Solanki shines as England coast to victory

England XI 220 for 3 (Solanki 82, Bell 51) beat Namibia 219 for 8 (Snyman 75, Karg 39, Anderson 3-36) by 7 wickets
Scorecard

The England batting hero Vikram Solanki hits out during his 82 © Getty Images

A spirited 82 from Vikram Solanki carried the England XI to a seven-wicket victory against Namibia at Windhoek in their last warm-up match before the one-day series against Zimbabwe starts on Friday (Nov 26). Namibia had recovered from an early wobble to post 219, but an England win was never in doubt after Solanki and Ian Bell put on 110 for the first wicket, before Geraint Jones and Kevin Pietersen steered them home with more than six overs to spare.

Deon Kotze eventually broke the opening partnership as Bell, having just brought up his fifty, was caught by Morne Karg, but this proved a rare moment of cheer for him in a nine-over spell which cost 59. Sarel Burger claimed the only other wickets to fall for England, as Solanki was stumped and then Matt Prior (17) offered a catch to Namibia's batting star, Gerrie Snyman (157 for 3).

Snyman had earlier carved 75 to lift Namibia to the realms of respectability as he and Louis Burger shared a stand of 70 after Karg had stabilised the innings with a quickfire 39. But they had got off to a terrible start as James Anderson struck twice to reduce them to 6 for 2. Wickets tumbled steadily, and Namibia found themselves in trouble at 45 for 4 before a spirited fightback, but one which proved too little, too late as England eased past their total relatively untroubled.