Summary
HE saw England all but throw away any hopes they had of reaching the semi-finals of the World Twenty20, made the schoolboy error of failing to give his best bowler his full allocation of overs and then had to defend his presence in a lap-dancing club late on Friday. Paul Collingwood has had better days.
England's five-run defeat by New Zealand leaves them needing a miracle to advance to the last four. But worse than that was the inadequacy of their cricket. They were in the ascendancy for most of the game but, each time they worked themselves into a winning position, they let the Kiwis off the hook and stumbled to a woeful defeat. Collingwood's day was the stuff of nightmares. He awoke to find an appearance he made in Maverick's Gentlemen's Club in Cape Town after the defeat by Australia had been exposed - he has apologised and been fined - before showing he has a way to go before proving himself as an astute captain. More serious than letting New Zealand escape from the depths of 31 for four to reach a competitive 164 for nine was his miscalculation which saw Andrew Flintoff only bowl three overs instead of four. Even then England should have been capable of reaching their target. But on a pitch that had flattened out after the early start had encouraged movement, self-inflicted dismissals at crucial times saw them fall short. The run-outs of Darren Maddy, who justified his inclusion here with runs, wickets and a sharp run-out, and Flintoff debilitated England, as did Pietersen's decision to reverse-slog the first ball he faced from Daniel Vettori. He was bowled all too soon after hitting Chris Martin for 15 in an over.See the full content of this document
Extract
Naughty Skipper's Nightmare Complete
Yet still England lo...
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