YORKSHIRE fast bowler Matthew Hoggard struck two early blows to propel new-look England to a resounding 138-run win over Zimbabwe 'A' in their only warm-up match before the start of the one-day series.

Hoggard struck with the sixth ball of the hosts' reply in Harare and then bagged a crucial second wicket in the sixth over as England took command before dismissing the 'A' ranks for 124.

Earlier, the tourists were hugely indebted to Graham Thorpe for setting an impressive total.

Surrey left-hander Thorpe hit 95 in his first innings since July 21 to help rebuild England's innings and guide them to a competitive 262 for eight.

It was the perfect fillip for England as they prepare for the start of the five-match series with Zimbabwe on Wednesday having suffered 11 successive one-day international defeats this year.

Thorpe, combining with Surrey team-mate Ben Hollioake, steered the tourists out of trouble on 61 for five with a superb 158-run partnership after England had looked on course for yet another embarrassing result.

Having lost Trescothick to the sixth ball of the day when out-of-favour Test seamer Pommie Mbangwa removed his off-stump, both captain Nasser Hussain and Nick Knight fell in quick succession swinging across the line.

They were soon followed by Mark Ramprakash and Andrew Flintoff to leave England in danger of another embarrassing setback until Surrey pair Thorpe and Ben Hollioake combined to guide them to a challenging score.

Playing his first innings since breaking his hand in the second Test against Australia at Lord's, Thorpe demonstrated his expertise in this form of cricket with a superb 95, only falling just five overs before the end of the innings.

With boundaries at a premium, Thorpe and Hollioake pushed the ball around expertly and kept the scoreboard ticking over at such a rate that England added 82 in the final ten overs.

Their partnership was finally ended when Hollioake mis-timed an attempted pull straight to mid-on for an encouraging 61 from 77 deliveries and Thorpe fell two overs later, holing out to long on, just five short of a comeback century to end his 120-ball innings.

Updated: 11:38 Tuesday, October 02, 2001