Georgetown (Guyana), March 31: After their not-so-impressive win in their first Super Eight game, England skipper Michael Vaughan was at least happy to not let their World Cup hopes slip on an Ireland banana-skin.
England looked patchy in their 48-run win against debutant Ireland, who caused a major upset against Pakistan in the league stage to reach the second round. "It was a sort of banana-skin game. We needed two points and Ireland were playing tremendously since the last few years and they deserve a lot of credit," Vaughan said after England managed a 48-run win at the Guyana National Stadium here.
"We are happy to get two points, but obviously we need to improve," said Vaughan. "We played some good cricket to get to 260 and then bowled well in the middle period. For the five-six overs we lost track, but pulled it back. We always felt we could score 250 or 260."
Vaughan, who is still struggling with his own batting since returning after a long injury-layoff, said that he would look to get back his touch in the crucial tie against Sri Lanka on Friday
"My form at the moment is pretty patchy. I have to work hard in the next few days and make sure I go into the next game against Sri Lanka full of confidence," said Vaughan who contributed just six over Ireland yesterday. Vaughan also asked his top-order batsmen to fire in themes.
"We would love the top order to fire, but it has not happened today. We will have to work very hard over the next few days to make sure that it contributes in the next game against Sri Lanka," Vaughan said.
The England captain praised Paul Collingwood, who was named man of the match for his impressive 90 off just 82 balls, and Andrew Flintoff for their efforts. "Collingwood has continued his great form. Andrew Flintoff came in with runs and the tail wagged to get us to a
decent total."
"We had to put partnerships together through the middle of the innings. And then in the back end of the innings, we got a hold of the bowlers and runs.” Vaughan praised Ireland for their good performance which made things difficult for England.
"They were very impressive. I was not surprised when they came out and bowled and put us under pressure," said Vaughan. Ireland captain Trent Johnston admitted his team squandered an early advantage and allowed England to set a challenging total.
"We bowled well in the first 40 overs, but unfortunately it slipped away in the last ten which went for 90-odd runs," said Johnston.
"We were outstanding on that wicket against the quality batsmen. Then we missed Boyd Rankin who left with cramps so we didn`t have a lot of options," he said. Johnston said his batsmen found it hard to score against the English attack.
"They got two early wickets. We were stuck in the middle against the spinners and could not get back and once Flintoff returned it was difficult as the asking rate went up." Johnston said he was proud of his team who reached the second round with a famous win over 1992 champions Pakistan.
"The way we played against Pakistan, the warm-up match against South Africa and this match with England, it`s all another learning curve." He said their performance have silenced the critics who have mocked their presence in the Super Eight.
"We are not here to shame in critics. We are showing that there are good players in Ireland, and the goal is to show people back home that we can play cricket and that`s something we have achieved," he said.
Bureau Report
