Sri Lanka vs England, 4th Match, Group B at Johannesburg, Sep 25 2009 - Ball by Ball Commentary

So England win by six wickets after a horrendous time against Australia at home. They arrived here with their form rather poor and were up against a team that pummeled South Africa in the tournament opener. England have beaten the odds here. This was a win that owes much to Strauss winning the toss and opting to field. Anderson and Onions had Sri Lanka four down for nothing, after which Kandamby and Mathews hit good half-centuries to get Sri Lanka out of a hole. Many reckoned 212 was a good total to defend given Murali and Mendis and England's apparently lack of confidence, but how England proved the critics wrong. It wasn't a pretty win, but it was one that showed this outfit's grit. Collingwood set the tone after early wickets, Shah batted his way to 44, and Morgan did the rest. Prior chipped in a lovely cameo.

Sri Lanka also had problems with wides, and the unresponsive track rendered Murali and Mendis ineffective. There was plenty of talk about the Mendis challenge, but England didn't give him a wicket. Let us see who gets the Man-of-the-Match award. Should be a toss-up between Anderson and Morgan.

Sangakkara: "It was a good total. To reach 212 was fantastic. Samaraweera, Kandamby and Mathews played well. Ajantha bowled well but it was not to be today. We are probably firing on about 80%. We have a lot of homework to do before the next game. We played well. Need to be flexible. This wasn't a typical one-day track but we had to build a good score."

Strauss: "We played well. The key was to not lose too many early wickets. The way Collingwood played too the game to them. Shah played well. Morgan played brilliantly. This is a fast-scoring ground and we had to keep sensible and not do anything too rash. It was a sensible and professional chase. Morgan has played a lot of innings like that over the years at Middlesex but it is nice to see him transfer that into the international format. We're not jumping up and down but you can take a lot from victories like this. Our players played without fear and if we continue to do that we can be a good team."

Collingwood is the Man of the Match: "Its good when you contribute to a team's victory. The way Anderson took wickets early on was crucial. It was going to be difficult chasing because the ball was doing a bit, but Morgan did very well to see the boys home. We negated their spinners well."

So England go top of Group B. That is all from us here at Cricinfo, you all take care and we shall see you soon for the first double-header of the tournament. First up is Australia v West Indies and then a little match between India and Pakistan. Thanks for tuning in. Bye for now!

"A bit of a gem in the making," says Nick Knight on Morgan. "We'll take what we can at the moment."

"John Tangiers, if you could put your video of eating your "NY Yankees" hat with great dollops of ketchup on youtube, we would love to watch it. Anyways, Congratulations. Your team looks in full control now. Now suddenly the UK writers will start writing about the importance of Champion's Trophy," says Tushar Patil.

These two look set to finish it off. Just 19 more needed. What a win this will be.