GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFP): Michael Vaughan breathed a huge sigh of relief as England got their World Cup Super Eights campaign off to a winning start on Friday with a 48-run victory over Ireland.
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| England captain, Michael Vaughan. AFP PHOTO |
The win also gave England their first two points which moved them provisionally into fourth place in the table.
But the England captain admitted there was plenty still to do ahead of a more testing clash against 1996 world champions Sri Lanka in Antigua next Wednesday.
"There is a concern over the top order," said Vaughan who was out for six while fellow opener Ed Joyce, a former Ireland international, was dismissed for one.
Ian Bell, at three, made 31 before the middle order of Kevin Pietersen (48), Paul Collingwood (90) and Andrew Flintoff (43) came to the rescue as England posted a challenging total of 266-7 in their 50 overs.
"We will need to work hard now in the nets to get ready for Sri Lanka. But the most important thing was to get two points as we didn't carry through any points from the first round," said Vaughan.
"Also credit to the Irish bowlers who bowled very well."
Ireland skipper Trent Johnston said the key to the match was the last 10 overs of the England innings when they conceded nine runs an over.
"We fought really hard but Paul Collingwood batted well in the last 10 overs and we went for about nine an over. It was just a matter of inches, we didn't get the balls right.
"Then Monty Panesar and Michael Vaughan came on and put the pressure on. But we kept fighting and it's a tribute to the team that Michael brought Andrew Flintoff back at the end to clean up the tail."
Ireland face South Africa, the world number one, in their next match here on Tuesday but Johnston is confident of picking up another win in their remaining five matches to add to their shock victory against Pakistan in the first round.
"Our death bowling at this level is not up to scratch," added the captain.
"We are not used to playing at this level but we are enjoying the experience. Hopefully we can sneak another win."
Complete scoreboard:
England
E. Joyce b Rankin 1
M. Vaughan c N. O'Brien b Rankin 6
I. Bell c N.O'Brien b K. O'Brien 31
K. Pietersen c Porterfield b McCallan 48
P. Collingwood run out 90
A. Flintoff b Johnston 43
P. Nixon c Morgan b Botha 19
R. Bopara not out 10
S. Mahmood not out 0
Extras (lb2, nb3, w13) 18
Total (for seven wkts) 266
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Joyce); 2-23 (Vaughan); 3-89 (Bell); 4-113 (Pietersen); 5-194 (Flintoff); 6-245 (Nixon); 7-258 (Collingwood).
Bowling: Langford-Smith 7-0-38-0 (3nb, 3w); Rankin 7-1-28-2 (4w); Johnston 10-0-70-1; Botha 10-1-56-1; K. O'Brien 4-0-26-1 (2w); McCallan 10-0-38-1 (2w); White 2-0-8-0
Overs: 50
Ireland (target 267 off 50 overs)
W. Porterfield c Bell b Flintoff 31
J. Bray c Bopara b Anderson 0
E. Morgan run out 2
N. O'Brien st Nixon b Vaughan 63
A. Botha c Flintoff b Panesar 18
K. O'Brien lbw b Panesar 12
T. Johnston b Flintoff 27
A. White c Nixon b Collingwood 38
K. McCallan b Flintoff 5
D. Langford-Smith lbw b Flintoff 1
B. Rankin not out 4
Extras (lb3, nb5, w9) 17
Total 218
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Bray); 2-11 (Morgan); 3-72 (Porterfield); 4-116 (Botha); 5-139 (K. O'Brien); 6-139 (N. O'Brien); 7-197 (Johnston); 8-209 (White); 9-210 (Langford-Smith); 10-218 (McCallan)
Bowling: Anderson 7-1-35-1 (2w); Mahmood 8-2-34-0 (1nb, 1w); Flintoff 8.1-1-43-4 (4nb); Collingwood 6-0-38-1 (1w); Panesar 10-1-31-2; Vaughan 9-0-34-1 (1w)
Overs: 48.1
Result: England won by 48 runs
Points: England 2, Ireland 0
Toss: England
Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Billy Doctrove (WIS)
TV replays: Daryl Harper (AUS)
Reserve: Steve Bucknor (WIS)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI) | 
