Close England 210 for 5 (N Hussain 73, N Knight 50) beat Zimbabwe (206) by five wickets

Nasser Hussain with the bat, and Jeremy Snape and Matthew Hoggard with the ball, were the stars of a jittery display as England overcame a demoralised Zimbabwe side in a match that lived up to its Battle of the Basement tag.

In a schizophrenic fielding display, England began excellently, crumbled in mid-innings, then rallied again in the final 20 overs as Man of the Match Jeremy Snape tweaked his magic. The tyro opening pair of Hoggard and Kirtley, seam and swing, proved to be a complementary partnership, with Hoggard drawing first blood on a pitch with just enough of a green tinge to get his juices going. Alistair Campbell walked across his stumps, moments after surviving a head-high chance at slip off Kirtley.

At 37 for 2 after 14 overs, with Snape clinging onto Guy Whittall's frustrated heave, England were firmly in control. But Andy Flower, adept at getting under the skin of sides more resilient than this, soon set about a calculated and enterprising assault on England's change bowlers. With Stuart Carlisle an able sidekick, the pair added 74 in 13 overs to give Hussain plenty to think about. He was especially harsh on Ben Hollioake, whose lack of oomph was telegraphed by Jamie Foster, who stood up to the stumps.

But when Carlisle was undone by Andy Flintoff's slower ball, chipping up to Kirtley at mid-on, Zimbabwe wobbled once again. Andy Flower, who has seen it all before, was loath to change his game-plan at the loss of his partner, but it was a smart piece of bowling, and an even smarter piece of work behind the stumps by Foster that sent him on his way for 59.

Two balls later, the same combination accounted for the same surname. Foster this time fumbled badly, but in true student fashion he did just enough in just the nick of time, and Grant Flower was on his way for a second-ball duck. A dreadful, Chris-Read-ducking-the-slower-ball moment for Foster soon ruined his day though, as Dion Ebrahim's top-edge crashed to earth a metre in front of his outstretched gloves.

As with most of England's mistakes in this match, though, it hardly mattered. Ebrahim went on to make a useful 42, but the golden arm of Mark Ramprakash accounted for Craig Wishart in his very first over, as well as two further scalps, and Kirtley returned to mop up the tail. A final total of 206 was some 20 runs short of respectability on a pitch that had displayed few devils.

Marcus Trescothick was an early casualty in England's reply, driving flat-footedly at a handy delivery from Gary Brent. But Hussain, with intent, and Nick Knight, with stealth, combined to put the game out of Zimbabwe's reach. They added 98, with Hussain batting like a man who knows he is only one delivery away from a six-week layoff. After an injury-jinxed summer, this was his first one-day international since the Pakistan tour last October, and he was out to make up for lost time.

At the other end, Knight was quieter but no less effective. On the whole he was content to pick off the singles and defer to his captain, but one cheeky crouching reverse-sweep off Dirk Viljoen reminded everyone of his more innovative streak.

Both men fell to injudicious sweeps – Knight's paddle to mid-on would have been better played as a pull, Hussain's reverse-sweep not at all – but with Ramprakash looking comfortable in his first ODI since the West Indies tour of 1998, the result was never in doubt.

In the end it was a comfortable victory for England, but one that did little more than break their personal hoodoos, as Nasser Hussain was quick to acknowledge after the match. The main objective of this game was to end an unprecedented run of 11 defeats in one-day cricket. Anything more would have been a bonus.

England

1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Nick Knight, 3 Nasser Hussain (capt), 4 Mark Ramprakash, 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andy Flintoff, 7 Ben Hollioake, 8 Jeremy Snape, 9 James Foster (wkt), 10 James Kirtley, 11 Matthew Hoggard.

Zimbabwe

1 Alistair Campbell, 2 Guy Whittall (capt), 3 Andy Flower (wkt), 4 Stuart Carlisle, 5 Craig Wishart, 6 Grant Flower, 7 Dion Ebrahim, 8 Dirk Viljoen, 9 Mluleki Nkala, 10 Gary Brent, 11 Douglas Hondo.

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