IT WAS all right on the night. Alec Stewart played his part perfectly with both the coin and the bat and England, to their intense relief and inspired in the field by some high-class fast left-arm bowling by Alan Mullally, won the opening match of the World Cup with encouraging authority. It was by no means a flawless performance in the field but the magic of Muttiah Muralitharan was the only serious threat to the home country on their way to an eight-wicket victory in the 47th over.

As an occasion there was a bit too much tension on the part of the players and a little too much moisture in the atmosphere for the highest expectations to be realised. But when the sun came out, as it did from time to time during the afternoon, Lord's looked magnificent, the outfield like deep green velvet, the various avant-garde buildings a dazzling white contrast to the vivid colours of advertising boards and the bright blue kit of the two teams.

There was a slightly dilettante feel to the 15-minute opening ceremony perhaps, but the organisers quite rightly wanted the focus to be on the cricket itself and mercifully the showers were sufficiently short and gentle to allow the match to be completed by 7.45.

To win so comfortably with the captain producing the significant innings was, of course, exactly what England wanted. It is encouraging, in a way, that they should have succeeded when their most dangerous bowler, Darren Gough, had a relatively bad day, but to have lost after winning the toss and having much the easier batting conditions would have been hugely disappointing.

As it was, Sri Lanka made a good start, reaching 42 before losing their first wicket in the eleventh over, and recovered from a subsequent low of 65 for five by means of a dashing innings by their wicketkeeper, Romesh Kaluwitharana. In the last World Cup he opened the batting to great effect: this time he counter-attacked brilliantly in the late middle-order.

It would have taken a brave adjudicator, perhaps, to give the man-of-the-match award to anyone other than Stewart, his fifty being his first in 18 one-day internationals. Nonetheless it was Mullally who really created the opportunity, coming to the rescue when they were in danger of throwing away the distinct advantage of winning the toss.

Not only did the sun come out when England started out in pursuit of 205 to win but the psychological advantage of bowling first on a cool, moist morning, with clouds forever threatening rain, was considerable.

The danger was that the bowlers would either put in too little effort, assuming that the pitch and atmosphere would do the work, or that they would try too hard. Gough and Austin fell into the second trap, the fast bowler mixing one or two almost unplayable balls with others wide of the mark while his slightly nervous-looking assistant occasionally lost control of the swing or pitched too short.

There were five wides in Austin's first spell and it is hard to believe that had Angus Fraser played instead he would not have made more effective use of the new ball, on his home ground and in conditions made for seam bowling. To his credit, Austin settled and his final figures showed him to be more economical than either of the quicker bowlers. It was Mullally's excellence, however, that helped him to resume his customary length and straightness.

When Mullally came on in place of Gough at the Pavilion End, Jayasuriya and Mahanama had overcome the tense opening overs to reach 17 before the first, brief interruption for rain and they were starting to look more at home despite Jayasuriya regularly playing and missing. A curving slice from an attempt at a lavish pull off the front foot by Mahanama gave Mullally immediate success as Hick ran back from second slip to measure a fine catch over his head.

In the next eight overs Sri Lanka lost four more wickets. Austin got onto the scorecard when Atapattu slashed outside off stump and edged fast but straight to first slip and, in the space of only three overs, Jayasuriya, playing forward, was caught at second slip, Tillekeratne gloved an attempted leg-glance at Ealham's first ball and De Silva, the best batsman of the lot, was undone by bounce around the off stump, edging to third slip from high on the bat.

Slip catches are less typical of one-day cricket than the buccaneering strokes from Kaluwitharana that now stopped the collapse and forced England back on the defensive. Hitting hard and with perfect timing at anything short or wide, he on-drove and straight-drove Ealham for fours, the second a superb stroke played on the up to a length ball, and spoilt Mullally's figures with further fierce cutting and driving.

When Flintoff came on, unwisely starting with only partially-studded boots, he was punished even more severely and Stewart was helped out of a potentially serious setback by Ealham's steadiness and two tidy overs from Hick.

Hick had bowled only three overs all season and Ranatunga, having proceeded in singles while Kaluwitharana was in full flight, now opened his own shoulders, driving him for six and taking 13 in all from his third over.

It was probably the high point of the game for Sri Lanka but a crucial low catch at deep gully by Hussain restored the initiative to England and once Kaluwitharana had fallen to a diving catch by Stewart, it was never seriously surrendered again.

It took time for Stewart to achieve any fluency but he and Hussain were positive from the start. Vaas needed watching, but Wickremasinghe offered plenty of chances to drive on a pitch now devoid of devil and when Upashantha came on at the Nursery End, the combination of nervousness and the slope caused a poor third over in which he bowled five off-side wides.

All was therefore proceeding smoothly for England when Muralitharan was summoned for the thirteenth over. Immediately Hussain came down the pitch to try to loft him over mid-on but the flight deceived him and only his pads saved him from being stumped.

He was not so lucky two overs later. At 50 for one in the fifteenth over there was no need for risk-taking and Stewart and Hick knew as much. Like his captain, Hick's timing was mixed at first but theirs was an admirably calm and commanding partnership as the game proceeded with barely a moment's doubt towards its appointed conclusion.

Stewart's 50 came from 85 balls, Hick's off 62 as he began to cut and sweep with the air of a man at peace with the world. It looked for all the world that Stewart would crown a happy day with a hundred but when Vaas returned he was given out caught behind off a ball that cut back to take what looked like his thigh rather than his bat.

His disappointment can only have been temporary. Twenty minutes later he was celebrating with his team as Hick advanced nonchalantly down the pitch to drive De Silva into the lower tier of the pavilion. It looked like an emphatic statement on behalf of the whole England side.

May 15, 1999