Flintoff Ton Leads England to Victory

Andrew Flintoff made a flying start to England's tour of India on Sunday with an unbeaten century to help his country to a comfortable victory in their opening warm-up match.

Flintoff's first English hundred since the fourth Test of the 2005 Ashes came from 85 balls and contained three sixes and 12 fours, but he was dropped twice.

He helped the tourists add 112 in the final 12 overs of this 12-a-side match as England made an impressive 297-4.

Flintoff was also in the thick of the action in the field and stooped low at second slip to claim an early wicket for James Anderson, who ended up finishing with three wickets, enhancing his claims for a place after being left out of the team for the ill-fated Stanford Super Series finale.

"We'll play against better teams on this tour, obviously, but a hundred is a hundred and I've not scored one for ages so I'll take it," Flintoff told BBC Sport.

"I enjoyed it because I feel comfortable about the way I'm playing. One of the things about my batting is that it does take a while. I've not played for a while and I'm finding my rhythm but I'm getting there.

"I'm not daft, though, and I know it's a starting point. We're going to be playing against the likes of Harbhajan (Singh) and (Ishant) Sharma in just over a week's time - this was fine but it's not always going to be like that."

Just to cap his performance, Flintoff claimed a late wicket in the final two overs to ensure he is in prime form leading into the tough challenge of overcoming India in the next few weeks.

"I've had a good break, it's a break that I would have had at this time of year anyway, so I feel ready to get back and hopefully try and push for a place in the England side."