Captain Andrew Flintoff is under no illusions about the size of England's task against Australia on Saturday.
England slumped from 83-0 to 169 all out in their crucial Champions Trophy game against Australia in Jaipur.
The world champions were beaten by West Indies on Wednesday but still believe they can win the Champions Trophy.
Young pacemen Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson, who removed Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen cheaply, took three wickets each in disciplined spells.
Flintoff is hoping the memory of England's semi-final win over Australia in 2004 will provide some inspiration.
Ian Bell started impressively but once he departed for 43, only fellow opener Andrew Strauss (56) offered resistance.
"We almost played the perfect game to beat Australia that day. On Saturday, we will have to play exceptional cricket again," he said.
Defeat would make elimination likely for England, who travel to Australia next month for the Ashes Test series.
They were landing all the psychological blows early on thanks to Bell, who timed the ball exquisitely to punish any error in line from the pacemen.
Flintoff confirmed he would again bat at three despite being dismissed for a duck as the team lost their opening game against India.
Only excellent fielding prevented him picking up more than seven boundaries in his 60-ball knock, although Damien Martyn dropped a straightforward chance at long-off off Glenn McGrath when he was on 23.
And he can expect the Australian team to throw everything at him in a bid to send him on his way cheaply for a second time in the tournament.
But once Bell drove Watson to Mike Hussey at cover the Aussies called pretty much all the shots.
"England's thinking will be - the longer he can bat, the better it will be for them," said Australia skipper Ricky Ponting.
Pietersen was promoted ahead of Flintoff but he edged Johnson behind for one and was soon joined in the pavilion by his captain, who holed out to deep square-leg.
"Our feeling is that if we can get a crack at him early with the new ball and get him out then it might leave them a bit thin with their power hitters down the end of their innings, which is where he can do a lot of damage.
Flintoff was clearly disappointed with the manner of his dismissal
"He has been a middle to lower order batsman for most of his career. I guess he hasn't faced a lot of the new white ball and as we have seen it has swung around quite a bit here."
Strauss looked England's best bet for a challenging total although it was not his most fluent innings, with opportunities to cut and pull limited.
Both skippers have tried to downplay any link between the game and the forthcoming Ashes series.
The left-hander was fortunate to survive a good lbw shout before reaching his 12th ODI fifty off 78 balls.
Ponting says his batsmen need to step up in Jaipur
His luck ended when he feathered a delivery from Andrew Symonds to wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist, who took his third catch when Michael Yardy was unlucky to be given out down the leg-side off Watson.
"There will be a lot made of this having something to do with the Ashes or being able to take something away from it for the Ashes," said Ponting.
Jamie Dalrymple drove tamely to Ricky Ponting at mid-on before Chris Read pushed half-heartedly at McGrath - who fought back well from conceding 27 off his first four overs.
"I am not a big believer in that because there will be such a big changeover of players."
Paul Collingwood dug in and James Anderson provided belated cheer for England fans with several attractive shots only an inspired display of bowling will pull a win out of this situation.
Which ever team loses on Saturday is likely to miss out on the semi-finals.
Ponting added: "It tends to bring the best out in us. We play our best cricket when we are under the pump.
"Hopefully our decision-making will be better than it was the other night. That's where we let ourselves down.
"We haven't played in great batting conditions but the bowlers have been very good and it's time the batters started putting totals on the board."
Neither side is likely to make many changes, with Australia likely to give Shane Watson another chance as a pinch-hitter at the top of the order.
Left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson is eager to show what he can do, but he may have to wait until England to reach Australian shores before he is let off the leash by the selectors.
England's only real dilemma is whether to opt for the steadiness of Gloucestershire seamer Jon Lewis, who proved a match-winner in last year's Twenty20 game between the two sides at the Rose Bowl.
Steve Harmison, James Anderson and Sajid Mahmood all did well enough against India, however, to warrant another opportunity and Harmison and Anderson, in particular, need more overs before the Ashes series following lengthy injury lay-offs.
England (from): A Flintoff (captain), AJ Strauss, IR Bell, KP Pietersen, MH Yardy, PD Collingwood, JWM Dalrymple, CMW Read (wicketkeeper), SI Mahmood, SJ Harmison, JM Anderson, J Lewis, R Clarke, EC Joyce.
Australia (from): RT Ponting (captain), SR Watson, AC Gilchrist (wicketkeeper), DR Martyn, A Symonds, MJ Clarke, MEK Hussey, MG Johnson, B Lee, GD McGrath, NW Bracken, DJ Cullen, GB Hogg, SM Katich.
Umpires: BF Bowden (New Zealand) & SA Bucknor (West Indies)
