COLOMBO, Sept 18: England overwhelmed Zimbabwe by 108 runs in their Champions Trophy pool two opener Wednesday, powered by opener Marcus Trescothick’s second consecutive one-day hundred.

The 26-year-old Somerset batsman stroked 119 from only 102 balls and shared in a 141-run second wicket partnership with skipper Nasser Hussain, who hit 75 from 97 balls after choosing to bat first in the day-night match.

England amassed 298 for six and restricted Zimbabwe to 190 for nine with some devastating fast bowling from Matthew Hoggard and Ronnie Irani.

Zimbabwe were always up against it after being restricted to 48 overs because of their slow bowling rate.

Irani claimed 4-37 after Hoggard snapped up three early wickets bowling a sharp 10-over spell of pace and seam movement costing only 25 runs.

Irani’s victims included the consistent Andy Flower for a 59-ball 44.

Zimbabwe were eliminated from the trophy after losing both their pool games.

England take on India on Sunday and the winners will qualify for the semifinals of the competition.

Zimbabwe, having lost their last eight games to England, had hoped to make a turnaround, but Trescothick took early command with a flurry of fours to dominate the new ball attack of skipper Heath Streak and Douglas Hondo on a flat pitch.

Trescothick reached his fourth one-day century in only 89 balls and hit 11 fours and two sixes in all.

The batsman, who drove fluently through the covers and pulled firmly, was eventually bowled by left-arm spinner Grant Flower in the 39th over, trying to make room for an off-side shot.

His partnership with Hussain was England’s highest for the second wicket in one-dayers against Zimbabwe, bettering the previous best of 134, while England’s total was also their best ever against the Africans in limited-overs cricket.

Hussain, who played forceful shots off his pads and used the reverse sweep frequently, reached his 14th one-day fifty with six fours before being bowled trying to pull Streak in the 32nd over.

Debutant all-rounder Ian Blackwell hit 17, which included a six, before Alec Stewart (23) and Owais Shah (25) boosted the score in the final overs.

Hoggard bowled left-hander Alistair Campbell (2) between bat and pad with an incoming delivery and had Grant Flower caught in the slips for seven runs before dimissing second opener Dion Ebrahim for a slow 48-ball 20.

Streak showed some late heroics to remain 50 not out, facing 58 balls and hitting three fours and two sixes, but his effort came too late.