mixed feelings for vaughan

Captain Michael Vaughan was relieved to have avoided becoming Bangladesh's latest World Cup scalp as England kept their hopes of a semi-final place alive.

Despite dismissing their Super Eight opponents for 143 on a bouncy surface at the Kensington Oval, Vaughan's men stumbled across the victory line in the 45th over with only four wickets intact.

Things had looked as if they could get much worse three-quarters-of-an-hour earlier, however, as England were reduced to 110 for six.

But Paul Collingwood and Paul Nixon remained undefeated to maintain the bid for the last four - the key game now being Tuesday's match against South Africa on the same ground.

"It's good to get the two points and move onto four and give ourselves an opportunity of winning the last two games and getting to a semi-final," said Vaughan, whose team are two points behind South Africa in the Super Eight standings.

"There were areas where we were pretty good, but there were a lot of areas where we weren't quite at our best today.

"We were just desperate to get the two points and give ourselves an opportunity in those two games and you've also got to be respectful of the fact they [Bangladesh] are playing good cricket.

"They've beaten India and South Africa and made it very difficult for us today.

"I can see why they are making it difficult for some good teams because of the way they play.

"They bat with a fearless approach - they've got plenty of talent - and when they bowl they squeeze you well.

"It would have been nice to win by eight wickets and produce a really convincing display, but Nixon and Collingwood used their experience and cool heads to get us over the line in the end.

"We know a little more about the wicket now we've played on it.

"It's quite a tricky pitch and it's not the flat road everyone thinks it is so it's going to be quite interesting to see how it plays against South Africa."

With such a small target to chase, England could have done themselves a huge favour by boosting their run rate further.

But only the out-of-form Vaughan reached 30, doing so having been dropped behind the wicket by Mushfiqur Rahim off left-armer Syed Rasel immediately before the lunch break, which England entered on 20 for one.

"It's about 30 more than I've been getting lately," joked Vaughan.

"I'd like to have been a bit more free, but they bowled quite nicely and it was important to get some time out in the middle."

Luck was with England after Vaughan won the toss, with two wickets coming from fielding errors.

Vaughan dropped a dolly popped to mid-on by Shahriar Nafees off Sajid Mahmood but comically ran out opposite number Habibul Bashar, who stood bemoaning his colleague's soft shot. Nafees then offered a simple catch to keeper Nixon, who was fortunate to spill the ball into the path of Andrew Strauss who completed the catch.

"I was embarrassed to be honest," admitted Vaughan of his indiscretion.

"I was flicking the ball to Nixon in disgust that I'd dropped the catch, but funny things happen don't they?

"You get a run out at the end of it and you get the captain out."

Bashar said: "I was a bit frustrated with the way I thought Shahriar was out, I just thought 'Oh my God'.

"I didn't see the ball and suddenly I heard him shout 'he dropped it'. But it was too late."

Only Saqibul Hasan's cultured half-century held Bangladesh together after they had been reduced to 65 for six.

"The wicket played a bit different today," added Bashar.

"We've been here for a while in the Caribbean and this is the first time we found a hard and bouncy wicket.

"That made a difference but, whatever the conditions, we didn't bat well.

"If one guy could have supported Saqibul, it would have been a different story, we would have scored around 200-220.

"He is a young kid but I am very happy with how he batted.

"He showed a positive approach and no matter what happens he can score runs, as you can do if you have it in mind and put some price on your wicket."

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