Collingwood praises his men

by HAYDN GILLA SPRINT among England teammates from the dug out to the middle to embrace captain Paul Collingwood told  the story.The capture of the  ICC World Twenty20 that won them their  first ever global title meant the world to  them at Kensington Oval yesterday.“This is right up there. It’s very, very special,” Collingwood told reporters after they trounced Australia by seven wickets in the final.“I don’t know if it is because I’m captain, but it feels exceptionally special to be the first team to win a World Cup for England. “It has been a team performance. It hasn’t been one man. The boys have done a fantastic job. A lot of credit goes to the thought process and the execution of plans. It has been absolutely spot on.”This was England’s first success in 35 years since the ICC has been staging global tournaments and it came in impressive fashion against a team that had marched to the final with a 100 per cent winning record.In the words of some, it was like if a huge load had been taken off their shoulders.“We’re the first team – to win a World Cup is very special. We knew there was a monkey on our backs. We knew what it meant,” said Collingwood, who had the pleasure of hitting the winning run.“I’m so pleased with the last few performances.  In pressurised situations against Sri Lanka and Australia, we were absolutely spot on. “I am just delighted with the boys. I can go right the way throughout the team. Everybody has contributed along the way. We played well as a team. Everybody has gelled well and we fully deserve it.”The manner of their triumph in the final was awesome, restricting Australia to 147 for six and marching to victory in 17 overs after a second wicket century partnership between opener Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen.“We just wanted to win. It is as simple as that, whether it be off the last ball or [with]  ten overs to spare. We just wanted to win. That’s what counts – to win a World Cup,” Collingwood said.“It doesn’t matter how good you look. It might look easy from outside, but it was a lot  of hard work and lot  of heartache.”