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England qualify for semis

February 25, 2004 22:55 IST
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England qualified the Super League semi-finals with a workmanlike six wicket victory over Zimbabwe inspired by a second consecutive unbeaten century from their captain Alastair Cook at the BKSP Sports Ground.

It was a happy groundhog day for Cook as he produced a carbon copy of his earlier innings against New Zealand to lead his side to victory over Zimbabwe.

Incredibly in both matches Cook hit 108 not out from 131 balls, the only difference this time was that he hit 10 instead of 11 boundaries.

Zimbabwe were left to rue missed opportunities after being put into bat by England. All of Zimbabwe's top eight reached double figures but none was able to go on to make a big score.

As a result they reached only 218 for 9 from their 50 overs with opener Brendon Taylor top-scoring with 45. Tim Bresnan and David Stiff both picked up three wickets for England.

Cook anchored a measured reply from England. He reached his 50 from 55 balls and didn't panic when Samit Patel was the third man out with the score on 93.

Luke Wright joined his captain in the middle and batted sensibly to help steer England towards victory.

Wright was out for 79 but Cook held his nerve to carry his bat for the second time in a row as England reached the target with an over to spare.

Cook has already made his first class debut for the English county side Essex and refused to get carried away by his back-to-back centuries.

"It is great to score two tons on the bounce but Samit (Patel) also scored a century against New Zealand and today Wrighty took a lot of the pressure off me with his 79 runs.

"We came here aiming to get two points today and we're obviously happy to have done that but we didn't play as well as we know we can."

Zimbabwe are now out of the tournament but their captain Tinotenda Mawoyo was full of praise for his team.

"All good things must come to an end," said Mawoyo.

"We have shown we are not just here to make up the numbers and we should be proud of the way we have performed.

"We've had a wonderful time in Bangladesh where the people have been very good to us."

Cook is the second player to make two centuries in the tournament. The other double-centurion is India's Shikhar Dhawan.

England's final group match is against Pakistan at the Fatullah District Stadium on 27 February. The match was originally scheduled for BKSP but all tickets purchased for the original venue will still be valid at Fatullah.

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