Close: 44.1 overs Zimbabwe A 124 all out (Hondo 6*). England won by 138 runs. Full card below England eventually ran out easy winners as Zimbabwe A (unlike England) never recovered from a top-order collapse. James Kirtley returned to wrap things up and finished with 3 for 21 on his first senior appearance. England's other three debutants all made an impression - Mathew Hoggard with the early breakthrough, Jeremy Snape with a breezy cameo innings and a couple of wickets, and James Foster with a stumping and a fine catch to remove Zimbabwe's top scorer, Rogers, for 30. But the stars of the day were Graham Thorpe, making 95 on his return after a long-standing injury, and Ben Hollioake, who hit 61 and helped Thorpe add 158 for the sixth wicket which proved to be the difference between the two sides. When Hollioake lured Tatenda Taibu into a miscued pull to Mark Ramprakash at backward point, and then Ramprakash himself snapped up the not-very-prized wicket of Henry Olonga, all of England's rather motley attack apart from Andy Flintoff had taken at least one wicket. With eight wickets down, 162 needed and 10 overs to go, the Zimbabweans were out of the game. A day that had begun with a wobble for England was ending as a walk in the park.

21 overs Zimbabwe A 51 for 5 (B Rogers 2*, T Taibu 0*)

Marcus Trescothick showed that he really does have a golden arm by picking up the wicket of Dirk Viljoen with his very first ball of the tour. Viljoen had compiled a patient 13 when Trescothick bowled him a short delivery. Viljoen couldn't resist the hook, but picked out James Kirtley in the deep, who took a stunning one-handed catch over his head.

Jeremy Snape then snapped up the Zimbabwe A captain, Gavin Rennie, with a well-flighted delivery that totally deceived the batsman, bowling him neck and crop. England thought they had dismissed Rennie earlier, when Andrew Flintoff appealed vociferously for caught behind, but the umpire was unmoved.

10 overs Zimbabwe A 22 for 3 (G Rennie 13*, D Viljoen 2*)

A triple strike from England's new opening pair left Zimbabwe A reeling on 22 for 3 as they set off in pursuit of their target of 263. Matthew Hoggard picked up Guy Croxford in the opening over with a seaming delivery that took the outside edge to give James Foster his first catch in England colours. Stuey Matsikenyeri was next to fall, trying to hook a short ball that was on to him quicker than he expected and presenting Jeremy Snape with a comfortable catch at midwicket.

James Kirtley got in on the act with a fast inswinger that beat Douglas Marillier's defences to rock back his off stump. Both Hoggard and Kirtley found some appreciable bounce and movement from a dry and dusty pitch. Hoggard in particular showed excellent control of line and length, frustrating the Zimbabwe A batsmen.

Zimbabwe A
GM Croxford c Foster b Hoggard 1
GJ Rennie* b Snape 28
S Matsikenyeri c Snape b Hoggard 2
DA Marillier b Kirtley 1
DP Viljoen c Kirtley b Trescothick 13
BG Rogersc Foster b Kirtley 30
T Taibu† c Ramprakash b Hollioake 13
SM Ervine st Foster b Snape 5
HK Olonga c Kirtley b Ramprakash 14
DT Hondo not out 6
M Mbangwa b Kirtley 2
Extras 9
Total (44.1 overs) 124 all out

Lunch: 50 overs England 262 for 8 (Thorpe 95, Hollioake 61, Snape 27*) v Zimbabwe A; full card below

Both the stars of the show, Graham Thorpe and Ben Hollioake, left the stage in the final overs but their momentum stayed with England as Jeremy Snape biffed 27 off only 19 balls on his first international appearance. Fourteen runs came off the last over from Dirk Viljoen, 12 of them to Snape, and England's recovery from the depths of 61 for 5 was complete. Crisis? What crisis?

44 overs England 214 for 5 (Thorpe 90*, Hollioake 58*)

A brilliant partnership of 150 by Graham Thorpe and Ben Hollioake first rescued England, then put them in control of the warm-up match against a handy Zimbabwe A team in Harare this morning. Thorpe eased through the gears to approach a hundred while Hollioake finally renounced restraint by hitting Henry Olonga for three fours off an over. The two batsmen had trundled along at four an over through the middle of the innings but accelerated sharply after the 35-over mark, adding 74 off the next nine overs with some controlled hitting. At one time a score of 150 had been a remote prospect; now 250 was in sight.

35 overs England 140 for 5 (Thorpe 49*, Hollioake 28*)

Graham Thorpe and Ben Hollioake embarked on a blush-sparing exercise against Zimbabwe A in Harare and managed to turn the middle overs, so often England's weak link, into a modest triumph. Coming together with England in deep trouble at 61 for 5 on a seaming pitch, the two of them doubled the score by milking the support bowlers for a steady four an over. The gravity of the situation was such that Hollioake abandoned his penchant for the big shot and reached 28 without a single boundary. Thorpe, meanwhile, carried on as if he had not missed one match through injury, let along most of a season, nudging and nurdling with his usual air of calm purpose to reach a vital fifty. The only thing to be said for the other batsmen was that at least they had collapsed rapidly, giving Thorpe time to rebuild and getting Hollioake - who averaged 40 with the bat in the National League this year - to the crease with 35 overs to go. With Jeremy Snape and James Foster still to come, a respectable score was well within reach. 20 overs England 73 for 5 (Thorpe 16*, Hollioake 3*)

Early-tour enthusiasm turned to embarrassment for England against a Zimbabwe A team in Harare this morning as their new-look team ran into an age-old problem - a batting collapse.

The top order appeared to have shrugged off the early loss of Marcus Trescothick (bowled by Pommie Mbangwa for 4) as Nick Knight and Nasser Hussain rode their luck to add 43 for the second wicket. But Knight was soon bowled having a heave at Doug Hondo for 22, and the slide was on.

In the next over, the 10th of the innings, Hussain went the same way to Sean Ervine for 16. One over later, Hondo induced a loose forcing shot from Mark Ramprakash, making his first England one-day appearance for three years, and he was gone for 2, falling to earth with a bump five weeks after his memorable Ashes hundred at The Oval. England had stumbled from 47 for 1 to 52 for 4.

Andy Flintoff restrained his attacking instincts to help Graham Thorpe steady the ship, but not for long. Dirk Viljoen came on and Flintoff slipped back into his old habit of driving uppishly to be caught and bowled for 1 off 14 balls. At 62 for 5, England were relying as heavily as ever on Thorpe, who had been out injured since June and wasn't even in the squad 10 days ago.

The irony was that England had selected a team for this, their only warm-up match on the tour, which was weighted towards the batting. A bunch of highly inexperienced bowlers were going to have to get their elders out of trouble - either with the ball or with the bat.

England
ME Trescothick b Mbangwa 4
NV Knight b Hondo 22
N Hussain* b Ervine 16
MR Ramprakash c Taibu b Hondo 2
GP Thorpe c Matsikenyeri b Ervine 95
A Flintoff c and b Viljoen1
BC Hollioake c Olonga b Ervine 61
JN Snape not out 27
JS Foster† run out (Mbangwa/Taibu) 5
RJ Kirtley not out 1
Extras 28
Total (50 overs) 262 for 8

Did not bat MJ Hoggard.

Zimbabwe A
DA Marillier, GJ Rennie*, BG Rogers, SM Ervine, DP Viljoen, GM Croxford, T Taibu†, S Matsikenyeri, HK Olonga, M Mbangwa, DT Hondo.

Toss England

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