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England outscore New Zealand

February 23, 2004 22:37 IST

Alastair Cook and Samit Patel both struck unbeaten centuries as England romped to a 97 run victory over New Zealand in a day/night match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.

England's captain and opener Cook won the toss, elected to bat and - with his Essex colleague Ravinder Bopara - set about giving England the perfect platform for success.

The pair took only 39 minutes to reach their 50 partnership and were two short of a century opening stand when Bopara was out lbw to Brent Findlay for 40.

Next man in Steven Davis added 20 as Cook progressed unhurriedly to 50 then Nottinghamshire right-hander Samit Patel arrived at the crease to provide the fireworks.

With wickets in hand Patel helped Cook increase the run-rate in the closing overs so that first Cook and then Patel had time to claim deserved centuries, the latter coming in the final over off only 90 balls.

England finished with 306 for 2 from their 50 overs, comfortably their best total of the tournament.

New Zealand set about their reply with purpose but lost early wickets as England's opening bowlers Tim Bresnan and Liam Plunkett kept a tight line.

As the required run-rate climbed, New Zealand flailed to 209 all out with Bresnan and Plunkett among five England bowlers to collect two wickets apiece. Peter Carey was top-scorer for New Zealand with 48.

England captain Cook was delighted with his own performance as well as his side's victory.

"We have always said that it is up to one of the top order to bat through and today that was me," said Cook.

"I am pleased to get some runs and it's obviously good to start the Super League with a win.

"It is a good win but I don't want to speak about bigger targets yet, we're just going to take each game as it comes.

"Samit's innings was something special, it was a pleasure to be at the other end to watch it."

Patel was named Man of the Match by ICC Match Referee Roshan Mahanama.

The win puts England level with Pakistan on two points after the first round of matches in Super League Group 2.

Tomorrow's fixtures:

SL1 India v West Indies D/N, Bangabandhu National Stadium
SL1 Sri Lanka v South Africa, Fatullah District Stadium
PC1 Nepal v Scotland, M.A. Aziz Stadium
PC1 Australia v PNG, Chittagong Divisional Stadium


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