Paul Collingwood believes England set the standard in their 65-run one-day win over Sri Lanka.
Captain Collingwood delighted by England's ODI victory
Paul Collingwood believes England "set the standard" in their 65-run one-day win over Sri Lanka on Thursday.
The visitors ended a
25 year wait for a One-Day International (ODI) win in Sri Lanka and levelled the series at the same time.
England put in a much improved performance from their 119-run defeat in the first ODI on Monday, after winning the toss and electing to bat.
Owais Shah hit 82 runs off 92 balls and off-spinner Graeme Swann chipped in with a valuable knock of 34, as England made 234-8 from their 50 overs.
Ryan Sidebottom, Swann, Stuart Broad and Collingwood then took two wickets in the reply to bowl the hosts out for just 169.
Character
Collingwood admits it was important for him to see an immediate response from his team.
"Obviously we were disappointed to get comprehensively beaten in the first one, but the boys showed a lot of character and bounced back well and really set the standard tonight," Collingwood told
Sky Sports 1.
"I thought all three dimensions of our game - the batting, bowling and fielding - were fantastic.
"It was a good toss to win and to get 230-odd on the board we knew if we took early wickets we could put them under pressure and that's what we did.
"It's obviously a good toss to win, but we're not going to take anything away from the team. They really set the benchmark tonight, buzzing around the field.
"There weren't many singles out there, we put a lot of pressure on them, and when you build pressure like that you can take wickets."
Key man
Middlesex batsman Shah took the Man of the Match award for his fine knock coming in at six and the 28-year-old is delighted with his form after so long in the international wilderness.
"If you can get a run in the side and put some performances together things can work out well for you," he added.
"To me it's all about keeping it simple, keeping my options simple. At the moment things are going really well, I'm hitting the ball in good areas, which is where I've been working hard in the nets and things seem to be paying off."
England and Sri Lanka square off again in the third ODI live on
Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Sunday.
