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Ealham bowls England to victory

Medium-pace bowler Mark Ealham set a world record with five leg before wicket dismissals as England gained a crushing revenge victory over Zimbabwe in the Standard Bank international triangular limited overs series match at the De Beers Diamond Oval on Sunday.

Ealham took five for 15 as Zimbabwe struggled to 161 for nine in their 50 overs after winning the toss.

England captain Nasser Hussain and Nick Knight then shared their second century opening partnership of the series as England raced to an eight-wicket win with 17.5 overs to spare.

Ealham's performance was the best by an England bowler in a one-day internationals - just as Henry Olonga's six for 19 two days earlier had been an all-time best for Zimbabwe when they thrashed England by 104 runs in Cape Town on Friday.

No bowler in limited overs history had previously had more than four lbw verdicts in their favour but there could be little argument with any of the five positive decisions made by South African umpire Dave Orchard.

Ealham, 30, maintained an immaculate line and confounded the Zimbabwe batsmen with his inswingers and change of pace on a pitch with the ball keeping slightly low.

Zimbabwe collapsed after Alistair Campbell was caught at backward point off Mark Alleyne after a 56-run second wicket stand with Grant Flower.

Nine balls later Flower was the first of Ealham's victims. Six wickets fell for 27 runs off 56 balls as Zimbabwe crashed to 98 for seven.

Tailenders Heath Streak and John Rennie put on 62 for the eighth wicket to give Zimbabwe a respectable total but they were forced to play cautiously and scored at less than three runs an over.

Hussain and Knight, who put on 164 when England beat South Africa by nine wickets in Bloemfontein last Sunday, batted aggressively, with Hussain setting the tone when he drove Olonga through the covers in the first over. The pair put on 128 before Hussain was caught on the long-off boundary for 64, made off 77 balls with seven fours and two sixes. Knight made 72 not out off 94 deliveries.

Hussain said he was delighted that England had bounced back from Friday's poor performance. "Every time we have had a bad day on this tour we have come back strongly," he said.

Zimbabwe captain and wicketkeeper Andy Flower suffered a dislocated finger during England's innings and Campbell took over the gloves, although Flower returned later as a fielder.