Bresnan and co end campaign on a high

Victory was badly needed in Saturday’s one-off Twenty20 in Kolkata, to avoid a seven-match losing run which would have been an inappropriately dispiriting way for England to sign off for the next two months.

The Test and Twenty20 world No 1 team still know they have a worrying blind spot when it comes to 50-over cricket – especially in the subcontinent, as India mercilessly exposed in this month’s unexpected 5-0 drubbing.

Even so, as they drew breath from a 45-match odyssey completed in winning style thanks largely to Kevin Pietersen in a six-wicket stroll at Eden Gardens, there was still satisfaction at a job largely well done to accompany the relief at finally rediscovering how to win.

Pietersen and stand-in Twenty20 captain Graeme Swann are two of only three players who were present in England colours at the very beginning and the very end.

The other who helped to clinch the Ashes so memorably in Australia and then salvage some pride again in Kolkata, was Tim Bresnan. The Yorkshire seamer missed some gigs in between, because of a calf injury, but along with Swann is one of England’s constants in all formats.

Bresnan knows the last month has taught England, cruelly at times, that they are not universal masters of a game with many facets; but he knows as well they have still done rather well on the whole.

“To be No 1 in the world in two out of three competitions... we’re not in a bad place, are we, really?” Bresnan asked. “Test match cricket is the pinnacle of the sport. The way we’ve played our cricket over this year is fantastic, but we’re still looking to improve in any way we can.”

Pietersen (53) was passed fit only at the 11th hour with a broken thumb, and had to be hidden in the field to avoid exacerbating the fracture in his left thumb. But after Steven Finn (3-22), Bresnan and Ravi Bopara had shared seven wickets to restrict the hosts to 120-9, he bashed five fours and three sixes in a 34-ball 50 which eclipsed the batting of all others.

England Women completed a successful tour of South Africa with a seven-wicket Twenty20 victory.