Lacklustre England beat Ireland

Updated 12.41 Sat Mar 31 2007
Keywords: Paul Collingwood, Guyana, Cricket World Cup, Ireland, England

England struggled to a 48-run victory over Ireland in their first Super 8 game in Guyana.

Man-of-the-match Paul Collingwood helped England reach 266 with an assured 90, while Andrew Flintoff scored 43 and Kevin Pieterson a rapid 48.

"We're not playing the full game but it's very rare that you play at 100 per cent. At the moment we're playing around 80 per cent and I'd like to see us play a bit more than that" - Michael Vaughan

England looked to have problems after losing their Ireland-born opener Ed Joyce for only one and captain Michael Vaughan for six leaving the team on 23-2.

Pieterson and Ian Bell helped steady the innings, before Collingwood and Flintoff propelled England to a challenging target.

Chasing 267, Ireland lost Jeremy Bray in the opening over but Niall O'Brien made an abrasive 63 from 88 balls.

Ireland were eventually bowled out for 218 after 48.1 overs with Flintoff taking four wickets. Although for long periods of the Irish innings England struggled to take wickets.

England now travel to Antigua to prepare for their match against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

"We will have to work hard over the next few days to make sure the top order fires against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, but definitely the most important thing was to get two points." Vaughan said after the win.

"We're not firing consistently, but Ed Joyce has just got two fifties and Ian Bell is hitting the ball OK.

"We're not playing the full game but it's very rare that you play at 100 per cent. At the moment we're playing around 80 per cent and I'd like to see us play a bit more than that."

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