England qualify for Super Eights without a win

KARACHI: With their match against Ireland a wash-out, England is the only team to proceed to the Super-Eights without a win under its belt.

They lost against West Indies in a rain-affected match as well and were restricted to 121 for eight against Ireland, with rain coming to help their cause. The unlucky Irish, who progressed to the second round last year, deserved a crack at the target, especially after their wonderful work in the field. Captain William Porterfield admitted, “If the rain hadn’t come we were pretty confident that we could knock off the target.”

Porterfield though was proud of the way his side had performed following their embarrassing start to the tournament where they were bowled out for a record tournament-low of 68 after they had done well to restrict West Indies for 138. “The way we came out, after Friday’s disappointment, was great. If we can take that into every game, we’ll go places.”

Meanwhile, England captain Paul Collingwood, who had blasted the Duckworth-Lewis method when his side lost against West Indies seemed pleased. “I guess the rain’s come around and that’s got us through to the next stage,” said Collingwood. “It didn’t help us yesterday but today I guess it’s helped us a little bit. It could have got quite close.”

England play their first Super- Eights match today needing major improvements in order to progress to the semi-final. They batted well to reach 191 against the West Indies but performed poorly with the bat the next day. Add to this, they have minimum bowling practice. With rain affecting both their matches, England bowlers have managed to only bowl 56 legitimate deliveries while spending the rest of the time enjoying the view from outside the boundary rope.