England beat Zimbabwe by 108 runs in seventh ODI

Colombo, September 18: Marcus Trescothick's impressive run with the bat continued as he slammed a strokeful 119 to set up England's 108-run victory over Zimbabwe in the Champions Trophy one-day tournament here on Wednesday.

The aggressive opener's second successive century enabled England to reach 298-8 after electing to bat on a slow wicket in the day-night match at the Premadasa Stadium.

Trescothick, who scored a hundred in his previous game against India in the final of the NatWest Trophy at Lord's in July, smashed two sixes and 11 fours in his 102-ball knock for his fourth century in one-day internationals.

Seamer Matthew Hoggard then pressed home the advantage given by the opener, grabbing three wickets for just 25 in his economical and incisive 10-over spell to put the match beyond Zimbabwe's reach.

Zimbabwe, penalised two overs for their slow over-rate, put in a feeble batting performance before finishing at 190-9 in 48 overs.

Lower-order batsman Heath Streak was the top-scorer with an unbeaten 50, hitting Ian Blackwell for two successive sixes during his 59-ball knock. But his effort came too late. Andy Flower was the next highest-scorer with 44.

Zimbabwe could never recover from the Hoggard triple-strike, losing wickets at regular intervals to suffer their second consecutive defeat.

Ronnie Irani also made merry with his gentle, but disciplined, seam bowling as he finished with 4-37 after Hoggard had ensured a big England win.

Trescothick's consistency and Hoggard's sharpness augured well for England ahead of their crucial second and last league match against India on Sunday.
England and India both have beaten Zimbabwe and their clash will decide the semi-finalists from the three-team Group B.

The 26-year-old Trescothick put the Zimbabwean attack to the sword, sharing a 141-run stand with skipper Nasser Hussain (75). Their partnership was England's highest for the second wicket against Zimbabwe in one-dayers.

He nearly overshadowed Hussain with his big-hitting, dominating the Zimbabwean attack from the opening over itself. He smashed 14 in a Douglas Hondo over and continued to bat in the same vein.

Hondo conceded 33 in his opening four overs and fellow-seamer Streak 28 in as many overs as Trescothick struck the ball hard and clean to find various parts of the boundary.

The cheap dismissal of Nick Knight did not bring England's run-rate down as 67 came in the opening 10 overs, thanks to Trescothick.

Knight made just eight before inside-edging a Hondo delivery on to his stumps.

But a seven-man Zimbabwean attack could never put pressure on Trescothick, who raced to his half-century off just 40 balls with nine fours. He took 49 more deliveries to complete a well-deserved hundred.

Hussain also looked in excellent touch, middling the ball well from the beginning and rotating the strike intelligently.

He fell forcing the pace, missing the line of a Streak delivery while trying to pull.
Trescothick and Hussain had placed England in a position where their team could afford to lose wickets in pursuit of runs.

Zimbabwe grabbed five wickets in the closing 12 overs, but it was too late to stop England from posting a big total.

Hondo was the highest wicket-taker, finishing with 4-44 off six overs. Grant Flower and Streak each bagged two wickets.