VB Series, Brisbane:
England 292 all out (50 overs) beat Sri Lanka 249-6 (50 overs) by 43 runs

England finally completed the first win of their Australian tour, consigning Sri Lanka to a 43-run defeat in the third match of the VB Series in Brisbane.

Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart both hit half-centuries as England reached 292 all out batting first.

VS Series standings

(P-W-L-Bns-Pts) Australia 2-2-0-1-11 England 3-1-2-0-6 Sri Lanka 1-0-1-0-1

And an impressive performance from England's fast bowlers gave Sri Lanka little chance of reaching what would have been a record total at the Gabba.

Mahela Jayawardene hit 71 in the middle of the innings, but at too slow a pace to cause England to worry.

James Anderson, in his second one-day international, took two for 48 and Steve Harmison, on debut, two for 39 as Sri Lanka struggled against pace and bounce.

Sri Lanka's own attack included just three front-line pace bowlers, and Hussain took full advantage with a patient 79, hitting five boundaries in a 106-ball innings.

In contrast, Stewart took just 61 balls over his 64 - his highest score since he faced the same opponents at Trent Bridge in June.

Hussain suffered from heat exhaustion during his 79

The duo put on 72 for the fifth wicket from just 71 deliveries, and Stewart upped that rate in an explosive four-over stand of 51 with Ian Blackwell, who made 24 from 12 balls.

Paul Collingwood also played a part, contributing 37 to an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

He returned as a runner when Hussain flagged in the heat, but his skipper was run out almost immediately, courtesy of Sanath Jayasuriya throw from mid-off.

The one black mark in England's copybook was the lower order collapse that saw the last five wickets fall for just 15 runs, when a total of over 300 was in their sights.

Dilhara Fernando held on to an exocet return catch from Blackwell at the end of the 46th over.

Stewart went next ball, bowled leg-stump by a faster ball from Jayasuriya.

And the rest of the line-up followed, Andrew Caddick caught for 11 off the final ball of the innings.

But those lower order men made amends with the ball in hand, bowling short and fast at a team playing just their second match in Australia.

Harmison took two wickets on his one-day debut

Romesh Kaluwitharana lasted only until the fifth over before he top-edged Caddick high to wicket-keeper Stewart.

And a slower ball from Anderson accounted for Jayasuriya, as he mistimed a drive for Hussain to take a well-judged catch at mid-off.

Harmison was saved until the 16th over, but had an immediate impact, Sangakkara slashing to backward point, where Collingwood took an outstanding low catch.

Bowling 10 overs unchanged through the middle of the innings, Harmison also had the veteran Marvan Atapattu caught at slip off a thick edge.

Sri Lanka's only consolation was that a 50 partnership in six overs between Russel Arnold and Thilan Samaraweera gained them a bonus league point.

Arnold hit two sixes in the last two overs to finish 60 not out from 62 deliveries, but it was too little too late.

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England (from): N Hussain (capt), N Knight, M Trescothick, R Irani, O Shah, I Blackwell, C White, A Stewart (wkt), G Batty, A Caddick, J Kirtley, J Anderson, S Harmison, P Collingwood, R Key, A Hollioake, K Ali.

Sri Lanka (from): S Jayasuriya (capt), M Atapattu, R Kaluwitharana, A de Silva, T Samaraweera, M Jayawardene, K Sangakkara, R Arnold, J Mubarak, C Vaas, P Gunaratne, P Nissanka, D Fernando, M Muralitharan, S de Silva, N Zoysa.