Collingwood: Pleased
England captain Paul Collingwood was delighted his side silenced their critics to seal a first-ever ODI series win in Sri Lanka.
England’s one-day side had faced criticism after their series defeat to the West Indies and their poor display at the Twenty20 World Championship prior to arriving on the sub-continent.
And a heavy defeat in the opening match did little to ease the pressure on the squad.
However, Wednesday’s five-wicket win in Colombo was the side’s third win on the bounce and enough to give them an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series.
And Collingwood was full of praise for his squad – particularly the bowlers.
He told Sky Sports 1: “Before we came out here, a lot of people wrote us off.
“After the first game it was difficult work. But the way the boys have bounced back has been a credit to the players.
Difficult
“It’s great to win a series. Coming out to Sri Lanka, you’ve got difficult conditions.
“A special mention must go to the bowlers today. It was a great effort. It was really, really hot out there.
“We learnt a lot form the Sri Lankan bowlers.
“The bowlers went away, worked on their skills, came back and have bowled fantastically well since.
“We’ve got a real good buzz, a real feel-good factor in the dressing room at the moment.”
While confidence is high among the England squad, Collingwood’s opposite number Mahela Jayawardene admits his side are struggling.
He said: “We haven’t been playing some really good cricket the whole series and I think it showed today as well.
“Up front they bowled pretty well. It was always a struggle unless we took early wickets, which we didn’t.
“They got a couple of partnerships we couldn’t capitalise on. It wasn’t enough runs.
“We were not confident enough to go out an express ourselves. I’m very disappointed with the batting the whole series.”
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Source: www.skysports.com
