Paul Collingwood revealed only last week how he had rediscovered his love for the England captaincy following his side's exploits against Pakistan.

The impressive nature of England's 48-run victory at the Oval last weekend gave rise to the hope that the host nation could finally compete at the
top table.

That feeling, however, may have subsided somewhat after Collingwood's side were brutally beaten by a South Africa team seemingly destined to lift the World Twenty20 trophy.

Where Andorra's footballers had looked so out of their depth at Wembley less than 24 hours earlier, it was England's cricketers who looked out of place at a sundrenched Trent Bridge.

While the defeat by the Netherlands brought both embarrassment and humiliation, this latest setback is far more damaging for Collingwood's men, for this was no fluke but a merciless thrashing.

Not only were England thoroughly outclassed by their opponents, they were also left in no doubt as to how far they have fallen behind the leading nations following this seven-wicket defeat.

Having limped to paltry 111 with one ball of their 20 overs to spare, England were forced to defend their lowest ever score in this form of the game.

Jacques Kallis's unbeaten 57 from 49 balls condemned the hosts to defeat and left Collingwood lamenting his side's dreadful batting performance.

“South Africa proved why they are going to be favourites in the competition,'' said the England skipper.

“They set the standards with their fielding and their bowling and put us under a lot of pressure.

A good total on that wicket was probably going to be 150, but we lost early wickets and we were always behind the eight-ball. You were only going to defend 111, one in 10 times.

“Their team covers all bases. They fling themselves around in the field and are very quick. There are not many areas that you can really target.“

On an evening which promised so much, only Owais Shas managed to deliver with the bat.

The Middlesex man offered the sole resistance to the South Africa bowling attack, for who 19-year-old Wayne Parnell claimed 3-14 as England's tail failed to wag.

Shah's 38 off 33 deliveries briefly threatened to help the hosts build a competitive target until Kallis struck to take his second wicket of the evening.

By the time Shah had been sent back towards the pavilion, England were 88-7 and already staring down the barrel at a monumental defeat.

The evening had started in nightmare fashion as both openers Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright were dismissed with just four runs on the board.

From then on England struggled and once South Africa-born Kevin Pietersen was caught out in spectacular fashion by Roelof van der Merwe for 19, the visitors could scent blood.

“It's vital to get off to a good start,” added Collingwood. “It sets the platform for the rest of the players. But we should have had the combination to get ourselves out of the hole but we didn't do that.

“You have to attack in this form of the game and you saw how we did that against Pakistan. You're not going to get anywhere by playing conservatively and keeping wickets in hand. You have to go out there back yourself.

“We did that this time but we lost early wickets. That was a combination of poor shots and some exceptional fielding.

“Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and under pressure like that it's very hard to come back.”

England must now beat India at Lord's on Sunday to retain any ambition of qualifying for the semi-final stage of the competition.

The reigning champions India take on the West Indies today and Collingwood says his team must raise their game if they are to re-ignite their hopes of winning the tournament.

He said: “We're in a very tough group and it's as simple as that. We have to bounce back.

“We have a couple of days now to get out heads together and put in another performance.”