ENGLAND RACE TO SEVEN-WICKET WIN

Nasser Hussain returned to captain England after recovering from his calf muscle, and began familiarly by losing the toss. Zimbabwe chose to bat in the usual fine Bulawayo conditions. Zimbabwe, at a loss after one poor performance after another, shuffled their squad again, bringing back Dirk Viljoen and Douglas Hondo in place of Travis Friend and Henry Olonga. England gave Chris Silverwood his only match of the tour and made three other changes as they rotated their squad.

Play began with a minute’s silence in memory of Matabeleland president John Martin, aged 69 and son of former Worcestershire and Rhodesian cricketer Sid Martin, who died after a car accident.

Disaster soon struck Zimbabwe again. Matthew Hoggard bowled superbly once more, but it was Silverwood who took the wickets. He had Alistair Campbell (3) given out caught at the wicket down the leg side, although the television replay suggested that the ball came off his thigh pad, and then Stuart Carlisle (0) cut a high catch down the throat of third man. Zimbabwe were 7 for two, and could have been worse as Grant Flower would have run himself out had a throw hit the stumps.

Once again Andy Flower had to come in to fight off disaster. He played a few false strokes early on but settled down, and the fraternal partnership developed until Andy (33) tried to swing Ben Hollioake to leg but only skyed a high catch to square leg; Zimbabwe 77 for three in the 20th over.

Grant continued to play well, and several times clubbed the bowlers from outside off stump over the field wide of long-on. Craig Wishart proved a good partner and another useful partnership developed, the main feature being the quick, if sometimes risky, running between wickets. But again the stand was broken just as it was looking threatening, Wishart (26) trying to pull Silverwood but dragging the ball on to his stumps via the bottom edge; Zimbabwe 145 for four in the 36th over.

Grant Flower and Dion Ebrahim tried manfully to increase the scoring rate, and did so reasonably well against good England bowling and fielding. Flower reached his century off 133 balls with a sweep off Jeremy Snape that almost carried for six, but in the same over lost Ebrahim (28), clean bowled playing an unwise reverse sweep. Then he himself was bowled by a good yorker from Andy Flintoff for 104, and Doug Marillier (4) was superbly caught by Paul Collingwood at square leg in the same over. Zimbabwe were 213 for seven in the 45th over.

Superb fielding by Hussain, a direct hit, ran out Sean Ervine for 3, Viljoen (1) was caught at short midwicket off Snape and, after a brief flurry for the last wicket, Snape had Hondo caught in the deep for 6, Gary Brent being left not out on 7. Snape and Silverwood both finished with three wickets for 43 runs, and the total was 228.

The consistent England openers, Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick, were soon after the Zimbabwean bowlers, with Trescothick hitting Hondo for six over his head in the latter’s first over; four overs later, he repeated the lofted straight drive twice for four and six off consecutive balls. He made 29 off 25 balls before the surprise bowler of the previous match, occasional off-spinner Marillier, came on to dismiss him from a skyed catch to midwicket; England 47 for one in the eighth over.

Hussain also went on the attack quickly, hitting Marillier for a superb six over long-off, but on 9 he was almost run out by a direct hit from Grant Flower, and then dropped low down at backward point. After 15 overs the score was 90, but the bowlers and fielders tightened up and, together with the more defensive field placings permitted, made England work harder after that.

The batsmen raced neck and neck towards fifty, but Hussain fell just short of his half-century, caught at bowled square leg sweeping at Viljoen for 47. Grant Flower bowled Mark Ramprakash behind his legs, sweeping, for 7, but the rapidly maturing Collingwood settled down with Knight, the two batsmen content to milk the bowling for four or five an over, apart from a six over midwicket by Collingwood off Flower, and a straight six off Marillier to bring him his second successive fifty off 43 balls. When victory was achieved after 43.4 overs, Knight had 80 and Collingwood 56.