Vikram Solanki produced a blistering second one-day international hundred as England cantered to an eight-wicket victory in the third ODI at Bulawayo.

His efforts emphasised the massive gulf in class between England's new look squad and Zimbabwe's young and under-strength line-up. England now lead the series 3-0, with one match left to play.

Solanki, the newly-installed Worcestershire captain, dismissed Zimbabwe's attack almost arrogantly to complete a superb century off only 89 balls.

That set up England's emphatic win, which came with 6.5 overs remaining at the Queens Club.

Until this third encounter in the four-match series, England had been the dominant side.

But there had still been moments in each of the opening two matches when Zimbabwe's line-up, which has been ravaged by the walkout of the 15 rebels in April, had put them under severe pressure.

Any hopes for a Zimbabwe revival were ruthlessly crushed, however, with England dominating to such an extent their only worry was the threat of heavy rain wiping out their victory.

Chasing Zimbabwe's 238-7 the tourists were fortunate that the promised rain storm fell between innings, delaying the start of their reply by an hour.

But just to make sure, Solanki unleashed a fierce onslaught to deservedly claim the man-of-the-match award.

He raced to his half-century off only 38 balls and even though he slowed up en route to three figures, he continued to advance at an impressive rate, his innings containing 14 fours and two sixes.

The manner in which he set about Zimbabwe's bowling must have been all the more galling for the smattering of home supporters after they had watched Solanki dropped twice in successive balls while fellow opener Ian Bell was also missed.

Bell was first to be given a reprieve when he looped a catch to mid-on off seamer Doug Hondo when on 17, but Prosper Utseya, diving forward, spilled the first of three chances in two overs which effectively settled the match.

It was Solanki who profited most in the next over from seamer Tinashe Panyangara, firstly clipping to mid-on where Chris Mpofo made a misjudgement and then offering a sharp chance to Brendan Taylor at short mid-wicket.

He had only progressed to 38 by then, and those misses allowed England to enjoy a 138-run opening stand off only 128 balls, including 19 fours and two sixes, until Bell once mistimed an attempted cut facing off-spinner Stuart Matsikenyeri and edged behind.

By the time Bell had fallen, even the rain could not stop England from winning, with the punishing opening stand putting them far ahead of the required Duckworth-Lewis figure for calculating weather-affected matches.

Captain Michael Vaughan batted sensibly with Solanki for the next 14 overs.

Solanki finally fell in the deep just four balls after reaching his century and repeating his memorable performance against South Africa at The Oval a year ago, when he recorded an equally eye-catching hundred against far tougher opposition.

It was left to Vaughan and Andrew Strauss to calmly complete the victory by adding the 46 runs required to wrap up the win and keep England on course for a series whitewash.

Zimbabwe had earlier reached their most competitive total of the series after overcoming a slow start, with England's new ball bowlers Alex Wharf and James Anderson limiting them to 29 runs in the opening 13 overs.

But a career-best 73 from opener Matsikenyeri and a determined 65 from Dion Ebrahim carried Zimbabwe to a respectable total as they attempted to claim their first victory in 16 matches.

England had made one change from the side that claimed comprehensive triumphs in the opening two matches by introducing Simon Jones for his one-day international debut, Darren Gough missing out.

Jones made an instant impact, striking with his seventh delivery to remove opener Brendan Taylor who edged behind as he attempted to push forward.

Matsikenyeri increased Zimbabwe's scoring rate after that loss, launching Jones for a six over point and hitting four other boundaries in his maiden half-century, forging a crucial 98-run stand with Ebrahim spanning 20 overs.

England's breakthrough finally came through Vaughan, who tempted Matsikenyeri into sweeping into the air and giving Anderson a simple catch at short fine leg, beginning a flurry of wickets which undermined Zimbabwe's potential to reach a more challenging total.

Mark Vermeulen and Elton Chigumbura were run out to successive deliveries.

The loss of three further wickets in the final 10 overs of the innings failed to prevent Zimbabwe adding a crucial 73 runs during that period after captain Tatenda Taibu added 24 from only 18 balls before becoming Jones' second victim by holing out in the deep in the final over.

But Zimbabwe's bowling attack could not match the achievements of their top-order batsman, and tomorrow's final match of the series looks set to see England wrap up a 4-0 victory.

Zimbabwe: Tatenda Taibu (capt), Brendan Taylor, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Dion Ebrahim, Hamilton Masakadza, Mark Vermeulen, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya, Tinashe Panyangara, Douglas Hondo, Christopher Mpofu.

England: Michael Vaughan (capt), Vikram Solanki, Ian Bell, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Geraint Jones Ashley Giles, Simon Jones, Alex Wharf, James Anderson.

4 Dec, 2004