Denly grabs England chance

Stand-in England captain Paul Collingwood paid tribute to Joe Denly's mature debut effort which helped set up the dramatic three-run win over Ireland in Belfast.

Kent batsman Denly top-scored with 67 as he helped England to 203 for nine on a slow surface. Following persistent rain, the visitors were then challenged to defend a revised target of 116 in 20 overs.

"It was a great debut, particularly the way he kept a calm head," Collingwood said. "It was a very mature innings to get us up to 200, which we thought was a decent score on that pitch."

He added: "It was a difficult position to be in and the fight we showed in the last 10 overs was excellent. As international cricketers we don't come across pitches like that too often.

"A few things went against us. It is pretty difficult to defend a target like that in 20 overs, with eight overs of powerplay.

"It was very soggy out there but thankfully we didn't get any injuries. I would have been very angry if we came off with any injuries."