Ian Bell notched a debut half century and Andrew Flintoff hit his eighth half century in eight Tests to help England to 313 for five at stumps on day one of the fourth Test against West Indies at the Oval in London on Thursday.

Flintoff also brought up 2,000 runs in Test cricket with an attacking 72 not out. Geraint Jones was with him on 22 at the close.

Bell (70) earlier shared a 146-run stand with captain Michael Vaughan (66) as England set about chasing a record-equalling seventh successive Test win, having already wrapped up the four-match series 3-0.

However, West Indies hit back by removing both batsman in the final session and will be looking to restrict the hosts to under 400 on Friday.

Bell, with an average of more than 80 for Warwickshire in county cricket this season, replaced the injured Graham Thorpe and played some streaky defensive shots early on, as well as being hit on the shoulder by a feisty Fidel Edwards ball.

"I don't mind wearing a couple of bruises for England," said Bell. "It was pretty tough to start with but I was a little bit disappointed to get 70 and not go on."

The 22-year-old hit 10 fours before he nicked a sharp Jermaine Lawson ball behind, giving the recalled paceman his second wicket after he dismissed Andrew Strauss before lunch.

Vaughan, making his 50th Test appearance, edged Dwayne Bravo to captain Brian Lara at slip in practically his only loose shot of the innings.

England had been in trouble on 64 for three after lunch when Marcus Trescothick (30) and Robert Key fell within four balls of each other.

The Oval in south London is undergoing redevelopment but a full house still arrived to see England begin their quest to record a second whitewash in a row after the 3-0 rout of New Zealand in May and June.

Vaughan won the toss and opted to bat on the traditionally flat Oval wicket despite some heavy early cloud cover which delayed the start by 25 minutes.

West Indies, who were again untidy in the field, made two changes with Lawson and Dwayne Smith replacing injured duo Dave Mohammed and Pedro Collins.

Lara acknowledged the pitch was flat but was reasonably pleased with his side's efforts.

"We are improving. Losing the toss was not the best thing," he said. "Tomorrow with Flintoff still batting he can accelerate the scoring so we have got to get him out early."

Scoreboard:

England first innings:
M.Trescothick c Sarwan b Edwards 30
A.Strauss c Edwards b Lawson 14
R.Key c Baugh b Bravo 10
M.Vaughan c Lara b Bravo 66
I.Bell c Baugh b Lawson 70
A.Flintoff not out 72
G.Jones not out 22

Extras (b-1 lb-10 w-3 nb-15) 29

Total (for five wickets, 90 overs) 313

To bat: A.Giles, M.Hoggard, S.Harmison, J.Anderson

Fall of wickets: 1-51 2-64 3-64 4-210 5-236

Bowling: Edwards 15-3-50-1 (nb-5 w-1), Collymore 18-7-36-0 (nb-4), Lawson 16-2-84-2 (nb-4 w-1), Bravo 17-4-48-2 (nb-2), Smith 12-3-44-0 (w-1), Gayle 5-0-18-0, Sarwan 7-0-22-0

West Indies: C.Gayle, S.Joseph, R.Sarwan, B.Lara (captain), S.Chanderpaul, D.Bravo, C.Baugh, J.Lawson, D.Smith, F.Edwards, C.Collymore.