90 days to go: Paul Collingwood cuts short Ireland's Cinderella story 

Collingwood's career-best World Cup knock ensured that there was no upset at Providence.
Collingwood's ideal ODI knock helped England get past Ireland | AFP
Collingwood's ideal ODI knock helped England get past Ireland | AFP

It was supposed to be England vs Pakistan at Providence in the Super Eight of World Cup 2007. But after Ireland disposed of Pakistan in the group stages, England were hoping to avoid being another footnote in a World Cup of upsets.

Michael Vaughan's men were hoping to end Ireland's fairytale even before it begins and it was all possible courtesy of Paul Collingwood's career-best World Cup knock.

90 days to go to the start of World Cup 2019, here is a look of a Collingwood classic that helped England win, even if it ultimately didn't help them progress to the semi-final.

Three years before he would go on to become the first and so far only England captain to lift a World title, Collingwood made his mark in the Caribbean with his unique blend of patience, pluck and perseverance.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, England didn't get off to a great start and were struggling at 89/3 in the 22nd over when Collingwood came to the crease.

Thereafter, it was an exhibition of old-school charm, new-found aggression and the picture-perfect representation of how to build an ODI innings from the middle-order batsman.

When Kevin Pietersen was on the rampage early in his innings, Collingwood was content to merely rotate the strike. Then went Flintoff came in, he took over a little more and towards the end, he began to use his willow as a weapon of mass destruction as England plundered 65 from the final five overs.

With Pietersen, Collingwood scored 15 from 23 balls and with Flintoff, he added 32 from 39 and then his last 20 balls saw him smash 43 runs as he got England to a more than respectable total of 266/7.

That final rampage England managed with the help of Paul Nixon, Ravi Bopara and Collingwood proved to the difference in the end. Despite a spirited middle-order fightback, the target was a step too far for the tournament's giant-killers.

And just like that, another Collingwood classic cut short the Cinderella story.

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