Solanki fills boots as England open with a win

England A 341 for 8 and 241 for 2 (Solanki 114 ret, Joyce 50, Shah 50) beatAntigua and Barbuda 157 and 163 by 262 runs
Scorecard

England A romped to a 262-run victory over Antigua and Barbuda in their tour opener at the St John's Recreation Ground in Antigua.

The win was on the cards last night when England closed on 116 for 1, a lead of 300, and they extended that to 425 for the loss of Owais Shah before declaring after a brief shower delayed the resumption after lunch. Shah made 50, but the innings was dominated by a hundred from Vikram Solanki, who retired hurt when on 114 - from just 47 balls - in one of those situations where "retired to give others a crack in the middle" would be more accurate.

Solanki put the disappointment of being dropped from England's ODI squad behind him with his knock - and said that he had little other option. "I was disappointed to be left out of the one-day squad," he said, "but I don't ponder too much about whether the door is closed. What I've learned is that you can only get on with the job in hand."

And so he did - allowing all of his players to get plenty of practice to sink Antigua and Barbuda, who fared little better second time round than they had first. Set a nominal target of 426 in 55 overs, only allrounder Wilden Cornwall (47) offered any significant resistance. Solanki used eight bowlers in an innings which lasted 51.3 overs, with Jamie Dalrymple's offspin claiming 3 for 26.