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Ravi Bopara will have a chance to shine in England's World Twenty20 game with New Zealand on Monday after father-to-be Kevin Pietersen returned home.Bopara has been out of favour but is certain to be selected, with a place in the last four up for grabs for England.
England have been in fine form, beating both Pakistan and South Africa so far in the Super Eights.
Captain Paul Collingwood said: "If we play anything like that against anyone, we'll give them a run for their money."
After a slow start to the tournament, with rain-affected matches against the West Indies and Ireland giving them little chance to find their rhythm, England have burst into life in the Super Eights.
They will reach the semi-finals provided they avoid a heavy defeat against New Zealand in St Lucia - unless South Africa have already lost to Pakistan at the same venue.
If that happens, then England will have already done enough to reach the last four with their wins over Pakistan and South Africa.
Pietersen was in explosive form in both matches, scoring 53 off 33 balls against South Africa on Saturday to follow up his unbeaten 73 off 52 balls against Pakistan.
"The contributions he's made in the last two games - two man-of-the-matches - have been fantastic," said Collingwood.
"His contributions have certainly gone a long way towards getting us into the semi-finals."
The hope now is that Pietersen will be back by midweek as a new father, with England eyeing their first ever tournament success in an International Cricket Council event.
England have also been boosted by the fine form of their contrasting spin twins, Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy, who took five wickets between them against South Africa. "They are two completely different types of bowlers," said Collingwood.
"Swanny's a normal orthodox flight-and-guile spinner; Yards is a bit quicker but he can still turn the ball and he's dangerous.
"It's a great combination to have, to see the ball going away from the right-hander and the ball coming in - you need that kind of variation."
New Zealand, meanwhile, know they could still sneak into the semi-finals after holding their nerve for a one-run win over Pakistan on Saturday.
"We are proud of what we achieved," said their captain Daniel Vettori.
"Our destiny is in our hands. We know we've got to beat England now and hopefully we can do that."This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.