England gambles on Pietersen for World Cup opener

England takes on the Netherlands in the teams' World Cup opener on Tuesday with a bold selection suggesting it may finally be getting to grips with the demands of one-day cricket.

England has rarely produced its best in the 50-over game. It even managed to follow historic victories in the 2010 World Twenty20 and subsequent Ashes with a 6-1 series defeat to Australia.

But coach Andy Flower has moved to address England's traditional conservatism by pushing potential match-winner Kevin Pietersen up to opener in an attempt to get the innings off to a punchy start.

"We thought about it in Australia," captain Andrew Strauss said. "In the subcontinent, the first 10 or 15 overs is always the best time to bat. We thought it would be a spur to him to take the World Cup by storm.

"It could work in our favor and put opposition teams under pressure. We have learned from past World Cups where we have been a bit conservative. It's a bit of a calculated gamble on our part, but Kevin is capable of taking a game by the scruff of the neck without taking huge risks."

But in some ways, the pressure is on England rather than its lower-ranked opponent.

The tournament format means that England needs only to beat the lesser sides in Group B to advance to the quarterfinals irrespective of what happens against South Africa and India. That means a shock defeat to the Netherlands or Ireland would render meetings with Bangladesh and the West Indies must-win matches.

"They're very excited about being here and causing an upset and taking one of the big teams down," England wicketkeeper Matt Prior said of the Dutch side. "They're a team you cannot underrate or be too complacent against."

A win by a team far below the test elite sounds unlikely but - even up to last week's close call in a warmup against Canada - England fans have long come to know anything is possible. The Netherlands beat World Twenty20 host England at Lord's two years ago.

"That game will provide us with confidence but it's a different format and it's two years ago now," Netherlands coach Peter Drinnen said. "A certain percentage of the squad were involved with that performance and hopefully that confidence will carry throughout the squad."

With such history, what should be a routine opener - similar to New Zealand's demolition of Kenya on Sunday - suddenly looks like a much tougher assignment.

"We've seen what happened in the past and we don't want that to happen again," Prior said. "We'll be taking them very seriously, as seriously as any other team in this World Cup competition. You always want to start a competition with a good performance, no matter who you're playing against."

The Dutch players are hoping that the fatigue of almost four months away from home will show on Strauss, Pietersen, James Anderson, Paul Collingwood and others from the side that retained the Ashes in Australia.

Additionally, spinner Graeme Swann and all-rounders Collingwood and Stuart Broad are among those to have had their preparations disrupted by injuries.

"It's the best chance we're going to have in terms of where they are," Dutch allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate said. "They've had a few changes to their squad, a few injuries and a very long Australia tour behind them, so if there ever was a good chance to catch them it's the first game again of another World Cup.

"We've done all our preparation and are in our best state to cause an upset at the moment."

That confidence could be crucial, particularly if England bats first and Pietersen's move from No. 4 has the desired effect alongside Strauss.

With Eoin Morgan injured and out of the tournament, Pietersen is England's key batsman- although Prior's move back down to No. 7 adds strength to the lower order. The challenge of exploiting the early powerplay and the harder new ball could rouse Pietersen to his explosive best.

Ten Doeschate- friends with England's Ravi Bopara from their time together at county side Essex- is likely to stay in the middle order but has not ruled out a similar switch to opener.

"It's still an option and in India it is important to get a lot of runs up front," Ten Doeschate said. "That wicket out there looks a fantastic pitch and should play well throughout."

Any motivation not provided by the chance to secure bragging rights over friends and to upset the established order can be found in the International Cricket Council's decision to trim the World Cup to 10 nations from 2015.

The move means the Netherlands may never again make it onto such the biggest stage, so this could be their last chance to impress.

"We've got six games here and we want to put on a show and show that we have bridged the gap from four years ago," Ten Doeschate said. "We were pretty poor in the Caribbean; all the Associates were apart from Ireland.

"Every game against one of the big teams is a chance to show that. Hopefully we can take one of them close and maybe draw them over the line. All four of the big teams in our group are going to be special games for us."