Boos of Indian fans inspired England to victory

London, June 15 (IANS) England skipper Paul Collingwood claims that his team’s three run-win over India was driven by the boos of Indian fans just before the match.

“It pretty much did it for us,” Collingwood said at his press conference Sunday after England sent champions India crashing out of the ICC Twenty20 tournament.

“When we were practicing at the nursery ground today, we were booed by the Indian fans. It was pretty strange to be booed on our home ground. So we used those boos as motivation to put on a party piece,” Collingwood said.

For the next game – against the West Indies at the Oval in London Monday – Collingwood said he hoped for a “proper English-backing crowd”.

The England skipper heaped praise on his bowlers, who were led by pace bowler player of the match Ryan Sidebottom (two wickets for 31) and spinner Graeme Swann (two for 28).

“It was a magnificent effort though ideally we would have got 10-15 runs more,” Collingwood said.

“But we took wickets at the right time. One of the ways to go against India is to be aggressive. To defend a total like that (153) against a team like India… the boys can be really proud of themselves.

“We’ve got three excellent seamers – three big guys who bowl at over 90 miles an hour. It’s a great weapon for us,” Collingwood said about Sidebottom, Stuart Broad and James Anderson.

“What it takes is belief from the boys themselves.”

Collingwood said he knew England had the match in its bag in the last three overs of the Indian innings, when the asking rate climbed to over 12 an over.

“I had three big men to bowl – I was pretty confident from that point,” he said.