sport

Record-breaking Colly sets up easy win

Pietersen - loses his wicket.

Paul Collingwood and Jonathan Trott's stand of 162 eased England to a seven-wicket victory at Centurion to go 1-0 up in their five-match one-day international series against South Africa.

England's third-wicket pair proved the virtue of sensible batting on a pitch of slightly uneven but mostly sluggish pace as they made light of what had appeared an awkward target of 250 for nine.

Their task had a still more difficult look to it once Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen were both gone with only 45 on the board.

Yet Collingwood (105 not out) marked his record-breaking 171st ODI appearance - one more than England's previously most prolific, Alec Stewart - in inimitably artisan but winning style.

He was adding his fifth ODI hundred to important earlier work in the field in a South Africa innings propped up by half-centuries from Hashim Amla (57) and Alviro Petersen (64).

Trott (87), meanwhile - pushed up to open the batting in only his second match at this level - was equally skilful in showing his native South Africa what they are missing. Strauss fell in the eighth over when he aimed to clip Charl Langeveldt to leg but instead looped a simple catch to point off a leading edge.

That brought Pietersen to the crease, to a predictably mixed reception from a partisan crowd in the country of his birth.

He got under way with a trademark whipped drive through straight midwicket off Langeveldt but was unable to add to that boundary before trying the same trick against new bowler Albie Morkel and getting a thin inside edge on to leg-stump.

But Trott and Collingwood were in no mood to panic, content to simply keep England in the equation with accumulation.

Trott passed a workmanlike half-century, in the knowledge this need not be an occasion for big-hitting heroics.

Collingwood did take the long handle to Langeveldt for a six, clubbed from back in the crease high over long-on on the way to a 108-ball hundred which contained another maximum and seven fours to steer England home with four overs to spare.

Trott and Collingwood ploughed on until the former holed out in the deep off Langeveldt.

He did so with their partnership one short of England's best for the wicket against these opponents - set by Collingwood and Owais Shah in the victory on this same ground which put South Africa out of the Champions Trophy little more than a month ago.

Collingwood had been in the thick of it this morning too when his fielding brilliance and medium-pace competence served England well after Strauss won the toss.

England's captain was most culpable with three dropped catches - including two club-cricket dollies - among the five put down in all. But Collingwood was at his best in his gully/backward-point home - and for good measure got rid of Amla in his first over, and later on danger man Morkel too.

After a stand of 73 between Amla and JP Duminy, a rush of four middle-order wickets for only 54 runs stopped South Africa pressing on.

Collingwood's diving stop from a fierce square-cut by Graeme Smith at Tim Bresnan definitely saved four and might conceivably have contributed to a nibble on the back foot next ball - edged to slip, where Strauss took the regulation catch.

There could be no argument that Collingwood pretty much single-handedly saw off number three AB de Villiers.

His supremely athletic dive to his left intercepted what looked another certain four off Jimmy Anderson (three for 60), and more importantly gave England their second wicket.

Yet Amla - replacing the injured Jacques Kallis - continued to profit from a mixture of fine timing and some handily directed edges.

Duminy, badly dropped by Strauss when he drove a Sajid Mahmood full toss aerially, went caught behind to Luke Wright's canny change of pace.

Collingwood put down a caught-and-bowled offered by Amla, only to get the opener next ball when he poked a much simpler chance off the back foot to Strauss - who was safe at cover this time.

Petersen had two Strauss let-offs in the ring - on 39 and 47, the second much easier than the first.

But England's inconsistency in the field lurched to another extreme when Eoin Morgan plucked out Morkel's powerful pull off Collingwood on the boundary.

South Africa found themselves six down going into the last 10 overs - and with Bresnan returning to trim Petersen's leg-bail, it was no surprise only 69 more could be added.