'A lot of hard work and effort'
This is England’s first major title in the shorter version and Collingwood put it on par with the Ashes triumph in 2009. “It’s right up there, it’s got to be. This is the first World Cup we’ve ever won and the boys deserve it,” said an elated Collingwood, flanked by man of the tournament Kevin Pietersen and man of the final Craig Kieswetter.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work and effort and the boys are absolutely thrilled we put that performance in,” he went on to add.
England completely outplayed Australia with an all-round performance. They bowled and fielded superbly to limit Australia to 147 for six and then put the issue beyond their rivals after Kieswetter and Pietersen put on a whopping 111 for the second wicket.
“We’ve got some good players in the side, we’ve a great work ethic over the past year and we’re starting to see the results on the pitch,” Collingwood noted, attributing the success to team effort. “There’s a lot of confidence in the side. You can see the belief we’ve got going out on the pitch. The power that we’ve got, the thought processes the bowlers are using, the fielding, everything seems to be stronger.”
Pietersen, who scored 248 runs in six matches, including a 31-ball 47 in the final, was all praise for his team-mates. “It’s been a pretty interesting week for me,” said the right-hander, who flew back to London last weekend for the birth of his first child before returning to the Caribbean for the semifinal.
“I had a little kid on Monday and this trophy here. But this trophy goes to all the lads. They support each other and share each other’s success. The more you play, the more you win and the more it becomes a habit, like the great Australians. This team is hungry for success, we want to win,” he remarked.
Kieswetter won a significant individual prize in his first competition as part of England’s Twenty20 squad. “It’s been a great experience and to play against the Australians in the final makes it that much better,” he pointed out.
Australian captain Michael Clarke said his team had been outplayed by their traditional rivals. “I don’t think we scored enough runs,” Clarke admitted. “I thought we fell short by about 30 runs, but the way England were playing, we probably needed 200. You’ve got to give credit to England, they outplayed us. We’ve played really well throughout the whole tournament. We’re obviously disappointed in the final to not to get the result, but I think we should hold our heads high.”