Early wickets delight Dernbach

Dernbach took a wicket with his first ball on Friday and had figures of three wickets for two runs at one stage as he and Steven Finn turned the warm-up fixture into a mis-match at the Zayed Stadium.

Both the fast bowlers finished with three wickets as the Lions were bowled out for 96 in under 29 overs - England coasted then past a 'revised' target of 230 with 25 balls to spare, thanks to half-centuries from Alastair Cook (68) and Jonathan Trott (75 not out).

Dernbach was justifiably satisfied with his telling contribution, including knocking back Alex Hales' off-stump for a golden duck.

"I hope it can continue," he said, looking forward to the four-match one-day international series against Pakistan which will begin here on Monday.

"It was a nice way to start, to set the tone - and that's a job we need to do in this series to be successful.

"The aim in any one-day cricket is to take early wickets. You're giving yourself the best possible opportunity of slowing down the scoring rate.

"If we can keep doing that on a game-to-game basis, we'll be all right."

Discounted concerns

"The aim in any one-day cricket is to take early wickets. You're giving yourself the best possible opportunity of slowing down the scoring rate."
Jade Dernbach Quotes of the week

Dernbach discounted any concerns that the fixture, played during the day, might not be ideal preparation to take on Pakistan in four day-nighters.

"There are a few training sessions scheduled under lights," he added. "It was just important we got used to the conditions, for guys who might not have played at this stadium before.

"Playing in the heat is always going to help to get the boys accustomed. So I think today was perfect for the guys.

"The aim of today was to get a run-out with all the boys together as a team, especially out here with the conditions.

"Then to get a victory like that is obviously impressive."

South Africa-born Dernbach was most recently in action for the Lions themselves on their successful tour of Sri Lanka, but before that spent time as a squad player for Melbourne Stars in the Twenty20 'Big Bash'.

"I've just come off the Lions, so got a few overs out there. So today was the icing on the cake, to get a few wickets," he said.

"It's going to be slightly different here, but spending a bit of time in the sub-continent is not going to do me any harm - getting that experience under my belt and trying to use it in all the best possible situations."