Collingwood calls for bravery

Andrew Flintoff's quickfire 31 off 19 balls was not quite enough for England © Getty Images

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England captain Paul Collingwood says his side need to be “braver in their strokeplay” after slipping to an eight-wicket defeat to Australia in their ICC World Twenty20 clash at Newlands.

Collingwood's side were dismissed for a lowly 135, eclipsing their previous Twenty20 lowest of 144 for nine recorded the last time the two sides met in this format in Sydney in January

Australia's superb display to dismiss England for such a lowly total, which was helped by Nathan Bracken's man-of-the-match display to claim 3-16, could even have given them the chance to remove their arch-rivals from the competition.

Had Australia romped to victory inside 9.3 overs, they would have damaged England's run-rate to such an extent Zimbabwe would have progressed ahead of them on a better run-rate.

The England skipper had watched uneasily as his side had struggled early in their innings, scoring only 35 runs in the first six overs of fielding restrictions and only 64 at the halfway stage.

Andrew Flintoff, who was clearly struggling with his troublesome ankle when he bowled, took England past the hundred mark with a quickfire 31 off 19 balls but it was never a total which was likely to trouble Australia's batting line-up.

"We didn't get enough runs on the board and if we're going to go on and progress in this competition and do well I think we're going to have to be a little bit braver in our strokeplay,” Collingwood said.

“It's still early doors and we're still learning a lot and it's obviously a big game on Sunday (against South Africa). This is exciting and a good chance for the young lads to come into it, start performing and get on a roll.

"Today we would hold our hands up and say we have been out-played by Australia in all three aspects of the game.

Nathan Bracken was the pick of the Australian attack after capturing 3-16 © Getty Images

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"We can play better than that, we realise that, and we're a little bit disappointed in our performance and we realise we have to improve.

"But we can do that, we've got the players in our dressing room that can win games for England and I'm sure come Sunday the boys will be pumped up and raring to go."

Australia captain Ricky Ponting admitted making certain of their place in the Super Eight stage was their priority not attempting to knock England out with a quicker run-rate.

“We were just trying to win the game," Ponting said.

"We couldn't afford to go too hard and lose the game so I'm really pleased with what I achieved,”

"I'm pretty happy with the result. We had our backs to the wall going into the game against a team that has been playing a lot of cricket and a team with a lot more experienced than us in this format of the game

"We've come away with a very comprehensive win so I'm extremely happy with what we've done."