The County Ground in Bristol made history as the first ever floodlit international in England was played between Zimbabwe and West Indies.

The fifty over match was the opening match in the NatWest Series between England, Zimbabwe and West Indies. The match started at 2.30pm and was due to finish around 10pm.

The County Ground was transformed with temporary seating, a big replay screen, large speakers to play regular bursts of music, a speed gun, Sky TV's cameras and six large temporary floodlight pylons. A crowd of 10,500 was hoped for although only around 8,000 seats were taken.

The two warm-up games ealier in the week between New Zealand 'A' and Zimbabwe and West Indies were ruined by rain.

This game was lucky to miss heavy showers as the West Indies, without Courney Walsh, batted first and posted 232. However, 95 not out from Neil Johnson helped Zimbabwe to a comfortable victory with six overs to spare. He was denied the chance of a six to bring up his century by a wide from Jimmy Adams.

Gloucestershire hope to stage another international next year between England and Australia.