Trott guides England to warm-up victory

England XI 294 for 7 (Trott 85, Strauss 72, Morgan 67*) beat Diamond Eagles 109 by 185 runs
Scorecard

Jonathan Trott marked his return to the country of his birth with a composed 85, and Eoin Morgan turned on the style once again in the death overs with an unbeaten 67 from 52 balls, as England's cricketers launched their tour of South Africa with an impressively focussed 185-run victory over the Diamond Eagles at Bloemfontein.

After losing the toss, Andrew Strauss was the other batsman in the runs, as he continued his fine form at the top of the order with 72 from 85 balls, and England's hefty total of 294 for 7 proved to be more than sufficient. In reply, the bowlers needed barely half their overs to bundle the Eagles out for 109, and the wickets were split like the post-match bar tab, with five men claiming two scalps each, including Paul Collingwood, who wrapped up the game with 2 for 9 in 3.4 overs.

With the first of two Twenty20s looming next Friday, followed swiftly by five ODIs, it was a highly satisfactory first foray for England, and a comfortable return to the land in which they exceeded expectations in the recent Champions Trophy. Such was their dominance, that any prospect of a contest was dead in the water after 13 balls of the Eagles innings - Stuart Broad struck with his second ball when Morne van Wyk edged to Graeme Swann, and then added a second with the first ball of his second over to end an aggressive counterattack from Rilee Rossouw, whose 17 from 10 balls also happened to be the highest score of the innings.

Still, it wasn't all plain-sailing for England. Joe Denly fell for 3 in the fourth over of the match, bowled by the first ball he faced from CJ de Villiers, the same man whose nerveless Super Over eliminated Sussex from the recent Champions League, and a later collapse of 3 for 53 in ten overs threatened to undo England's good work in the first half of their innings. But Morgan's stock rose exponentially during the Champions Trophy, and he was on hand to ensure against any damaging loss of momentum.

Earlier, it had been left to Strauss and Trott to lay England's platform with a 123-run stand for the second wicket. Strauss, not noted for his big hitting, smashed the spinner Con de Lange over cow corner for six, in addition to his seven fours, while Trott picked the gaps in the field superbly to confirm his readiness for a return to England's limited-overs set-up, having featured in a solitary ODI against Ireland and an aborted Twenty20 against Australia since his memorable Test debut in August.

The medium-pacer, Ryan Bailey, eventually separated the pair, when Strauss picked out Victor Mpitsang at square leg, and Bailey was the fielder four overs later when Paul Collingwood lofted de Lange down his throat for 8. When Trott was bowled by Bailey to become England's fourth wicket on 186, the innings threatened to flounder, but instead Morgan stepped up to produce another dazzling array of strokes.

In all he struck five fours and two sixes, one apiece off the new-ball pairing of de Villiers and Mpitsang. Luke Wright then joined in the raised tempo when he smeared three fours in a row off de Villiers, one of them a streaky edge, before launching Dillon du Preez over the square-leg ropes, and had he not been subsequently run-out for 24, England might have envisaged a 300-plus total. In the end, the small change did not matter.