Outstanding England Crush Pakistan

England are almost certainly through to the Super-Eight stages of the World T20 after salvaging some of their severely dented pride. Having come in for much - and largely deserved - criticism following Friday's shock defeat, England showed immense character to dispense with the 2007 finalists, winning by 48 runs.

England lost to the Dutch because they never believed they'd be involved in a contest. They didn't for a minute envisage a pressure situation, and by the time it arrived, it was too late. As a result, they had 48 hours to prepare for the most intense of pressure situations, and the way they dealt with it made Friday, not today, look like the anomaly. 

England effectively led from the word go. Previous England teams would not have reacted so well. Luke Wright (34) again set the tone, Pietersen (58) set up the victory, and every bowler contributed. The consequences of defeat were unthinkable. Andy Flower and his side deserve enormous credit. They have a couple of days off now and can approach the next stage safe in the knowledge that they wont play in a more pressurised match for the rest of the tournament.

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