The Hindu : Sport : England overcomes a determined Ireland

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England overcomes a determined Ireland

Vaughan & Co. has a lot to ponder ahead of the next match against Lanka

— PHOTO: AP

ON CLOUD NINE: Panesar and Nixon celebrate the dismissal of Kevin O'Brien.

Georgetown: England lacked the spark but managed to overcome a determined Ireland for a laboured 48-run win in a World Cup Super Eight contest here on Friday.

After posting a challenging 266 for seven, England allowed things to drift before Monty Panesar (two for 31) and Michael Vaughan (one for 34) pegged back the Irish in the middle overs and Andrew Flintoff (four for 43) ran through the lower order.

Ireland was bowled out for 218 in 48.1 overs.

Collingwood fires

Earlier, the English relied on a power-packed 90 from 82 balls by Man of the Match Paul Collingwood to overcome a sedate start and finish with a flourish at the Providence Stadium. The Irish then seemed to make a fight of it as Niall O'Brien (63) and William Porterfield (31) stitched a 61-run partnership for the third wicket.

After Porterfield's departure, caught off Flintoff, Ireland was still well placed at 116 for three but it was unable to launch the late assault that its rival did.

Andrew White, with 38 from 35 balls, tried his bit but his effort was not good enough.

Ireland skipper Trent Johnston agreed his side has a few areas to improve upon but was nevertheless a happy man.

``That's all I can ask for from the guys,'' he said after the match.

``Our death bowling was not up to scratch; we went for nine an over. And the spinners squeezed us in the middle.

``Our batting has struggled against spin in the last couple of games. That is also something we have to look into.''

England too has a lot to ponder, ahead of its next match against Sri Lanka on April 4.

Batting worries

Its batting hasn't really fired so far and it needed Vaughan's part-time slow bowling to check its Celtic rival.

The captain was happy to take the two points from the win, though. ``Full credit to the boys for the way they turned around things. It was a tough day,'' Vaughan said. — PTI

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