Collingwood wants response

1 October 2007

Captain Paul Collingwood knows his side must improve

Paul Collingwood admitted England’s 119-run defeat in the opening one-day international against Sri Lanka had been “an eye-opener” for his developing side.

Chasing the hosts’ competitive score of 269 for seven, England slumped to 150 all out to lose their eighth match in the last nine outings against Sri Lanka with 15.1 overs remaining.

It was a comprehensive defeat but captain Collingwood remains positive about their chances for the remainder of the five-match series.

“This is where the character comes through and where we have to show our character,” he said.

“It’s disappointing loss but we’ve got four games to put it right and we’re still in the series.

“It’s a small dent for us but we’re still confident we can turn it around. Tonight has been a great eye-opener for everybody to see what needs to be done.”

Seamer Farveez Maharoof sealed Sri Lanka’s eighth successive victory on home soil against England by claiming four for 31, including a spell of three wickets for four runs in 17 balls.

“It will certainly have been an eye-opener for the boys who haven’t played out in Sri Lanka and has showed them the skills that are needed out here,” Collingwood said.

"It’s a proper scrap. When you go out onto that pitch, from ball one you know you’re in a scrap with the way they buzz around the field and they don’t give you anything.

“These are the levels we need to get to. It’s exciting for us because at least today we’ve been shown and given a lesson on how to scrap out in Sri Lanka and we have to up our work-rate.”

He added: “We’re disappointed but it’s not going to kill us or dent our confidence too much - I think we all realise the areas that we need to improve on and do better at and I think they really showed us how to bowl on that wicket.

“I thought the skills they showed out there were magnificent but, saying that, when we came off at half-time I thought we’d done a very good job to keep them down to 270.”

Mahela Jayawardene sweeps during his 66

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Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, who top-scored for his side with a patient 66 off 74 balls, claimed it had been their bowling performance which was the difference between the two sides.

“Our bowlers bowled pretty well up front,” he said. “We didn’t get early wickets but the way we came back and the areas we bowled were very good and we started picking up wickets.

“Once you start doing that, you get momentum and we put a lot of pressure on the England guys. When you’re chasing 270, we knew they would have to take a few chances so we made sure we hit those areas and created pressure and created chances for ourselves.

“It was a good all-round performance but we can still improve in all areas.”