PROVIDENCE (Guyana), March 31: England rode on Paul Collingwood's fighting half-century and four wickets by Andrew Flintoff to beat a spirited Ireland by 48 runs in their World Cup Super Eights match here on Friday (also partially reported in Saturday’s edition).

Collingwood hit an 82-ball 90 to help England overcome early wobbles to put up a respectable 266-7 in their allotted 50 overs after electing to bat at the Providence Stadium.

Flintoff then grabbed 4-43 as Ireland found the going tough against the English attack and managed 218 in 48.1 overs with Niall O’Brien fighting a lone hand with a gritty 63.

England, who were without any carry over points, achieved their desired result and now face Sri Lanka at Antigua on Wednesday, while Ireland, who upset Pakistan to reach the second round, gave a good account of themselves despite losing.

Chasing a formidable target, Ireland lost opener Jeremy Bray (0) and Eoin Morgan (2) early in their innings before Niall O'Brien added 61 for the third wicket with William Porterfield (31) to raise some hope for their team.

Niall O’Brien then put on another 44 for the fourth wicket with Andre Botha (18) before left-arm spinner Monty Panesar derailed the innings by dismissing Botha and then Kevin O’Brien (12) to finish with 2-31 off his 10 overs.

Niall O’Brien fell soon after, stumped off English skipper Michael Vaughan to quash any outside hopes of a famous win. He hit fours during his 88-ball knock.

Ireland skipper Trent Johnston (27) and Andrew White (38) did try to hit out but their efforts were too late and too little.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND:

E.C. Joyce b Rankin 1

M.P. Vaughan c N. O’Brien b Rankin 6

I.R. Bell c N. O’Brien b K. O’Brien 31

K.P. Pietersen c Porterfield b McCallan 48

P.D. Collingwood run out 90

A. Flintoff b Johnston 43

P.A. Nixon c Morgan b Botha 19

R.S. Bopara not out 10

S.I. Mahmood not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-13, NB-3) 18

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 266

FALL OF WKTS: 1-6 (Joyce, 1.1 ov), 2-23 (Vaughan, 5.2 ov), 3-89 (Bell, 21.2 ov), 4-113 (Pietersen, 26.3 ov), 5-194 (Flintoff, 43.3 ov), 6-245 (Nixon, 48.2 ov), 7-258 (Collingwood, 49.3 ov).

DID NOT BAT: J.M. Anderson, M.S. Panesar.

BOWLING: Langford-Smith 7-0-38-0 (3nb, 3w); Rankin 7-1-28-2 (4w); Johnston 10-0-70-1; Botha 10-1-56-1; K.J. O’Brien 4-0-26-1 (2w); McCallan 10-0-38-1 (2w); White 2-0-8-0.

IRELAND:

W.T.S. Porterfield c Bell b Flintoff 31

J.P. Bray c Bopara b Anderson 0

E.J.G. Morgan run out 2

N.J. O’Brien st Nixon b Vaughan 63

A.C. Botha c Flintoff b Panesar 18

K.J. O’Brien lbw b Panesar 12

D.T. Johnston b Flintoff 27

A.R. White c Nixon b Collingwood 38

W.K. McCallan b Flintoff 5

D. Langford-Smith lbw b Flintoff 1

W.B. Rankin not out 4

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-9, NB-5) 17

TOTAL (all out, 48.1 overs) 218

FALL OF WKTS: 1-6 (Bray, 0.5 ov), 2-11 (Morgan, 3.4 ov), 3-72 (Porterfield, 18.5 ov), 4-116 (Botha, 29.5 ov), 5-139 (K.J. O’Brien, 35.6 ov), 6-139 (N.J. O’Brien, 36.2 ov), 7-197 (Johnston, 44.5 ov), 8-209 (White, 45.5 ov), 9-210 (Langford-Smith, 46.1 ov).

BOWLING: Anderson 7-1-35-1 (2w); Mahmood 8-2-34-0 (1nb, 1w); Flintoff 8.1-1-43-4 (4nb); Collingwood 6-0-38-1 (1w); Panesar 10-1-31-2; Vaughan 9-0-34-1 (1w).

RESULT: England won by 48 runs.

UMPIRES: S.J.A. Taufel (Australia) and B.R. Doctrove (West Indies).

TV UMPIRE: D.J. Harper (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Paul Collingwood.—AFP