Collingwood's England on the verge

Paul Collingwood’s England have a chance to make cricket history tomorrow - and the captain insists they are ready to do it.

Victory over a mighty Australia team at Kensington Oval will deliver the World Twenty20 title to England, and this country’s first International Cricket Council tournament triumph too.

England have tried and failed for 35 years to do that, reaching four finals to no avail along the way.

But one more win - a fifth in succession at this tournament, against unbeaten opponents - will put Collingwood’s Twenty20 team in a league of their own in English cricket, and allow the man himself to note he has gone one better than illustrious predecessors Mike Brearley, Mike Gatting, Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan.

The captain is confident too that he has the right personnel to rise to the challenge of writing a new chapter.

“There are a lot of guys in our side that haven’t experienced finals - but I really do sense they are ready,” he said.

“The guys seem very relaxed going into such a big occasion, and that’s a great sign.

“I think if you have played in big matches it does help. But if you are fresh into a side and you don’t know what it’s all about it can sometimes help.”

England yesterday watched on television in Barbados as Australia pulled off an astounding three-wicket win over Pakistan in St Lucia, where Mike Hussey unleashed a frightening array of huge hits in an unbeaten 60.

There is an alarming depth to Australia’s batting, with Hussey coming in at number seven.

Yet Collingwood’s England remain fearless: “We always knew what Australia were capable of. Whoever we played against in the final were going to be a strong side.

“Nothing surprised us yesterday. All we can concentrate on is our game.

“There’s plenty of confidence in our side, the way we’ve played throughout this tournament has given us a lot of belief.

“We believe we’ve got the skills to beat any side on the day.”

England will not be toning down their gameplan, to dominate from the outset, either - even though carving sixes to all parts off the pace of Australia’s new-ball pair Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes may prove a hazardous business on what is expected to be a quick surface.

New opening pair Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb will go out with the same orders they have played to all tournament, to try to get England off to a flier in powerplay.

“We’ve got a plan of action against every team. Right the way through the tournament, we have been very aggressive - and I don’t want to change our mindset going into the final,” said Collingwood.

“There would be no reason at all to change anyone’s mindset in the 11 that are going to play tomorrow.

“That’s why the guys are going to go out with confidence and belief and keep doing the things they have been doing well throughout this tournament.

“We have done it against fast bowlers, against (South Africa’s Dale) Steyn and (Morne) Morkel - they are two very fast bowlers.”

If there is an amendment it will come in which hitting areas to choose - against Tait’s low-slung action and Nannes’ whippy, tight lines - rather than whether to use the pace or attack it.

“We have got different angles tomorrow,” added Collingwood.

“That is probably the only thing we have got to contend with. But we have played against pace bowling before, and I believe the guys have got the skills to do it."

For many, the prospect of an ‘Ashes’ showdown will add an extra spice to tomorrow’s match.

But Collingwood is putting the occasion first, and the opponents second.

“I don’t think you need any extra motivation. This is a ‘World Cup’ final, no matter who you’re playing against.

“This is what it’s all about; this is why we play the game of cricket.

“This is literally the ultimate. You’ve got through to a ‘World Cup’ final; you’re playing against the old enemy, Australia. It doesn’t get much better than this.

“You’re going to see two very good sides with a lot of confidence, going head to head.”

Australia have rarely been tested in this Caribbean campaign, until they had to dig deep to sneak past Pakistan.

England, however, have also built up a winning habit - and with an unchanged team almost certain to take the field, Collingwood has an inkling they may yet have the edge in a heavyweight tussle.

“Belief is pretty much the key factor. We’ve gained a lot of that right the way through the tournament,” he said. “The confidence is sky high.

“But we haven’t won anything yet - that’s the thing. We’ve got to a final, but it means nothing until we win a ’World Cup’.”

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We've achieved nothing - Flower

Team director Andy Flower insists his England side have nothing to celebrate yet despite producing another polished display to book their place in the ICC World Twenty20 final.

England’s renaissance in the shortest form of the game continued yesterday as they swept Sri Lanka aside in the first semi-final to secure their participation in Sunday’s showpiece in Barbados.

Once again, England combined menace and frugality with the ball, fielded splendidly and cruised home on the back of another batting effort of controlled power.

Openers Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb set the early pace before Kevin Pietersen applied the gloss to a superb day’s work by hitting an unbeaten 42 off only 26 balls.

As well as England played – Flower admitted it was “a very dominant display” – he has moved quickly to snuff out any feeling of euphoria in the camp.

“We came here with one objective and that was to win the tournament. We haven’t done that,” he told. “So it’s certainly not the time for any patting of backs.

“I’m pleased with the way we’ve played; we’ve played some strong cricket and some intelligent cricket.

“But I don’t feel any sense of achievement at all. The time for looking back will be after the final.”

Flower will, however, cast his mind back to England’s progress thus far in a bid to pinpoint areas where they can do better.

Captain Paul Collingwood claimed in the aftermath of victory in St Lucia that “there aren’t too many areas we can improve on”, but rest assured the ever-demanding Flower will find something.

While praising the contributions of Kieswetter and Lumb, whose opening stand of 68 in little more than eight overs set England on their way in style, Flower knows there is more to come.

“That sort of start chasing a small total – it was a match-winning partnership,” he acknowledged.

“They’ve been really good so far. Both are playing their first real tournament for England; they’ve handled it very well.

“They’ve played some cameo knocks and shown some real power with the bat, and no mean skill. They’ve had some useful partnerships.

“It must be said that neither have played a huge innings yet. I know they will be hungry to do so.”

Flower is already making plans for England’s return to the Kensington Oval, which, judging by the evidence so far, will be a much quicker surface than that in St Lucia.

It seems inconceivable that England will make any changes to a side that, along with Australia, have been the most impressive on show in this tournament.

“Our guys’ tactics, and their skills in executing those tactics, were very good,” Flower said of the mauling of Sri Lanka, World Twenty20 finalists themselves last year.

“It was one of those days with the ball in hand where the plans worked very well.

“Barbados is a completely different pitch, so we’ll have to adjust a few things there. Then we’ve got to win that.”

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England brush Sri Lanka aside

England stormed into the final of the ICC World Twenty20 with a crushing seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia.

A potentially tight semi-final tussle never came to pass after England restricted their opponents to 128 for six - and then knocked off that inadequate total with four overs to spare.

Sri Lanka, who won the toss, paid for losing early wickets and left England with breathing space to pace what proved an easy chase on a sluggish surface.

Paul Collingwood’s team are therefore only the fifth from their country to reach an International Cricket Council tournament final, and will have their chance to claim a piece of history at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Sunday by becoming the first to win the silverware for England in 35 years of trying.

Pakistan or, more enticingly, Australia will earn the right to face them there when they meet in tomorrow’s second semi-final at this venue.

England had clever game-plans for each batsman, and most worked to a tee as only Angelo Mathews, who top-scored with 58, cut any ice for Sri Lanka.

Even the powerful Mathews struggled to reach, let alone clear, the ropes - with only three fours and one six in his 40-ball fifty.

But he stayed put to keep Sri Lanka’s faint hopes alive of reaching a second successive final in this competition, eventually cashing in when Tim Bresnan - so impressive over the past two weeks - proved a relative weak link, leaking 17 runs in his final over to concede 41 in all.

Although Bresnan’s first delivery of the match - a leg-stump half-volley - was routinely dispatched for four by Mahela Jayawardene, England could scarcely have got off to a better start in powerplay.

Collingwood profited personally for posting himself at second slip when he pocketed a Sanath Jayasuriya edge from Ryan Sidebottom’s first ball.

Tillakaratne Dilshan mis-hooked Bresnan to be well caught by Luke Wright, diving in at deep square-leg; then Stuart Broad emulated Sidebottom, by striking with his first ball, for the big wicket of Sri Lanka lynchpin Jayawardene.

Broad has espoused the virtue of aiming to hit the top of off-stump, and that no-nonsense approach did the trick as a little extra bounce had Jayawardene edging behind.

Sri Lanka then found themselves 47 for the loss of their top four in the 10th over, Kumar Sangakkara getting too much on a chip towards long-off at Graeme Swann and Kevin Pietersen making no mistake with a running catch.

The next five overs went Sri Lanka’s way, but not damagingly so as Mathews and fellow big-hitter Chamara Kapugedera were forced to play more conservatively than is their nature.

Mathews might have been run out on 18, with the score on 58 for four, by a better throw from Michael Lumb as the batsman scampered a tight two into the off-side deep.

With the spin overs gone, Broad and Sidebottom’s tactics were slow bouncers and clever lines - which mostly did the trick, despite the occasional wide or no-ball call, as Mathews and Kapugedera found it hard to adapt to altered timing requirements.

Kapugedera fell to a back-foot drive at Broad which did not beat mid-off - but Mathews kept going almost till the end, eventually run out trying for his 10th two.

If Sri Lanka dared to hope they had salvaged a total they could defend, they did not do so for long as Craig Kieswetter and Lumb racked up an opening stand of 68 in under nine overs.

Kieswetter, in particular, succeeded where Sri Lanka had failed - striking powerfully to and beyond the boundaries, until Lasith Malinga interrupted him in full flow with a swinging yorker.

Lumb had luck on his side. He should have been run out on 11, but Ajantha Mendis dropped the ball with the England opener stranded - and substitute fielder Nuwan Kulasekara then could not hold on to a tough chance at long-off, with Lumb on 23.

He made 10 more before aiming adventurously across the line and losing his middle-stump to Thissara Perera.

Paul Collingwood perished when he skied a leading edge off Perera, but Pietersen - back in harness after his Atlantic dash to see the birth of his first child - smashed an unbeaten 42 to complete a straightforward task with a six and a four from successive balls off Malinga.

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'Powerful' England chase history

England hope the successful combination of brain and brawn can sustain them through two more victories, to claim their first world title.

England's barren spell in International Cricket Council tournaments stretches back to the inaugural World Cup 35 years ago.

But today in the ICC World Twenty20, they have another shot at booking their place in a final for the first time since the Champions Trophy at the Brit Oval in 2004.

The confidence which has come from a perfect Super Eight campaign will only be bolstered by the return of Kevin Pietersen, who arrived in St Lucia yesterday following his return home for the birth of his first child.

He rejoins a team in whom captain Paul Collingwood has immense faith.

Collingwood trusts not only their big-hitting, canny bowling and athletic fielding but their ability to produce all those talents at the right time.

"This is certainly the most powerful England side I've played in," said the veteran of 176 one-day internationals, but just 29 Twenty20s.

"When you look at all the guys going down to probably number 10, everyone can hit sixes.

"A lot of credit has to go to the boys for what they are doing with the ball as well, because they are thinking for themselves.

"Whereas maybe in the past they were always kind of guided by the captains, they really are going out there and thinking what the opposition's strengths and weaknesses are and adjusting the fields accordingly. That's been one of the crucial things in our development."

The results have merely been confirmation for Collingwood of the potential he saw - despite a close shave against Ireland during an awkward group phase in rainy Guyana.

"We've got to take all that talent we've got on the team sheet out into the middle,” he added.

"Thankfully, we've done that. There were times against Ireland where we were close to going out of the tournament.

"You were thinking, ‘All this potential we've got, and we were nearly going out’.

"We had that little bit of an early scare, which wasn't probably a bad thing because it kick-started us into something special."

England have overpowered most of their opponents, but Collingwood is well aware the bowlers have yet to be put under maximum pressure.

"I guess if someone gets a hold of us, that's probably an area we've got to make sure we really nail down.

"It's not a worry of mine because I think we've got the skills in the bank to be able to do that.

"But nobody has grabbed us - like a Razzaq (for Pakistan) in Abu Dhabi, for example - as yet. If that situation comes around I'm sure one of the bowlers will stick their hands up."

The variety in the Sri Lanka attack is another factor England are wary of.

"Quite a lot of the guys haven't played against the angle of (Lasith) Malinga, his skiddiness, his 'change-ups' - and not many of us have played much against (Ajantha) Mendis.

"When guys are bowling 24 balls at you, you can't give yourself six or seven to get yourself in against them.

"That's one of the things we need to make sure we overcome; we need to watch as much footage as possible and talk about it between ourselves."

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Collingwood concentrates on England

England will soon discover the identity of their ICC World Twenty20 semi-final opponents - not that it bothers captain Paul Collingwood.

Eoin Morgan and man of the match Tim Bresnan were to the fore yesterday as Collingwood’s team transported their Barbados form to St Lucia to claim a three-wicket win over New Zealand and complete their Super Eight programme with a 100% record and the title of group winners.

The portents are uniformly good for England, with Kevin Pietersen due back tomorrow in time for Thursday’s semi-final following the birth of his son in London yesterday.

That match will be against the runners-up in Group F, and, with Australia looking certain to top the group even if they lose today to West Indies today, England appear set to face Sri Lanka, the hosts or even India.

Collingwood, however, is untroubled by who makes up the opposition or when they do it.

“We all know we haven’t won an ICC trophy,” he said. “In the semis, and if we get through to the final, I won’t be bothered who we’re playing.

“Who we play doesn’t really matter. I’m just absolutely delighted to get through to the semis.

“All the teams that are in the semis now are very, very strong and we’ve got to keep this belief and momentum going. We’ve got two games and we could win a World Cup.

“The confidence is sky high and we’re all very excited to be in this position. Winning would be an exceptional effort.”

Morgan’s runs - he made a timely 40 off 34 balls - and Bresnan’s all-round performance - 1-20 off four overs and a rapid 23 not out - against the Black Caps were fresh examples of England pulling together and contributing collectively, and Collingwood wants more of the same.

“If we want to go all the way it’s going to take a team effort,” he added. “We’ll all have to put our hands up at certain points.

“With Swanny (Graeme Swann) and Broady (Stuart Broad) coming in, even after Bressy, we’ve got a really strong line-up.

“A special mention has to go to the two guys up front (Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb) too, for the way they’re taking the game to the opposition and giving us that real kickstart. That really does take the pressure off the middle order.”

As for Pietersen’s anticipated return after a double dash across the Atlantic, that is simply another reason for England’s smiles.

“It’s perfect timing in many ways,” added Collingwood. “I’m delighted for him. Everybody’s healthy so it’s fantastic.

“The great thing for the England cricket team is that he’s going to be back for the semi-finals.”

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Pietersen chuffed with new arrival

Kevin Pietersen has described becoming a father for the first time as “the most amazing experience of my life” after his wife Jessica gave birth to a baby boy this morning.

Pietersen made a late dash from England’s World Twenty20 campaign in the Caribbean at the weekend to be at his wife’s side and will remain in London with her for the next couple of days.

The 29-year-old is, however, set to fly back to the West Indies to rejoin England’s squad should they, as expected, reach the semi-finals of the World Twenty20.

The last-four matches are scheduled to be played on Thursday and Friday.

A statement on Pietersen’s website, www.kevinpietersen.com, today read: “Kevin and Jessica Pietersen are both thrilled to announce the birth of their baby boy today.

“The baby was born this morning without complication and both baby and Jessica are doing brilliantly.

“Kevin said ‘this really is the most amazing experience of my life’.

“Kevin will stay with Jessica for a couple of days before returning to the West Indies to continue the tournament.

“They would now like to spend time on their own to enjoy and relish every minute of their new arrival.”

Pietersen had indicated before the World Twenty20 that he would return home should his wife go in to labour.

England will reach the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 should Pakistan beat South Africa or, failing that, England avoid a wide-margin defeat at the hands of New Zealand later today.

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Collingwood asks for more

Paul Collingwood gave his England team a ‘can-do-better’ report despite seeing them start their ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight campaign with a convincing six-wicket win over reigning champions Pakistan.

Kevin Pietersen’s unbeaten 73 ensured England completed the job safely at the Kensington Oval in Barbados yesterday, after Pakistan mustered a below-par 147 for nine on a pitch of decent pace.

While Collingwood described Pietersen’s innings as “exceptional”, he conceded England must raise their game in other areas.

“It was a good performance. It was nice to get the full 40 overs in, because then you always get a proper game,” Collingwood said, having endured one Duckworth-Lewis defeat and a no-result in England’s group matches in rainy Guyana.

“But we can improve on it as well. There were certain areas we weren’t very good.

“I thought there were times we didn’t bowl too well at the start - gave them too much width - and we were very sloppy at the end of the innings.

“If you’ve got a team down you need to kill them off. We had a few opportunities at the end to do that.

“But we got the two points and are delighted to beat a very dangerous side. If we improve on a few things that will be good.”

Collingwood was heartened not just by Pietersen’s batting - the pair shared a third-wicket stand of 60, to which Collingwood contributed just 16 - but also that of openers Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb.

They made 25 apiece, putting on 44 inside six overs to give England’s chase some crucial early momentum.

“There were some great partnerships, and the boys got us off to a great start again at the top of the order - giving us a real impetus,” added Collingwood.

“I think their (Pakistan’s) spin was going to be the main threat, and thankfully the two guys at the top got the run-rate up so that we didn’t really have to push on too hard.”

England, who will play South Africa in their second Super Eight match at the same venue tomorrow, eventually won with three balls to spare.

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