England make winning start

Trott: instantly found form in the land of his birth

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Tour Match
Bloemfontein
England 294-7 (I J L Trott 85, A J Strauss 72, E J G Morgan 67 no) v Eagles 109
England beat Eagles by 185 runs

England opened their tour of South Africa with a 185-run victory over the Diamond Eagles in Bloemfontein.

Half-centuries from Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan helped England reach a total of 294-7 after being asked to bat.

Stuart Broad and James Anderson struck twice each with the new ball to reduce the home side to 43-4 in the 10th over of their reply.

And regular wickets continued to fall - Sajid Mahmood, Graeme Swann and Paul Collingwood all enjoying themselves with the ball as the Eagles crashed to 109 all out in 26.4 overs.

Hot Trott

A second-wicket partnership of 123 between South African-born duo Strauss and Trott allowed England to overcome the early loss of Joe Denly (3), who was yorked by CJD de Villiers (1-54) in the fifth over.

Strauss led the way with seven boundaries in his 62-ball half-century, bringing up the landmark with a reverse sweep for four off left-arm spinner Con de Lange.

The hundred partnership was raised shortly afterwards from 116 deliveries as England looked on course for a huge total.

But the introduction of occasional seamer Ryan Bailey brought an end to Strauss' 85-ball knock as the England captain holed out for 72 to Victor Mpitsang in the deep. De Lange (1-50) quickly followed up with the wicket of Collingwood (8) to leave England at 154-3.

Trott was joined by Morgan but, after putting on a quick 32 together, the Warwickshire right-hander played Bailey (2-27) on to his stumps to depart for 85.

At that stage England looked to be losing their way but Morgan and Matt Prior slowly regrouped.

They brought up England's 200 in the 41st over before Prior was handed a lifeline when he was put down by Thandi Tshabalala at point.

The power play was taken in the 43rd over and it proved a good decision with Morgan ending a dry boundary spell with the first four in almost five overs.

Tshabalala did not help his side's cause with another dropped chance, this time Morgan slashing the ball to him at point.

Dean Elgar finally managed to hold onto a catch in the 45th over when Prior (19) hit Dillon du Preez (1-53) straight to long-off.

But Morgan (67no) continued his assault, with his 50 coming in 41 balls, and was given good support from Luke Wright (24) to help England finish in a hurry.

Broad impact

The Eagles' run chase went wrong from the moment Morne van Wyk edged Broad's second ball to Swann at second slip for a duck.

Rilee Rossouw took three fours his first four balls but Broad had his revenge in the third over, Rossouw hanging out his bat to edge through to Prior behind the stumps for 17.

Anderson then sent Boeta Dippenaar (11) on his way, the Eagles skipper inside edging onto his stumps to leave his side at 32-3.

Mahmood, back in an England shirt for the first time since the 2007 World Cup, was introduced to the attack in the ninth over, but it was Anderson at the other end causing all the problems.

Anderson (2-28) grabbed his second wicket in the 10th over when he had Elgar caught behind by Prior for four.

The collapse continued apace - Mahmood (2-21), off-spinner Swann (2-15) and medium pacer Collingwood (2-9) each claiming a couple of scalps.

Collingwood bowled last man Mpitsang (2) to bring the Eagles' miserable effort to a close from the fourth delivery of the 27th over.

England play another 50-over warm-up against the Warriors in Kimberley on Sunday before taking on South Africa A at Twenty20 next Tuesday in preparation for the start of the internationals.

The two-match T20 series against South Africa gets under way at the Wanderers next Friday.