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Solanki leads England to victory

November 05, 2003 17:46 IST

Opener Vikram Solanki led the way with a fiery 79 as England romped to a 167-run victory in their one-day tour match against a Bangladesh Cricket Board Development XI.

Solanki hammered 12 fours and two sixes in his 63-ball knock on Wednesday, sharing in a 146-run opening stand with Andrew Strauss, who scored 51, as England amassed 328 and then ran though their opponents for just 161 in 47.4 overs.

Stand-in skipper Andrew Flintoff, leading England for the first time with captain Michael Vaughan rested, chipped in with a breezy 43 and Ian Blackwell added as explosive 62, off just 40 balls and including six fours and three sixes.

"It was good to see Solanki, Strauss and Blackwell bat so well in their first match in Bangladesh," Vaughan told reporters.

But he said the match would have little bearing on the team for Friday's first one-day international against Bangladesh at Chittagong.

"We will pick the team solely on the basis of what's best for us on that wicket," he said. "We saw in the second Test that the Chittagong wicket has good pace and bounce, so we'll keep that in mind."

England won the second Test by 329 runs last week to clinch the series 2-0.

Though runs were flowing freely for England on Wednesday, wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals to bring their innings to an end in 49.3 overs.

Medium-pacer Talha Jubair grabbed three wickets but went for 67 from his nine overs. Occasional off-spinner Mohammad Ashraful also had three scalps but was punished for two huge sixes by Blackwell, one of them straight over the sight screen.

Left-arm spinner Ashley Giles was England's most successful bowler, grabbing three wickets for 25. Left-hander Manjarul Islam top-scored for the Bangladeshi team with 47.

England also rested Marcus Trescothick, who scored 113 in the first Test but injured his thumb while going for a slip catch in the second, and pacemen Richard Johnson and Rikki Clarke, who are recovering from a viral infection.

They are all expected to be fit for the first one-dayer on Friday.


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