World Twenty20 Alex Hales claims England are ready to make impact
Alex Hales is happy with England's World Twenty20 preparations and believes they are title contenders in Bangladesh.
Last Updated: 18/03/14 12:39pm
The Nottinghamshire opener is a short-form specialist with all 27 of his England appearances coming in Twenty20 matches.
He is tasked with taking advantage of the early power play overs alongside county colleague Michael Lumb.
England's only win in six T20 internationals this year was their most recent outing against West Indies in Barbados.
But Hales, who scored 38 off 31 balls in that victory, thinks the squad are coming into form at just the right moment.
"I've had a bit of time in the middle during the last two games," he said. "I probably didn't score at the strike-rate I wanted, but thought I did a good job.
"Watching Lumby (make 63) in that last game, I think we rediscovered our good opening partnership at a key time for the team heading into the tournament.
"We couldn't have asked for better preparation, playing against the World T20 champions (West Indies) on wickets that were fairly spin friendly and replicate what we will face out here in Bangladesh."
Warm-ups
England play two warm-up matches, against West Indies in Fatullah on Tuesday and India in Dhaka on Wednesday, before opening their Group One campaign against New Zealand in Chittagong on Saturday.
Hales added: "Coming into the competition with a win under our belts in the last game (means) everyone is confident and looking forward to it.
"A lot of T20 is based around momentum and, if you can get a couple of early wins, I still believe anyone can win this World Cup."