Michael Vaughan was relieved after his England team beat Zimbabwe by five wickets in the first one-day international in Harare on Sunday.

"There were bound to be a few nerves for the guys because it's been a strange week," Vaughan told reporters.

"The most important thing was winning and now we can move on to Wednesday's game," he added referring to the second of the four-match series at the same venue.

The tour finally got underway after being put in jeopardy when the Zimbabwe government refused to accredit some British journalists to cover the games.

The England squad refused to travel to Zimbabwe as planned on Wednesday because of that decision but agreed to tour after the Zimbabwe government relented and lifted the ban on Thursday.

However, the schedule of matches was reduced from five to four because of the delay in England's arrival.

Vaughan said he had been pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere at Harare Sports Club.

"We didn't think there would be that many people at the game," Vaughan said. "But the crowd was good and the atmosphere was great."

Debutant Ian Bell top scored for England with 75, and impressed his captain.

"He's very composed at the crease and he has an array of shots," Vaughan said. "He's someone we're going to see a lot of."

England were cruising to victory before they lost four wickets for 43 runs in 12 overs.

"We had a little flutter towards the end which caused a bit of panic in the dressing room and I don't like to see that," Vaughan said.