England captain Paul Collingwood had cause to be grateful for rain as his side advanced to the ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight stage after a no-result to their Group D shoot-out with Ireland.
England captain Paul Collingwood had cause to be grateful for rain as his side advanced to the ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight stage after a no-result to their Group D shoot-out with Ireland.
England could only reach 120 for eight after being put in to bat on a difficult pitch at the Guyana National Stadium.
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| England's Eoin Morgan plays a cheeky shot during their World Twenty20 match against Ireland at the Providence Stadium in Guyana yesterday. Pic/AFP |
Collingwood had questioned the Duckworth-Lewis method in its current form as a means to determine rain-affected matches having lost to the West Indies on Monday but Ireland's reply was halted twice as they reached 14 for one from 3.3 overs and when the 5pm local time cut-off arrived, with five overs of their innings yet to be completed, a no-result was declared.
That meant England progressed alongside group winners West Indies on a superior net run-rate.
"I guess the rain's come around today at a time that's got us through to the next stage," Collingwood said.
"It didn't help us yesterday but today I guess it's helped us a little bit."
Collingwood said he had been satisfied with the target his side had set Ireland.
"We were pretty confident once we got up to 120. I think it was a 130 wicket and you'd have been really happy with that; 140 and you'd have been really confident of protecting that score.
"It could have got quite close today. There was certainly a bit of turn out there and it was seaming around as well and a lot different to the wicket we played on the other day."
Collingwood also praised Dublin-born England batsman Eoin Morgan who top-scored against his native country with 45 from 37, a day after hitting 55 from 35 against West Indies.
"He's a very versatile player. He's got the power, he can play all the shots but he's also got a good mind and that's what you need in the middle order.
"You've got to adjust to the situation, and he seems to be reading it pretty well.
"We wanted to get to the 15th over and then get our shots away but it was hard on that wicket and a lot of credit to the Irish bowlers as well. That wicket seemed to suit them quite well today, unfortunately, but I'm absolutely delighted the way Morgs is going and progressing as a player."
Ireland captain William Porterfield was instead the one to feel denied that his batsmen were not given the chance to chase what he felt was a vulnerable target.
"If the rain hadn't come we were pretty confident chasing down 120 that we could knock it off. But it's just one of those things," Porterfield said.
"The attitude we took out into the field there was brilliant.
"We just want to get into Super Eights and beat the big teams in there. We came with our sights set on that, and showed glimpses in our performance that we could do that."
