England cricket captain Paul Collingwood has placed his side’s Twenty20 World Cup triumph on a par with the Ashes victories of 2005 and 2009.
England comprehensively defeated Australia with a seven wicket victory and Collingwood hit the winning runs which helped his team reach the required winning total of 14.
Speaking after Sunday’s victory, Collingwood said: “It is right up there [with the Ashes victories], it’s got to be.”
Craig Kieswetter deservedly claimed the accolade of man of the match while Kevin Pietersen was awarded the title of player of the tournament. Both played a crucial role in Sunday’s victory hitting 63 and 47 respectively.
England started positively after a brace of early wickets from Ryan Sidebottom and a run-out which left Australia floundering on 8-3. But David Hussey and Craig White put together an impressive partnership to help post a total of 147.
The early dismissal of Michael Lumb provided the Australian captain Michael Clarke with renewed hope, however the focused Kieswetter played a superb innings hitting 63 runs off just 49 balls.
He was helped by Pietersen, who fell three short of his half century. The four wicket stand of Collingwood and Eoin Morgan edged England past the Australian run tally, finally claiming the elusive one-day title the nation had been craving.
Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, praised the performance of the England team. “I think you’ve got to give credit to England, they outplayed us today,” said Clarke. “The way England were playing, we probably needed 200.”