da lvbet： England’s three-month tour of Australia will be extended by another seven days after Paul Collingwood’s 106 set up an unpredictable triumph
Peter English at Brisbane06-Feb-2007Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
Paul Collingwood runs through to complete his century © Getty Images
England’s three-month tour of Australia will beextended by another seven days after PaulCollingwood’s 106 set up an unpredictable triumph. Twoweeks ago England’s players were praying to go home,but now they have a best-of-three finals seriesagainst Australia to prepare for and moreopportunities for consistency before the World Cup.Having done well to score 7 for 270, England quicklygave up their strong position with a wayward openingand Stephen Fleming clipped a century that appeared tobe sending England to the international airport.However, despite raising his first hundred in three years,Fleming was unable to carry his team and was light onsupport as they finished with 8 for 256.In a tense and often scratchy second innings, NewZealand began well, were pegged back after the first15 overs, worked themselves into comfort throughFleming and Ross Taylor and suffered terminal blowswhen Scott Styris, Jacob Oram and Brendon McCullumleft in quick succession. Wanting 19 from the lastover to tie and go through, the eventual margin was 14runs and it was a disappointing end for a team thatplayed well until the final week of qualifying.After Collingwood and Andrew Strauss worked their wayout of bad patches, Fleming also shook off a lean runin an innings that needed his leadership. Fleming, whosuffered a painful blow on the hand from AndrewFlintoff, played well until he approached his centurywhen he stalled and was unable to recharge. His 106from 149 balls was his seventh ODI century but thecause was lost when he edged Flintoff and his nextengagement is the Chappell-Hadlee Series at home.New Zealand’s openers wiped 81 off the chase beforeLou Vincent was caught trying to slog Monty Panesar to midwicket. The swift start was boosted by the tardiness of England’s new-ball men, who gave up 56 runs between them in eight overs, and Liam Plunkett was the early offender with an 11-delivery over that included nine runs in wides.Plunkett sprayed the ball and Sajid Mahmood also hadtrouble controlling Fleming and Vincent before Panesar arrived to end the damage. Panesar picked upVincent for 31 off 32 balls in the 14th over and NewZealand’s progress continued to slow when Peter Fultonarrived, taking 11 deliveries to get off zero.Departing to a leading edge, Fulton occupied 30 ballsfor 12 and the dip in the scoring rate had lastingeffects.Collingwood’s century was the high point for Englandas they produced a competitive total despite a fineeffort by Shane Bond, who captured 4 for 46. At timesduring the series Collingwood, who had 83 runs in hisprevious six attempts, had looked lost, but he pickedan ideal day to fire.
Stephen Fleming’s century wasn’t enough for New Zealand © Getty Images
England’s struggles were again on show when Bonddropped them to 2 for 28, but Collingwood re-floatedthe side in partnership with Strauss and thencompleted the job by almost staying until the end.Both batsmen have struggled during the limited-oversstage of the tour, but their 103-run stand in 118balls provided extra confidence and put England on theright track.Strauss fell pulling for 55 and Collingwood continuedto grab runs through nudges, glides and firmboundaries. There were moments of doubt, including adropped caught-and-bowled chance by Jacob Oram on 18,but he grew more assured as the innings progressed anddeserved his reward. He left in strange circumstanceswhen Jamie Dalrymple dropped his bat at thenon-striker’s end as Bond was in his delivery stride. Collingwood noticed and appeared to be put off as he moved across his stumps and was bowled.In Bond’s first spell of five overs he capturedMichael Vaughan and Ian Bell for nine runs andreturned in his second to remove Andrew Flintoff (17)before he became too dangerous. Michael Vaughan’sreturn from three weeks out with a hamstring injuryended in almost immediate disappointment after he wonthe toss. Bond began the second over of the inningswith a wide, but his first legal effort wassensational and he bowled Vaughan with an inswingingyorker.Collingwood engineered the fightback and added to hisbright day with two victims while Plunkett managedthree despite his accuracy problems. Flintoff was also important to the success and with Vaughan back in charge they will feel better prepared to test Australia at the MCG on Friday.