Collingwood and Trott thrill Strauss

Paul Collingwood congratulates Jonathan Trott on his maiden one-day international fifty. The pair amassed 162 at Centurion

Two gritty batsmen from different ends of the experience spectrum have put England 1-0 up against South Africa - and captain Andrew Strauss is delighted to have both in his team.

Paul Collingwood marked his England record 171st one-day international cap with his fifth hundred - an unbeaten 105 - and Jonathan Trott, his partner in a 162-run stand, added 87.

The consequence was a seven-wicket win with four overs to spare at Centurion yesterday, leaving Strauss to reflect on the qualities of two in-form players.

Collingwood described his “perfect and proud” day - and Strauss underlined the well-deserved achievement.

“Whenever there is a player with his temperament, they are always dangerous,” he said.

“They always like the difficult situations - and Colly’s played a lot of his best innings for England when our backs have been against the wall.

“As an opponent, I know you worry about players like that.”

Trott, meanwhile, put in a major contribution on only his second ODI appearance.

“Trotty’s form on this tour has been exceptional,” added Strauss.

“We had no worries about him opening the batting - he’s done it a lot for Warwickshire and is a quality player all round.

“He’s a very determined character - there’s no doubt about that.

“He loves batting, genuinely loves it - and allied to that, he’s got a very solid technique which is well-suited to the international game.

Graeme Smith, caught at slip off Tim Bresnan for 12 yesterday, said: “It’s up to us now as a group of players to work hard in Cape Town this week”

Buy this photo

“We don’t want to put too much pressure on him. It is very early in his career, and he’s shown he’s got great ability - but we shouldn’t expect great things of him every time he goes into bat.”

Collingwood himself confirmed England’s previous ODI record cap-holder Alec Stewart has been in touch with congratulations.

“He sent two bottles of bubbly - I drunk them last night,” he joked.

“There were a couple of messages as well. That all came on Friday, but when it was rained off [at the Wanderers] it was all a bit early.”

South Africa captain Graeme Smith knows his team are up against it to battle back into this five-match series against opponents who have now beaten them in six successive ODIs.

The absence of the injured Jacques Kallis - officially replaced by Herschelle Gibbs - has hardly helped.

But Smith remains optimistic.

“It’s up to us now as a group of players to work hard in Cape Town this week,” he said, looking forward to the third ODI on Friday. “We’ve got a good record there.”

As for Kallis’ injury, Smith acknowledges its significance.

“It’s very big,” he said. “There’s a gap of experience around our group at the moment that needs to be filled.

“When you lose a guy that’s played 280-plus one-day internationals and is a world-class all-rounder, it does make life a little bit more difficult.

“The rest of us are going to have to step up and fill the gap.”