Skipper backs England to push on

Twenty20 / Editor / 30 June 2007 / Leave a Comment

Paul Collingwood insists the future is looking bright after England beat West Indies by five wickets in the second Twenty20 match on Friday night.

The new one-day and Twenty20 skipper was delighted with the way his side bounced back from Thursday's defeat against the tourists to secure a morale-boosting win at the Oval on Friday evening.

Owais Shah proved to be the match winner as his unbeaten 55, off 35 balls, helped steer England past the victory target, after the tourists were restricted to 169-7 off their 20 overs.

Durham all-rounder Collingwood, who hit 27 and took two wickets, claims the players learned from the mistakes made in the first game as they now look forward to the one-day series which gets underway at Lord's on Sunday.

He said: "It was a good performance, nice to get a win under our belts. We learned a lot from Thursday night.

"We've only been together for a week and have done a lot of talking, but you learn the most out in the middle."

He added: "The bowlers bowled as a unit and came out and showed they had learned a lot, with slower balls and death balls.

"We're all learning, including myself. It was much better and to knock a total off like that shows we can bat in depth.

"Right from the start we have shown a lot of enthusiasm. Our work-rate has been second to none and hopefully we'll get more results like this because of that.

"There's a lot of belief and a lot of talent out there and it looks good for the future."

England begin their three-match one-day international series against West Indies on Sunday, and punters appear to expect the Three Lions to confirm the form following their win over the Caribbean outfit at the World Cup and the 3-0 drubbing in the recent Test series.

Collingwood's men are trading as the 1.59 favourites to triumph at Lord's, with the Windies on offer at 2.64.

The second ODI is at Edgbaston on Wednesday before the final game at Trent Bridge on Saturday and in the series winner market, England are the favourites at 1.44, with Chris Gayle's men available at 2.44 and the draw at 5.4.