Collingwood’s allround performance gives England joy

Paul Collingwood“It was a good total. To reach 212 was fantastic. Samaraweera, Kandamby and Mathews played well. Ajantha bowled well but it was not to be today. We are probably firing on about 80%. We have a lot of homework to do before the next game. We played well. Need to be flexible. This wasn’t a typical one-day track but we had to build a good score.” said Sangakkara

“Its good when you contribute to a team’s victory. The way Anderson took wickets early on was crucial. It was going to be difficult chasing because the ball was doing a bit, but Morgan did very well to see the boys home. We negated their spinners well.” man of the match Collingwood said.

“We played well. The key was to not lose too many early wickets. The way Collingwood played too the game to them. Shah played well. Morgan played brilliantly. This is a fast-scoring ground and we had to keep sensible and not do anything too rash. It was a sensible and professional chase. Morgan has played a lot of innings like that over the years at Middlesex but it is nice to see him transfer that into the international format. We’re not jumping up and down but you can take a lot from victories like this. Our players played without fear and if we continue to do that we can be a good team.” Strauss said.