Flintoff sparkles in England victory
REUTERS

KARACHI, OCTOBER 25: England achieved a magnificent five-wicket win over Pakistan in the opening One-day International on Tuesday.

Set 305 to win, captain Nasser Hussain hit 73 and injured all-rounder Andrew Flintoff 84 to lead England home with 2.4 overs to spare.

Man-of-the-match Flintoff was ruled out of the forthcoming three-Test series last week because of a back injury. He cannot bowl.

But he showed no sign of the problem as a batsman as he smashed six fours and three sixes in his 60-ball stay.

England made a dreadful start to their reply, losing openers Alec Stewart for a duck and Marcus Trescothick for 11.

Earlier, all-rounder Abdur Razzak hit a whirlwind unbeaten 75 off just 40 balls to help Pakistan post a challenging 304-9 of their allotted 50 overs. Middle order Inzamam-ul-Haq scored 71 in Pakistan's total.

Scorecard
Pakistan: Saeed Anwar c Stewart b White 24, Imran Nazir b Caddick 31, Salim Elahi c Stewart b Ealham 28, Inzamam-ul-Haq c Flintoff b Ealham 71, Yousuf Youhanna c Stewart b Gough 35, Moin Khan c sub (Solanki) b White 18, Abdur Razzak not out 75, Wasim Akram run out 0, Waqar Younis run out 1, Saqlain Mushtaq b Gough 3, Mushtaq Ahmed not out 2, Extras (lb-6, w-4, nb-6) 16.
Total (for 9 wkts in 50 overs) 304.
Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-87, 3-97, 4-197, 5-219, 6-267, 7-271, 8-277, 9-302
Bowling: Caddick 10-0-53-1, Gough 10-0-71-2, White 9-0-70-2, Ealham 10-0-49-2, Giles 8-0-37-0, Trescothick 3-0-18-0.

England: Marcus Trescothick c Mushtaq b Waqar 11, Alec Stewart c Moin b Akram 0, Nasser Hussain st Moin b Mushtaq 73, Graeme Hick c Moin b Razzak 56, Graham Thorpe (not out) 64, Andrew Flintoff c Moin b Razzak 84, Craig White (not out) 0; Extras (lb4, w5 nb9) 18.
Total (for five wickets in 47.2 overs) 306
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-13, 3-127, 4-164, 5-302
Bowling: Akram 8-0-59-1, Waqar 10-0-66-1, razzaq 10-0-71-2, Saqlain 9.2-0-54-0, Mushtaq 10-0-52-1
Result: England won by five wickets

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