Marcus Trescothick and Nasser Hussain got together to send Zimbabwe on a leather hunt at the Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday. The English duo put on 141 for the second wicket to enable England finally finish with 298 for 8 on an extremely humid afternoon. The Zimbabweans had no answer to that kind of a target and promptly went down by 190 runs.

The Zimbabwe bowling and fielding went to pieces as Trescothick (119, 102b, 11x4, 2x6) and Hussain (75, 97b, 6x4) went hammer and tongs, showing no mercy whatsoever. Zimbabwe did come back somewhat through a good, tight spell from Grant Flower but some shoddy wicketkeeping by his brother Andy let the Zimababwe side down badly.

It was a good toss to win for Hussain and he had absolutely no hesitation in choosing to bat first. Douglas Hondo, like he did against the Indians, picked up an early wicket, that of Nick Knight, but thereafter it was all about Trescothick and Hussain. Hondo and his skipper Heath Streak both went at around eights runs an over and gave the game away.

Hondo did come back towards the very end to claim three more wickets but by then Zimbabwe’s goose had been well cooked. In fact had Trescothick not been drained due to the extreme heat, a much bigger total would have been up on the board.

As it is, Zimbabwe had to get to their target in 48 overs having been penalized two overs for bowling short. But as it turned out, there was no respite for the African nation as Matthew Hoggard took over from where the England batsmen had let off.

A straight 10-over spell at a cost of just 25 runs, during which he bagged three top-order wickets put the task beyond Zimbabwe. There was some resistance from Andy Flower (44) but once Ronnie Irani consumed him in the midst of a tight spell, it was all over for Zimbabwe, skipper Heath Streak's unbeaten 50 only delaying the inevitable.

England now clash with India on Sunday.

Statistical Highlights:
---By Daniel Puran Singh

• This was the 22nd meeting between the two sides.
• All-rounder Ian Blackwell by making his debut was the 170th player to represent England in ODIs.
• Playing in his 73rd ODI, Nasser Hussain's innings of 75 was his 14th half-century. When on 46 Hussain also became the 12th England batsman to reach the 2000-run milestone in ODIs.
• The second wicket partnership of 141 between Marcus Trescothick and Nasser Hussain eclipsed the 112 by Nick Knight and Hussain himself in the 2001/02 season.
• Trescothick (119) made his fourth hundred in ODIs, his maiden ton against Zimbabwe. It was also the 58th for England and the 45th against Zimbabwe.
• Even though this was Trescothick's fourth hundred in ODIs, this is actually the first time he has finished on the winning side. His previous three tons resulted in losses, two against India and one versus Pakistan.
• He also became the fifth Englishman to score two hundreds in successive ODIs. Former England captains Graham Gooch, David Gower, Alec Stewart and batsman Graham Hick are the other four.
• Medium Pacer Douglas Hondo of Zimbabwe by taking his third 4-wicket haul also becomes the first from his nation to achieve this feat in successive matches.
• England's score of 298 for 8 is their highest made against this team. Their previous best was England's 298-8 was the 280-9 at Bulawayo on in 2001.
• The 38-run stand between captain Heath Streak and Ray Price was Zimbabwe's best for the ninth wicket against England. They bettered the 31 runs put on by Streak and Paul Strang in 2000.
• Hard-hitting lower-order batsman Heath Streak with an unbeaten 50 registered his 6th fifty in his 149th match.
• Ronnie Irani bagged his first four-wicket haul in his 18th match
• England recorded their 167th victory in ODIs and their 15 over Zimbabwe. This 108-run victory margin was England's best against Zimbabwe in terms of runs. The previous best being by 85 runs in 2000.
• England have now registered nine successive victories against Zimbabwe since July 2000.
• Trescothick won his first Man-of-the-Match award against Zimbabwe and the fifth overall.