbe, who was recently banned for five years.

He was the main architect of their 2003 semi-final placing, averaging 42 and taking nine wickets, and his absence is a demoralising blow for the side.

Another problem is that scheduling difficulties caused by the packed cricket calendars of the major teams have meant that Kenya have not had a chance to develop their game since their semi-final appearance.

They had no cricket to speak of in the nine months following the World Cup and had no international cricket scheduled for the six months prior to the Champions Trophy.

In the end they set off for the Caribbean to play in the Carib Beer Cup, where Odumbe was again the star, hitting 207 in one game.

9 Sep, 2004