World champions England did their best to put cricket's week of crisis behind them as they returned to the Twenty20 format with a five-wicket victory over Pakistan.Captain Paul Collingwood was delighted with a "100%" performance which owed much to an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 67 between Eoin Morgan and Michael Yardy, to aid the recovery from a mid-innings wobble in reply to 126 for four at the SWALEC Stadium.
"I'm absolutely delighted," said Collingwood. "Our strategies seem to be working in the Twenty20 form of the game. It has been a tough week. But the guys focused 100% on their cricket, and we enjoyed our win.
He added: "We got our teeth right into it. The bowlers were absolutely fantastic again. We had a little hiccup with the bat, but 'Morgs' and 'Yards' put together a superb partnership."
It is almost four months since England beat the world for the first time in an International Cricket Council tournament, with victory over Australia in the Barbados final.
They were up against significant, if perhaps still distracted, opponents in Pakistan - who have had to contend with the ICC suspension and charging of three of their initially-selected players following newspaper allegations of a plot to bowl no-balls to order in an attempt to defraud illegal bookmakers during the Lord's Test.
A follow-up report in Sunday morning's News of the World claims a fourth Pakistani - unnamed for "legal reasons" - is being investigated by the ICC's anti-corruption unit (ACSU) on suspicion of match-fixing. In those circumstances, it was a relief perhaps for Pakistan to simply take the field again in an international fixture.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said: "At one time, it looked like we were going to win this game. But the way Morgan and Yardy played, they did very well."
Even so, Afridi believes his own team did themselves justice - especially after the disruptions of the past week.
He added: "The way my boys played, I am very happy. We missed some opportunities, like catches and run-outs. So next time I hope we will avail these opportunities. In this kind of cricket, fielding is a main weapon if you want to win."
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