Stewart and Flintoff turn Sri Lanka's lights off

England 293-6 Sri Lanka 249-9 England win by 44 runs

Andrew Flintoff with an all-round performance that brought back memories of Ian Botham in his pomp was the man England had to thank most for their 44-run victory over Sri Lanka in the NatWest Series opener here last night.

In a performance that won him the man of the match award Flintoff made a thunderous 28-ball assault on the tourists' bowlers to score the fastest-ever fifty by an Englishman in one-day cricket. Coming in with 10 overs to go he used his bat as Tiger Woods would use a driver, smiting the ball to all parts of the ground.

Then with the ball in his hand he aggressively knocked knocked the heart out of Sri Lanka's middle-order with an attacking and disciplined display of fast bowling.

Alec Stewart, the 39-year-old all-rounder that England have contemplated pensioning off, and Andrew Flintoff, the youngest member of the home side's one-day squad, underpinned what was an excellent performance.

Stewart, with a classy 83, once again proved how wrong the selectors would be to dispense with the services of this fine cricketer before he himself decides it is ready to call time. In comparison Flintoff backed up a thunderous 50 not out, which proved to be the fastest one-day fifty by an Englishman, by knocking the heart out of the Sri Lankan middle-order.

For the second time in a fortnight Stewart, England's most capped player, proved that he still has both the motivation and ability to perform on the big stage when his country most needs him and it was these two who England had to thank most for posting the competitive total of 293 for 6.

Initially, the way the visitors set about chasing such a daunting total was a lesson in staying cool under pressure and while England's attempts to increase the run rate through booming drives and hoicks over midwicket these sublime batsmen effortlessly manoeuvre the ball around the field like craftsmen.

However, when the final push was needed Sri Lanka did not have a player as powerful as Flintoff to score at the necessary rate. When the game was at its most tense the home side had three outstanding pieces of fielding to thank for keeping them in the game. Nasser Hussain, Ronnie Irani and Graham Thorpe producing stunning diving one-handed catches within the 30-yard circle proved the adage that catches win matches. It was their handiwork more than the bowling that helped to dismiss Sri Lanka's top order just when the tourists appeared at their most dangerous.

Having won the toss, Nasser Hussain had no hesitation in choosing to bat first thus allowing his batsmen to make the most of the natural light available rather than bat under the floodlights in the evening.

In perfect conditions in front of a 15,000 full-house, Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight, England's aggressive pair of openers, enabled the home side to get off to an excellent start. The pair seemed aware that on this excellent one-day pitch and lightning fast outfield England would need a score of more than 250 to be competitive against a Sri Lankan comfortable chasing high scores.

It was all going smoothly until Knight was out for 20, playing all around a straight delivery from Nuwan Zoysa. Trescothick, however, was once again guilty of getting himself out through being overaggressive.

With their innings in the balance for the first time at 47 for 2, Hussain and Thorpe steadied the ship with a 56-run partnership. In it they got the balance between caution and aggression absolutely right and effortlessly moved England past 100.

Just when Hussain's team appeared to be in charge and with the score on 103, England once again found themselves in a precarious position, when the burly Dilhara Fernando took two wickets in the 19th over.

Trent Bridge Scoreboard

England won toss

ENGLAND

M E Trescothick c Sangakkara b Vaas 26

37 min, 25 balls, 4 fours

N V Knight lbw b Zoysa 20

26 min, 18 balls, 3 fours

*N Hussain b Fernando 32

61 min, 41 balls, 3 fours

G P Thorpe b Fernando 18

54 min, 31 balls, 1 four

ÝA J Stewart b Vaas 83

106 min, 103 balls, 8 fours

R C Irani c Jayawardene b Arnold 39

66 min, 55 balls, 1 four

A Flintoff not out 50

39 min, 28 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes

P D Collingwood not out 10

3 min, 3 balls, 2 fours

Extras (b4, lb4, w3, nb4) 15

Total (for 6, 199 min, 50 overs) 293

Fall: 1-39 (Knight), 2-47 (Trescothick), 3-103 (Hussain), 4-104 (Thorpe), 5-199 (Irani), 6-283 (Stewart).

Did not bat: A F Giles, R J Kirtley, M J Hoggard

Bowling: Vaas 9-0-58-2 (6-0-26-1, 1-0-8-0, 2-0-24-1); Zoysa 7-0-46-1 (nb3) (one spell); Fernando 8-0-46-2 (nb1, w1) (6-0-27-2, 2-0-19-0); Chandana 10-0-43-0 (w1) (one spell); Jayasuriya 10-0-51-0 (w1) (5-0-26-0, 5-0-25-0); Arnold 6-0-41-1 (one spell).

Progress: 50: 40 min, 53 balls. 15 overs score: 87 for 2. 100: 85 min, 109 balls. 150: 128 min, 183 balls. 200: 162 min, 241 balls. 250: 183 min, 284 balls.

Stewart: 50: 68 min, 67 balls, 5 fours. Flintoff: 50: 35 min, 28 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes.

SRI LANKA

*S T Jayasuriya c Hussain b Hoggard 12

ÝR S Kaluwitharana c Thorpe

b Collingwood 52

M S Atapattu c Irani b Flintoff 47

D P M Jayawardene b Collingwood 29

R P Arnold run out 29

K C Sangakkara c Kirtley b Flintoff 22

U D U Chandana c Thorpe b Flintoff 1

M N Nawaz not out 15

W P U Vaas b Kirtley 10

D N T Zoysa b Kirtley 0

C R D Fernando not out 5

Extras (b1 lb10 w10 nb6) 27

Total (for 9, 50 overs) 249

Fall: 1-19 2-91 3-149 4-152 5-214 6-215 7-215 8-238 9-238.

Bowling: Hoggard 10-0-49-1; Kirtley 10-0-40-2; Irani 10-0-39-0; Flintoff 10-0-49-3; Giles 5-0-30-0; Collingwood 5-0-31-2.

Umpires: D L Orchard (SA) and D R Shepherd (Eng).

TV replay umpire: N A Mallender

Match referee: M J Procter.

Man of the Match: A Flintoff