Sunday, October 7, 2001 That was our first real test of the tour, and I thought we came through it well. I have to say though, we came up against a fantastic innings from Andy Flower, one of the best one-day knocks I think I have ever seen, and frankly it was just what we needed – it really stretched us and forced us to chase a testing target.

We've already seen what the likes of Knight and Ramprakash can do, but for Duncan Fletcher and myself, the most important thing in this game was to find out what some of the newer lads are made of. I had to drop down the order because of my niggling calf injury, so it was really pleasing to see Flintoff and Collingwood making big contributions. They broke the back of the run-chase, and then myself and Snape cleaned up at the end.

I originally had no intention of going out with a runner but, with every run vital at that stage, Duncan was a bit worried about what might happen if I aggravated my injury. That first ball was a bit chaotic – I hit it, set off for a single, remembered I wasn't meant to be going anywhere, and turned back again! But it was Freddie [Flintoff] who made my mind up – he said to me he'd never batted with a runner before, and to be honest, the way he was hitting the ball by then, I knew I'd never forgive myself if we had a mix-up and he was run out. So I sent Knighty packing after one ball!

For me, batting at seven was an interesting experience – I have to say I'm quite happy at number three, and if you look at my record over the last few years I have been scoring runs consistently from that position. Still, it was nice to prove that I am useful all round the order, and in the future it might give us the option of promoting, say, Flintoff if we are in need of quick runs.

We decided on a couple of changes to today's side, so our bowling attack was perhaps a little fresh, and we paid for it in the final overs. But that was always going to be the case; there's no point in bringing people along for the experience if you don't then give them the experience! James Kirtley had nothing left to prove after being our best bowler at the death in the first two games, so he was rested and Ryan Sidebottom was given his chance. But you can't take anything away from Andy Flower – his was a magnificent innings.

And I thought James Foster was magnificent as well. I know how he plays for Essex, and by his own admission he was below par in the first match. But that was purely down to nerves and a difficult wicket. Here he really showed what he's made of. His run-in with Andy Flower was pure handbags. All three of us had a word with the match referee afterwards, but there's no problem. He accepted that it all happened in the heat of the moment.

But it's been another good day for England. It has to be said that Zimbabwe's attack missed the experience of Heath Streak, but I don't think his absence was half the blow it would have been had we been playing in England. Bowling on these wickets is all about taking pace off the ball, and to win this match we had to nurdle the bulk of our runs from three accurate spinners.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Andrew Miller. Captain Calling will appear exclusively at Wisden.com after each game in the Zimbabwe-England series. More from Nasser Hussain
'Let's win it in 35 overs'

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd