Well the first shock of the one day series has happened with the lowest ranked side picking up a victory.Well done England and Flintoff.

Funny how Flintoff suddenly starts performing when the burden of captaincy is removed from his shoulders.Coincidence????

Yeah, or when its against a weak opposition

Good performance from five-nil-freddie, inept performance by England. It was comical how they struggled to chase down such a meager total. Look forward to the party to continue and demolishing them again on friday.

Not the most convincing win of all time....

Clearly, a lot needs to be done vbefore the match with the Aussies. Will Vaughan be in or out?

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Nobody has a batting stance quite like the mighty Shivnarine....

Anderson now England's 5th highest ODI wicket taker

Gough - 235 - (156 games)
Botham - 145 - (116 games)
De Freitas - 115 - (103 games)
Flintoff - 112 - (107 games)
Anderson - 82 - (55 games - only bowled in 53 as subbed in one and the other rained off)
Willis - 80 - (61 games)
Embury - 76 -(74 games)
Caddick - 69 - (54 games)
Ealham/Harmison - 67 - (64/46 games)

Anderson bowled well.I hope this kick starts his career again,he was obviously woefully out of sorts through the test series but we could do with him staying fit and finding this form more often as he has the talent.

I am worried about our batting. We need a Trescothick to open. Numbers 1, 2 and 3 put too much pressure on the incoming batsmen. Can't believe they didn't call up someone like Loye.

How unnecessary. NZ are a decent one-day outfit. England did well to win without their best batsman - looked like throwing it away though. It wasn't such a meagre (sic) total on that pitch anyway.

England need at least two experienced ODI bowlers to have a shot at reaching the semis of the WC. With Harmy and Hoggard out of the equation for ODI cricket, it seems apparent that Flintoff and Anderson are the men. I just hope they can maintain some level of consistency.

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Nobody has a batting stance quite like the mighty Shivnarine....

I agree that we need two ODI opening bowlers both taking early wickets. Flintoff usually gets more wickets first change as a partnership breaker. It would be good to have Tremlett opening with Anderson. He would have the height (6'7) and bounce and would be a like for like bowler to replace Harmison.

Whew. Finally a win for England , but i suspect they won't be happy unless they knock over Australia at some stage.

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