England young guns delight Collingwood

MANCHESTER: England captain Paul Collingwood praised the calmness under pressure of youngsters Ravi Bopara and Stuart Broad after they saw his side to a three-wicket win in the fourth one-day international against India here at Old Trafford.   

The victory, which gave England a 3-1 lead in the seven-match series, looked anything but assured as, chasing a modest 213 for victory, they collapsed to 114 for seven in the 24th over.   

But 21-year-old fast bowler Broad, who'd earlier in the match taken career-best figures of four for 51, showed no nerves as he made 45 not out, his highest score at this level.   

Equally calm was the 22-year-old Bopara, one of England's few successes at the World Cup where he so nearly saw the side home to an unlikely victory against Sri Lanka in Antigua, making 52 before he was bowled off the last ball.   

However, there were no heartaches on this occasion as Bopara put any distress he may have felt at being involved in the dismissal of Collingwood, run out for 47 and the last wicket to fall, to one side on his way to an unbeaten 43 as he kept his cool under the Old Trafford floodlights.   

Thursday's match was only Bopara and Broad's 13th at this level but the pair batted with the composure of veterans as they set a new England record eighth wicket stand of 99, beating the 76 shared by Paul Nixon and Liam Plunkett against New Zealand at Perth in January.   

"The performances by both of them were exceptionally special," Collingwood told reporters. "I'm not saying at half-time we thought we'd won it, but you'd expect to knock those runs off - seven down after 25 overs, you think you've blown it.   

"But to turn it around like that and have the kind of maturity to go out there and play innings like those, you'd thought they'd have played 100 games each," all-rounder Collingwood added.   

Broad, some of whose shots gave a clue that he was the son of former England opening batsman Chris, said Bopara's ice-cool approach had helped him settle in at the crease.   

"It was great to go out there with Ravi," said Broad, who like his father bats left-handed but bowls with his right. "He was always talking to me and we're egging each other on.    

"We won the game and that's what we were aiming for.    

"We had plenty of time to bat so there wasn't any scoreboard pressure," added Broad, who recently announced he would move from Leicestershire to Midlands rivals Nottinghamshire next season in a bid to help bolster his chances of a Test debut.   

Collingwood, who having taken over as one-day captain from Michael Vaughan lost his first series in charge when the West Indies completed a 2-1 win in July, said a hard-fought win such as this would be a huge boost to his youthful team's confidence.   

"You have to go through these kind of situations and experience along the way to learn. You see the character of people when you get yourself in these situations and we've seen two characters who've done exceptionally well."   

Broad and Bopara's efforts also won praise from India captain Rahul Dravid.   

He said, "Broad coming in at No 9 is a huge player for them. He plays sensibly, he's not just a lower order slogger."   

And of Essex all-rounder Bopara, the star batsman - dismissed by Broad for one on Thursday - added, "I've seen a few knocks of his during the World Cup and it shows he's got a good temperament and a good head on his shoulders which really helps."   

Collingwood though warned England couldn't rest on their laurels ahead of Sunday's match at Headingley where another win would see them claim an unbeatable series lead.   

"We've got to be really ruthless and hopefully play our best cricket from now on."