Colly leads England to victory

Boyd Rankin celebrates the wicket of the England captain

Ireland's batsmen could not keep pace with their England counterparts after Paul Collingwood had helped England recover from a shaky start to post a respectable target in their Super Eight game at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.

The Irish bowlers had taken a firm grip on the match before the Durham all-rounder's 90 from 82 balls ensured that England's attack had a total of 266 for seven to defend.

It proved to be more than enough as England bowled out Ireland for 218 with 11 balls still remaining, coming out victorious by 48 runs.

It started well for England's pacemen with James Anderson having Jeremy Bray caught in the gully by Ravi Bopara in the first over and some excellent fielding from Sajid Mahmood in his follow-through accounting for the run out of Eoin Morgan shortly afterwards.

William Porterfield managed 31 before giving Ian Bell a catch off the bowling of Andrew Flintoff to give England the breakthrough they needed.

Michael Vaughan then brought himself into the attack for his first bowl in an international game since August 2005.

Niall O'Brien hits out on his way to a well-made 63

But Niall O'Brien continued to impress with a half-century that took 66 balls and contained four boundaries.

Monty Panesar finally got England's fourth wicket when he had Andre Botha caught by Flintoff in the deep for 18 and was in on the action again, trapping Kevin O'Brien lbw for 12.

His brother followed him back to the pavilion when he came down the pitch to a loopy off-spinner from Vaughan, missed and was stumped by Paul Nixon for 63.

Trent Johnston played some lusty blows to make 27 off just 21 balls, but he was undone by a slower delivery from Flintoff which crashed into his stumps.

It was fitting that it was Collingwood who signalled the end of Ireland's hopes when he had Andrew White top-edging for 38 with Nixon taking the catch.

A full and straight delivery from Flintoff hit Dave Langford-Smith on the toe to give England their ninth wicket and he sealed the match by bowling Kyle McCallan for five to finish with figures of 4-43.

Derbyshire signing Boyd Rankin had earlier claimed the England openers before Kevin Pietersen gave the score some initial substance with an innings of 48.

Middlesex opener Ed Joyce was chiefly responsible for Ireland qualifying for the World Cup and he lined up against his compatriots at the top of England’s batting order.

But his stay at the crease did not last long when he shouldered arms to a Rankin delivery which nipped in and clipped the left-hander's off stump for just one.

Vaughan was also victim to Rankin when he nibbled at an outswinger and saw it well held by Niall O'Brien.

Pietersen and Bell set about repairing the England innings, with the former being particularly aggressive.

He wasted no time in flexing his muscles with boundaries, taking three fours off Johnston's first over to stamp his authority on the game.

Paul Collingwood struck eight fours and three sixes in his innings of 90 © Getty Images

Buy this photo

Bell played a more controlled innings, but was eventually given out for 31 when he guided Kevin O'Brien off his gloves and into the hands of his brother Niall who was standing up to the stumps.

Pietersen tried to improvise a shot by coming down the pitch to off-spinner Kyle McCallan but flicked him into the legside with Porterfield diving forward to take the catch.

Flintoff got off the mark with a boundary and took another one off Langford-Smith to pass 3,000 runs in one-day international cricket.

He continued to play shots all around the wicket but was eventually dismissed for 43 when he chopped a Johnston ball onto his stumps.

The captain did a little Irish jig on the spot to celebrate the scalp of the opposition dangerman, as England tottered on 194 for five with six overs remaining.

But Collingwood carried on his excellent one-day form, reaching his half-century off 65 balls, in an innings that contained eight fours and three sixes in total, as he kept the score ticking along.

Nixon was moved up the order ahead of Bopara and struck 19 off 15 balls as England looked to increase the rate at the end of the innings.

However, he was out in typical fashion, lofting the ball high into the air, with Middlesex's Morgan taking a brilliant catch.

Collingwood was next to go - run out by an excellent piece of fielding from bowler Johnston as he attempted a quick single.

Bopara and Mahmood saw out the final three deliveries, with the former taking a boundary off the last ball to give himself 10 off five balls.