Colly in seventh heaven after England stroll to series win
ENGLAND captain Paul Collingwood hailed his side after rallying to a record-equalling seventh successive Twenty20 victory.
Collingwood’s men cruised to a thumping six-wicket victory after bowling Pakistan out for just 89 – their lowest total ever in the short form of the game.
All-rounder Tim Bresnan led the way with 3-10, while fellow seamers Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad and spinner Graeme Swann chipped in with two each as Pakistan were put to the sword.
Only Collingwood scored above 20 in a jittery England reply, but they never looked in danger with Eoin Morgan (18no) and Michael Yardy (6no) seeing them home safely with six overs to spare.
“It’s a special achievement and we obviously did it during the best time which was during the World Cup,” the proud captain said.
“I’m delighted in the response of the dressing room and the bowlers as a unit are doing fantastically well. I think in the last seven games they haven’t conceded over 148 runs which is fantastic in the Twenty20 format.
“We are just doing a lot of things really good – and we still have a lot of intent with the bat as well. Hopefully that continues into the future.”
Pakistan got off to a flying start, hitting Sidebottom for 11 in the first over before Bresnan and Broad (2-18) both struck to reduce them to 22-4 inside the powerplay overs.
Indeed, it was to prove a position from which the tourists would never recover with spin pair Swann and Yardy doing their best to restrict the middle order – Yardy’s four overs going for just 10 runs and Swann claiming the wicket of top-scorer Umar Akmal (17) on his way to 2-27.
Sidebottom polished off the tail to finish with 2-22, giving the world champions foundation for a series-clinching win. Craig Kieswetter hit two fours and a six in a quickfire 16 before Ravi Bopara and Collingwood took a more cautious approach – the former making just 12 from 24 balls.
But a typically stylish innings from Morgan saw England through to keep confidence high ahead of the first of a five-match one-day international series at the Riverside on Friday.