WORCESTERSHIRE made a promising start after winning the toss and deciding to bat in their four-day friendly against Zimbabwe which opened at New Road today.

Stephen Peters and Anurag Singh opened the County's innings against the pace attack of Andy Blignaut and Heath Streak. Singh began with a single, while Peters got off the mark by turning Streak for two.

Singh had the distinction of hitting the first four of the day with a firm cover drive to the rails off Blignaut. Peters then headed towards double figures with a well timed boundary off Streak.

Worcestershire moved on to 25-0 off five overs before Zimbabwe replaced Streak with paceman Douglas Hondo at the New Road end.

All-rounder Andrew Hall, as expected, came in for his Worcestershire debut, while Zimbabwe included wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu who played for Worcester Cricket Club last season.

Worcestershire: S Peters, A Singh, V S Solanki, B Smith, Kadeer Ali, A J Hall, G Batty, D J Pipe, Kabir Ali, M S Mason, M Harrity

Zimbabwe: M A Vermeulen, D D Ebrahim, S V Carlisle, G W Flower, B G Rogers, T Taibu, A M Blignaut, H H Streak, T J Friend, D T Hondo, R W Price.