England captain Paul Collingwood is of the opinion that his team can spring a surprise and become a dangerous dark horse in the ICC World Twenty20 2009.
Collingwood watched with delight as his trusted man Kevin Pietersen, hit an unbeaten 53 to steer England to a closely fought six-wicket win over Scotland with six balls remaining at Trent Bridge on Tuesday in a World Twenty20 warm-up.
He praised his side's attitude as well as their ability to stick to a game-plan as the start of the main event approaches.
"There are obviously areas where we could have played a little bit better, but I thought the way we knocked the runs off there and the way KP took the lead role was excellent," Collingwood added.
"The thing I was really pleased with was the way the guys stuck to the plan out there and got us over the line.
The skipper feels that although England is the host nation, the expectations of it winning the T20 crown aren’t much and this will help the boys perform without the added pressure.
“We've got a slight advantage knowing the conditions, but it's probably the other way around and there are not a lot of expectations on our shoulders. We're very much dark horses and hopefully that will give the boys a bit more of a licence.”
He added: "The belief and the freedom to go out there and express yourself is important in this form of the game so hopefully that gives the boys a bit more of a licence and they won't have as much pressure on them."
Collingwood watched with delight as his trusted man Kevin Pietersen, hit an unbeaten 53 to steer England to a closely fought six-wicket win over Scotland with six balls remaining at Trent Bridge on Tuesday in a World Twenty20 warm-up.
He praised his side's attitude as well as their ability to stick to a game-plan as the start of the main event approaches.
"There are obviously areas where we could have played a little bit better, but I thought the way we knocked the runs off there and the way KP took the lead role was excellent," Collingwood added.
"The thing I was really pleased with was the way the guys stuck to the plan out there and got us over the line.
The skipper feels that although England is the host nation, the expectations of it winning the T20 crown aren’t much and this will help the boys perform without the added pressure.
“We've got a slight advantage knowing the conditions, but it's probably the other way around and there are not a lot of expectations on our shoulders. We're very much dark horses and hopefully that will give the boys a bit more of a licence.”
He added: "The belief and the freedom to go out there and express yourself is important in this form of the game so hopefully that gives the boys a bit more of a licence and they won't have as much pressure on them."
