Paul Collingwood blamed dropped catches for England's defeat against South Africa at the World Twenty20.
England skipper laments missed chances in the field
England captain Paul Collingwood admitted that dropped catches had proved costly during the World Twenty20 Group E defeat against South Africa.
The Proteas successfully defended a total of 154-8 to claim a 19-run success, but Collingwood was left rueing his side's profligacy in the field.
Albie Morkel's big hitting in the closing overs rescued the South African innings, but Morkel was put down on 14 before going on to finish with 43 from 20 balls.
"We made some mistakes in the field but I think we would have taken 154 to chase down," Collingwood told
Sky Sports.
"I don't think our ground fielding was too bad, it was the catches and it was very costly in the end. It is something we have to look at."
England's run chase never recovered from the early loss of Luke Wright and Kevin Pietersen.
Wright was preferred at the top of the order to Darren Maddy but could manage only a four-ball duck, while Pietersen was controversially run out.
No complaints
Pietersen's bat was knocked from his hand during a tangle with Shaun Pollock as he dived to make his ground at the non-strikers' end - the third umpire ruling that Pollock's obstruction had not been deliberate.
Collingwood had no complaints about the incident, instead suggesting that Pietersen was at fault.
"He (Pietersen) should have looked where he was running and not collide with the bowler," commented Collingwood.
"It was just unfortunate. When you're running and looking at the fielder, sometimes you have to gauge whether you're going to make your ground or whether you're going to have to dive."
Big pitch
South Africa captain Graeme Smith also defended Pollock's actions, placing the blame for the collision squarely on Pietersen's shoulders.
"If I'd have felt he did it on purpose then I would have called KP back, but Shaun was trying to get back to the stumps to get behind them," said Smith.
"There's a big pitch out there and Kevin ran straight at him in the middle of the wicket. It was a very fair dismissal and I had no problem with it at the time."
Smith also praised his side's effort with the bat: "We know we bat deep and it was a superb effort.
"We knew what we had to do. There are few things to work on and there is a long way to go in the tournament but it was fantastic."
