England redeemed themselves after their Dutch embarrassment on Friday night to beat Pakistan by 48 runs yesterday and seal their place in the second stage of the World Twenty20.
Paul Collingwood, the captain, praised his side as “eleven leaders” after winning a game he described as do or die in front of a passionate capacity crowd approaching 25,000 at the Brit Oval. The strength of the victory means that they are sure to qualify on run rate, if not points, whatever the result of the final game in the group, between Pakistan and the Netherlands tomorrow. England’s first game in the Super Eights will be against South Africa at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
If it was a case of Dutch orange squeezing the pips from the English lemons two days earlier, then Pakistan were ripe for the taking yesterday after their poor form going into the tournament and a concentrated all-round effort meant that a second banana skin was duly avoided to prevent the hosts from being eliminated.
“It was exactly what we needed,” Collingwood said. “The Netherlands game was a massive blow to us and we were under quite a lot of pressure to put in a good performance. I wish I knew how that happened, but from the first ball this time we proved how much we wanted to win.”
England opted for a late change to the team after watching South Africa beat Scotland earlier, calling up a second spin bowler having seen the turn and bounce available from an ageing pitch. It proved a wise move as Adil Rashid held his nerve against some of the most experienced one-day players in the game.
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Collingwood said: “We batted with a lot of purpose, thought a lot with the ball and fielded excellently. We have shown how good we can be, but we have to do it every game.”
Kevin Pietersen, declared fit by the medical team in the morning, hit 58 from 38 balls, with three sixes, and was unhindered by his Achilles trouble. But the improving Luke Wright beat him to the man-of-the-match award for a strong display with bat, ball and in the field.
“We were devastated as we walked off the field on Friday,” Wright said. “Not much was said because I think we all knew what had gone wrong. Everyone was desperate to put it right and that is what happened.”
Scotland were knocked out after a 130-run loss and Australia will join them today if they fail to beat Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge, having gone down by seven wickets to West Indies on Saturday. Even a victory will not guarantee them a passage to the Super Eights.
Pakistan must beat the Netherlands heavily to avoid an early exit, but Younus Khan, the captain, played down the significance of possible elimination. “It will be sad, but not a disaster,” he said.