Collingwood hails bulldog spirit
Collingwood top-scored with 32
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Sunday, 07, Oct 2007 09:58
England skipper Paul Collingwood praised his side's character after the nail-biting two-wicket win over Sri Lanka.
Graeme Swann took the man of the match award after taking 4-34 to bundle the World Cup finalists out for 164.
With the match reduced to 48 overs per side due to two rain delays, England were reeling on 107-7 at one stage.
But tailenders Swann (25) and Stuart Broad (20 not out) helped England pass their target under the lights with nine balls to spare.
Having gone more than 25 years since they last won in Sri Lanka, two victories in the space of four days have put England 2-1 up in the series.
Collingwood praised his side's bowling and fielding having lost the toss.
"We set a target of keeping them to just above 200 and we did much better than that, we took it down to the wire as always but we got over the line," Collingwood told Sky Sports.
"The top four batsmen on both teams haven't got going and it shows how difficult the conditions are in Dambulla, but we're 2-1 up, one more (win) to go.
"We knew if we didn't get bowled out we'd win the game, eight down is cutting it pretty close, but Broady has done that before, he knocked runs off against India in the summer and he has done it again.
"A lot of lads have scrapped and made it difficult for the Sri Lankans, we were pretty happy with that total that we had to knock off."
The fourth ODI is in Colombo on Wednesday with dangerman Muttiah Muralitharan set to return for the hosts.