Collingwood takes heart

5 September 2007

Robin Uthappa and Rmaesh Powar enjoy a remakable India victory with two balls to spare

England captain Paul Collingwood saw his side lose a thrilling NatWest Series encounter to India at the Brit Oval but insisted “they can keep their heads held high” ahead of Saturday’s decider at Lord’s.

India’s two-wicket win - secured in the final over of the match as Robin Uthappa guided the tourists home with an inventive unbeaten 47 as they successfully chased England’s 316 - leaves the series at 3-3 with one to play.

And Collingwood insists the hosts will not be despondent at headquarters.

He said: “There was a lot of commitment, desire - all the words you put into a good team.

“I can’t fault their effort out there. To get so close was what they call a ‘nipper’. It was a shame to lose but congratulations to India - they played a great game.

“But the way we fought back was a great effort and a credit goes to all the boys in the dressing room; they can keep their heads held high.”

Collingwood praised the contribution of debutant Luke Wright, who made 50, and centurion Owais Shah.

Owais Shah takes to the air after scoring his first century for England © Getty Images

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He added: “We didn’t get off to a great start but for Luke Wright to change the momentum of the game as he did and for Owais to get his first hundred was a great way to finish the first half of the match.”

India captain Rahul Dravid insisted his side were confident of chasing down their target, even though it would once have been deemed an impossible chase.

“When we started playing (one-day cricket) if a team got 300 you thought ‘What’s the point going out to bat?’.

“But it’s changed. We knew if we went out to bat there was a genuine belief we could get this score.”

Yuvraj Singh had earlier been hit for 30 in an over as Dimitri Mascarenhas smashed five successive sixes, and Dravid conceded his gameplan for ‘death bowling’ had not yet come off.

“When he gets hit for 30 in an over you wonder a bit; we tried some different combinations (over the series) and it didn’t work out.

“We have to play better, we know that. We don’t always want to be scoring 300 to win games but it will be a great game at Lord’s.”