Collingwood leads from the front

England captain Paul Collingwood inspired his team to another comfortable Twenty20 victory over New Zealand in Christchurch.

Paul Collingwood Paul Collingwood

Collingwood hit the only half-century of the match as England recovered from a top-order collapse to reach a competitive 193 for eight and secure a 50-run triumph at the AMI Stadium, after restricting New Zealand to 143 for eight.

His superb 54 off only 28 balls, which included five fours and three sixes, halted England's slide after they lost four wickets for 11 runs in 16 balls.

Man-of-the-match Collingwood was given superb support from Owais Shah (47) in a 102-run stand off 63 balls, an England Twenty20 record, to ensure the tourists reached a total way beyond New Zealand's injury-hit line-up.

England got off to a flying start courtesy of a record opening partnership of 65 off only 35 balls from Luke Wright (30) and Phil Mustard (40).

But after Wright was dismissed in the sixth over, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell followed in quick succession, which left Collingwood and Shah to rebuild the innings.

New Zealand needed a good start and hard-hitting opener Jesse Ryder began promisingly by hitting the first ball of the innings from James Anderson through point for four.

Once again, though, England's new-ball attack made early inroads, with Anderson having Ryder caught off a leading edge in his second over and left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom bowling stand-in captain Brendon McCullum off an inside edge.

Only Jamie How offered any great resistance, scoring 31 off 25 balls, but without injured all-rounder Jacob Oram's firepower down the order and the required run-rate increasing every over, England picked up wickets at regular intervals, with Sidebottom, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Graeme Swann claiming two apiece.

It leaves England with an immaculate record as they move on to Wellington for the start of the five-match one-day series on Saturday, hoping to build on their impressive recent series triumphs over India and Sri Lanka.

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