LONDON, 23 May 2003 — Marcus Trescothick gambled and won as England closed on 184 for three in their first innings against Zimbabwe after a curtailed opening day of the first Test at Lord’s yesterday.
Trescothick, struggling for form and without a half-century in nine Test innings, took the direct route out of trouble as he bludgeoned 59 in swinging, seaming conditions.
Fellow left-hander Mark Butcher, given two huge let-offs, then added 52 not out, leaving Zimbabwe rueing a mix of bad luck and poor play.
Zimbabwe coach Geoff Marsh said: “We are disappointed, really. It was a wicket where we should have got them at least six or seven wickets down.
“Hopefully, we will get our (bowling) lines a bit closer to the stumps tomorrow (Friday). England played and missed a fair bit, but good sides make the batsmen nick (the ball).”
Having won the toss, their often wayward attack failed to create any concerted pressure after an 80-minute rain delay.
Trescothick’s audacious approach had been in stark contrast to fellow opener Michael Vaughan.
Vaughan, the world’s most successful batsman last year and with the much tighter technique, retreated into his shell in an attempt to survive only to fall for eight after batting for almost an hour and a quarter.
Vaughan missed more than he hit. At one stage he was beaten outside the off stump three balls in a row by Andy Blignaut.
Trescothick, who began with a slice past gully for four in the first over of the day, opted instead for attack.
Relying mainly on straight-bat shots down the ground, he never looked at his best but appeared Bradmanesque in comparison to his out-of-touch partner.
Vaughan’s good fortune ran out after 42 balls with the score on 45 when a leg-side delivery from the hard-working Heath Streak clipped the bottom of his thigh pad and somehow worked back into the stumps.
Trescothick, having put on 76 for the second wicket with Butcher, finally edged Blignaut to Sean Ervine at second slip, who took the catch above his head. He scored nine fours in a 115-ball knock spanning 2-1/2 hours.
Nasser Hussain looked comfortable enough before, following an interruption for bad light, he mis-hooked Travis Friend’s first ball to fine leg and Douglas Hondo to make it 165 for three.
Butcher played the shot of the day — a blazing cover drive off Hondo — and was granted the luck of the day.
He had opened with two fine boundaries, a flick to leg off Blignaut and an on-drive off Hondo, before surviving a huge lbw shout off the same bowler.
On 36, he snicked Heath Streak to Ervine at second slip. Ervine, moving right, appeared to have grasped the ball only to grass the chance.
Fifty-nine overs had been bowled before bad light forced a premature halt. Robert Key was the other man at the crease, on 11.
Protestors opposed to President Robert Mugabe’s government in Zimbabwe had staged a rally outside the ground before the start.
Australia Coast to 25-Run
Win Over West Indies
In Castries, St. Lucia, Australia coasted to a 25-run win over West Indies in the third One-Day International on Wednesday to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
West Indies scored 233 for nine from 50 overs in reply to Australia’s innings total of 258-4.
It was the world champions Australia’s 20th consecutive victory in One-Day Internationals.
Nathan Hauritz broke the backbone of the West Indies upper order by dismissing Ramnaresh Sarwan (15) and Chris Gayle (43) in quick succession.
It was a welcome return for the man who has remained on the sidelines of the Australia team since taking four wickets against Kenya in September 2002.
West Indies’ collapse was more a story of rash shot selection than a particularly impressive bowling performance on the part of the visitors.
The home team lost three early wickets as their openers threw caution to the wind in their haste to make runs.
Devon Smith (9) was caught behind off Glenn McGrath to put West Indies on 20 for one before Chris Gayle delighted the crowd with five fours and one six over the midwicket boundary.
Sarwan tried to follow suit but lofted a harmless-looking Hauritz delivery to deep extra cover and was caught by Jason Gillespie.
