We did ourselves in, rues England skipper Vaughan

St Peter's Apr 9 (UNI) England skipper Michael Vaughan rued missed opportunities in the crucial Super Eights league match against Australia and said his team only were to be blamed for their seven-wicket defeat at the hands of the defending champions.

''We did ourselves in,'' Vaughan told reporters after the match yesterday.

''We squandered away the chances against Australia and lost the match.

''We had our chances, we were 164 for 2 and Kevin Pietersen played a glorious innings but I am sorry that he ended up on the losing side,'' a visibly upset England skipper said after his team's second successive defeat in the league.

Australia scored 248-3 in 48 over after dismissing England for 247.

Vaughan was of the view that on a track like this, scoring was easy and and they should have posted a stiff targed.

''Kevin Pietersen's 100 was a fantastic knock, but the rest of us didn't play well enough around him for us to get to the 280 to 300 we needed.'' He did not agree to a question that electing to bat first was a gamble. ''No, it was not a gamble, we were controlling the game at one stage, for any team 164 for two is a dream start, so I can not blame any body but ourselves for the defeat.'' Vaughan was candid enough to admit that all the problems his side was facing were their own creation.

''We're certainly making it difficult for ourselves -- we need to win our last three games now to get into the semis.'' Vaughan himself was dismissed for just five and England's batsmen failed to build on a third-wicket partnership of 140 between Pietersen (104) and Ian Bell (77).

He said: ''There aren't that many of us batsmen playing that well at the moment. Personally I'll keep fighting, and hopefully I'll get some runs against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

''Around the 30th over we were 160-odd for two, and at that stage we looked like we could post 280 or 290. That would have been a really competitive total on this pitch.

''And we were squeezing them quite effectively around the 20th over of their innings, and that was the area of the game where we could have won it.'' He was sporting enough to praise his rivals saying: ''Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke played great innings -- all credit to them. We're a squeezing attack, and we usually get opportunities to get wickets at the top when the ball swings, but it didn't.'' Vaughan however added that Australia is not unbeatable. ''They can be beaten. Today we let go the chance.'' The skipper said his side was now left with no option but to win the next three games.

''It is going to be tough but the boys know that they have no option and no lifeline but to win.'' England next plays Bangladesh and then South Africa (April 1) and last league match against West Indies on April 21.

UNI