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NOTTINGHAM (England), June 26: Grant Flower hit a gritty 96 not out as Zimbabwe beat England in a tense opening match of the NatWest Series on Thursday.
Zimbabwe had lost their last nine one-dayers in a row against England, but Flower mastered a dry, cracking pitch at Trent Bridge to steer his side home by four wickets with two overs to spare.
He made almost half his side’s runs, sealing the result with a cover-drive for four off Ashley Giles.
There was also cause for celebration for captain Heath Streak, who returned figures of two for 30 to become the first Zimbabwean to take 200 One-day International wickets.
The game was an unpredictable affair, England beginning superbly and finishing poorly to struggle to 191 for eight after being put in.
Zimbabwe, meanwhile, outclassed in the Test series against their hosts, began horribly but then fought back to win comfortably.
They looked doomed after collapsing to 15 for four in the 10th over against fast bowlers Richard Johnson and Darren Gough, only for Flower to rebuild the reply with the dashing Stuart Matsikenyeri (44) during a 96-run stand.
Flower, who hit 10 fours in 152 balls, ran out Streak to leave the team on 143 for six in the 41st over, but there were to be no further alarms.
The Zimbabweans were so delighted with their performance that they set off on a lap of honour.
England’s best performances came from debutant seamer Johnson, who picked up a wicket with his second ball before finishing with three for 32.
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff, meanwhile, had top-scored with 53 for the home side during their innings, while opener Marcus Trescothick had hit eight fours during a run-a-ball 38.
ENGLAND:
M.E. Trescothick c Flower b Streak 38
V.S. Solanki c Ebrahim b Streak 1
M.P. Vaughan c Taibu v Ervine 13
R.W.T. Key b Price 11
A. Flintoff c Brignaut b Marillier 53
A. McGrath run out 14
R. Clarke b Blignaut 23
C.M.W. Read c Brent b Blignaut 23
R.L. Johnson not out 0
A.F. Giles not out 1
EXTRAS (B-2, LB-2, W-7, NB-3) 14
TOTAL (for eight wkts, 50 overs) 191
FALL OF WKTS: 1-9, 2-56, 3-57, 4-104, 5-134, 6-144, 7-190, 8-190.
DID NOT BAT: D. Gough.
BOWLING: Streak 9-1-30-2 (3w); Blignaut 8-0-53-2 (2nb, 2w); Ervine 8-1-26-1 (1nb); Friend 1-0-14-0 (1w); Price 10-2-20-1; Marillier 10-0-30-1; Flower 4-0-14-0 (1w).
ZIMBABWE:
D.A. Marillier c Clarke b Gough 0
D.D. Ebrahim c Flintoff b Johnson 1
T.J. Friend c Clarke b Gough 5
G.W. Flower not out 96
T. Taibu c Solanki b Johnson 4
S. Matsikenyeri c Clarke b Johnson 44
H.H. Streak run out 7
S.M. Ervine not out 26
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-10, NB-1) 12
TOTAL (for six wkts, 48 overs) 195
FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-3, 3-8, 4-15, 5-111, 6-143.
DID NOT BAT: A.M. Blignaut, G.B. Brent, R.W. Price.
BOWLING: Gough 10-2-40-2 (1nb, 4w); Johnson 10-1-32-3; Flintoff 10-2-24-0 (1w); Clarke 3-0-13-0; Giles 9-0-50-0; McGrath 6-0-35-0 (1w).
RESULT: Zimbabwe won by four wickets.
UMPIRES: P. Willey (England) and S.J.A. Taufel (Australia).
TV UMPIRE: N.A. Mallender (England).
MATCH REFEREE: C.H. Lloyd (West Indies).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Grant Flower.
NEXT MATCH: England v South Africa, The Oval on Saturday.—Reuters
