Paul Collingwood marked a special day in style

Centurion venue considered to be lucky for Paul Collingwood , when he became the new confirmed record holder at the match played between England and South Africa. Till date, Paul has played in 171 ODIs. His day began when he stunningly made his two handed pounce in the gully which got crowned with a drive through mid on to bring his fifth ODI century. With medium pace of 6-0-24-2, he foiled South Africa’s energy and transformed it with a challenging target of 280 plus with eminent performance.

Along with Jonathan Trott, Paul Collingwood celebrated his one day series during the second attempt in Centurion. The pair set about playing the game in style. This player is the most experienced one day cricketer of England joined the force with one of the newest recruits of the country and produced a brace of all-round performances which smothered the South Africa team’s ambitions with a sluggish rain affected pitch.

The match

In all prospects, the match was won and South Africa team lost amidst their innings. The end was simply a cakewalk for the England team. With a mere target of 251, Collingwood and Trott came together with 12th over tottering a touch on 45 for 2. With a third wicket stand for 162 runs in 30 over, the England team player, Trott ended the alliance by flicking Charl Langveldt to midwicket for 87.

Paul Collingwood made his record of 171st one day appearance for his team and thus hit a century. He took two wickets and even held an outstanding catch as England gained a seven wicket win over South Africa during the second one international match which was held at Super Sport Park on Sunday, 22nd November 2009.

The Record Holder

Paul Collingwood shared a record of 162 runs and third wicket stand along with Jonathan Trott, as England team chased down South Africa’s total of 250 runs for nine with 24 balls. Collingwood finished ultimately with 105 not out off 110 balls. This way, both the players enabled England to step on top after they had been struggling endlessly at 45 for 2 after 11.3 over.

Regardless of half centuries from Alviro Petersen who made 64 runs and Hashim Amla with 57 runs, South Africa team was unable to score required runs on a slow pitch against steady bowling that was backed by good and amazing fielding.

The total of South Africa team was only 9 runs higher than they had made seven days ago in a Twenty20 international against England on the same ground. Due to heavy rain in the area, without any balls, the pitch was slower than usual, which made it very difficult to score. Collingwood’s slow medium pace however proved good in the middle stage of the innings when he achieved two for 24 in 6 over. With acrobatic diving catch at the backward point, he dismissed AB de Villiers as South Africa struggled in their early stages of the innings.