The constant shuffling of the batting-order has been one of England’s major worries, apart from their batsmen’s inability to take on Indian spinners in the middle overs. Matthew Prior, who opened the innings in Rajkot and Indore, and Ian Bell have struggled to force the issue so far. Flintoff, Owais Shah and the captain himself have showed glimpses of their ability to dominate the bowling, but have failed to capitalise on starts.

Seamers Flintoff, Anderson and Harmison have bowled with heart but have found the wickets unresponsive for their hit-the-wicket style of bowling. Graeme Swann was impressive in his only outing in Kanpur, but Samit Patel has felt the wrath of the Indian batsmen.

The pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and the overcast conditions, though, may hold some respite for the struggling Englishmen. Chief curator Narayan Raju doesn’t expect the wicket to give too much assistance to the spinners, and also ascertains that it will have good carry for the fast bowlers.

“It will be a perfect wicket for batting, something like a second day’s pitch for a Test match,” says Raju. There has been rain in the air here, and the city did experience heavy showers earlier in the week, but Raju is confident that weather and Duckworth-Lewis will have no part to play this time around.

Pietersen did say after the Kanpur loss that his team was improving with every outing, but it is do-or-die time for the visitors now. And they could be left with only pride to play for, if their captain doesn’t regain his magic touch, and somehow finds a way past Dhoni’s relentless army under the lights in Bangalore.