![]() ![]() ![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() England 'A' ease to victory ![]() A half century from Mark Alleyne helped England to a comfortable victory ![]() NZ Academy XI 183-9, Eng184-4, Eng win by six wickets England 'A' opened the New Zealand leg of their winter tour with a comprehensive victory over the local Academy XI at Lincoln, Christchurch.
Alleyne said: "Winning is always important and it was fairly comfortable in the end, but I thought it was a very untidy performance in the field and we've got to be a lot better than that on the rest of the tour.
"We're going to talk about it tonight. The ball was doing quite a bit but it was very untidy indeed." With the loss of three wickets in eight overs, England experienced several early moments of alarm. But a stand of 108 in 20 overs from Mark Alleyne (53) and Aftab Habib (46 not out) eliminated the possibility of an embarrassing defeat, as England reached their victory total of 184 for the loss of just four wickets. Apart from an unacceptable number of extras (51), England performed efficiently in the field as the hosts were dismissed at 183-9 from 50 overs. The tourists worked their way steadily through the Academy order until Tama Canning halted the flow of wickets at number eight. He scored a brisk 43 from 58 balls to give the total an air of respectability. Michael Gough and Marcus Trescothick appeared in no trouble at the start of the England 'A' innings before Gough (11) was caught at slip off the first ball Canning bowled. The same bowler then accounted for Trescothick, caught behind for 29, before Vikram Solanki drove Canning loosely to mid-off. That was when Alleyne joined Habib in a partnership of accelerating tempo as they raced towards the target before the rain that had threatened for most of the day finally arrived. Alleyne was out shortly after reaching his 50 off 120 balls with five fours. It was left to David Sales to accompany Habib to the finish as the rain intensified. Scorecard: NZ Cricket Academy First Innings
H J H Marshall b Silverwood 7
Extras b1 lb13 w30 nb7 51
Fall: 1-13 2-30 3-40 4-75 5-93 6-107 7-117 8-166 9-175 England A First Innings
M A Gough c McIntosh b Canning 11
Extras b10 lb8 w7 nb6 31
Fall: 1-42 2-60 3-68 4-176 Bowling: Thompson 7 0 40 0, Shaw 7 1 30 0, Franklyn 6 0 23 0, Canning 10 2 19 3, Jansen 5 0 23 1, Marshall 4 0 31 0. Umpires: B Bowden and G Baxter ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |